Art & Art History 

I. Biography, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias in the Reference Collection

Biography - Key Resources

Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon Bio-Bibliographischer [AKL], 10 vols. (FA REF N40 .A632 1999)
This set is an index to the Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon and many other venerable sources of artist's biographies, such as Thieme-Becker, Benezit, and Falk.

Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon [AKL], 33 vols. (FA REF N40 .A66 1983)
The AKL covers artists in all media from all over the world from antiquity to the present. Each of the more than 370,000 entries to date contains name verification and a brief biographical article that includes also a note on cultural influence, a selection of works and a list of exhibitions, a list of writings, and an extensive bibliography.

Thieme Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler, 37 vols. (FA REF N40 .T4)
Along with its sequel by Vollmer, Thieme-Becker as it is known, was the original compilation of artists biographies that preceded and is now included in the AKL.

Benezit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, 14 vols. (FA REF N40 .B47)
This work concentrates on artists who worked in the traditional fine arts media of painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving, and illustration. Each entry includes public and private sale information and facsimiles of artists' signatures

Who's Who in American Art (FA REF N6536 .W5 2001/2002)
This biographical dictionary profiles 11,600 living "contributors to the visual arts", including artists who work in all media, critics, museum professionals, collectors, and librarians.

Falk, Who Was Who in American Art, 3 vols. (FA REF N6536 .W56 1999)
This three volume biographical dictionary includes over 65,000 entries and covers 400 years of artists in the United States.

Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (FA-REF NA736 .W5 1956)
Covers almost 2,000 architects from ca. 1740 - 1952.

St. James Guides are compilations of short biographies of artists belonging to underrepresented groups including:

St. James Guide to Native North American Artists (FA REF E98 .A7S8 1998)

St. James Guide to Black Artists (FA REF N8356 .B55S78 1997)

Contemporary Women Artists (FA REF N8354 .C66 1999)

Specializations:

Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 (FA-REF NA 996 .C6 1995)
Includes architects who practiced in England, Scotland or Wales.

Directory of British Architects, 1834-1900 (FA-REF NA 967 .D57 1993)

A Biographical Dictionary of Engravers (FA REF NE800 .S8 1972)

Contemporary Latin American Artists (FA REF 6502.5 .C659 1997)
Dictionaries of Artists: Scottish artists, Spanish artists, etc. (FA REF N6500 - N7400)

On the Web:

Grove Art Online

Grove Art is the online version of the Dictionary of Art providing instant full-text access to over 41,000 articles on the arts and cultures of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific as well as links to tens of thousands of images.

 
Oxford Reference Online

Selected Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Oxford Dictionary of Saints ( FA REF BX 4659 .G7F23 1997)
This volume provides brief biographies of the most important saints concentrating particularly on English and Celtic saints.

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (FA REF DF 521 .O97)
The dictionary was produced by a team of 100 Byzantinists and was intentionally limited to 5,000 entries with only the category of Byzantine emperors being comprehensive. The chronological period is defined as 4th century to 15th century A.D.

Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (FA REF NA31 .F55 1998) includes entries on architectural terms, movements, and biographical sketches of architects which include bibliographical references.

MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects 4 vols. (FA-REF NA40 .M25 1982)
Over 2,400 biographies of architects from ancient times through the 20th century, from all geographical regions.

Encyclopedia of Asian Culture (FA REF DS12 .E53 1999) is a multidisciplinary work arranged geographically and covering culture, symbols, and objects.

Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World (FA REF DE 5 .O92 1998) an abridgement of the third edition OCF (without bibliographical references) which covers the field of Greco-Roman studies.

Oxford Companion to Philosophy (FA REF B51 .O94 1995)
This volume is a good source for quick reference on the history of philosophy.

Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 4 vols. (FA REF BH56 .E53 1998)
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (FA REF CC70 .K56 2000)

Oxford Companion to the Bible (FA REF BS 440 .O7 1993)
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, 4 vols. (FA REF BR302.8 .093 1996)

Histories

Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture (FA-REF NA200 .F63 1996)
Authoritative reference work with all the major examples of world architecture described, explained, and illustrated.

Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire (FA REF DR436 .S66 2003) provides a chronology, history, and biographical entries on major figures in Ottoman civilization and includes an extensive bibliography.

Chronicle of the Popes (FA REF BX955.2 .M387 1997)
Oxford Dictionary of the Popes (FA REF BX955.2 .K45 1988)

Signatures and Monograms

Encyclopedia of Artist's Signatures, Symbols, and Monograms (FA REF N40 .B47)

The encyclopedia is one of many works in the Reference area on the subject of artists' marks. It includes 25,000 examples from the "Old Masters" to the present.

Museums and Exhibitions

The National Museum of American Art's Index to American Art Exhibition Catalogues, 6 vols. (FA REF N 6507 .Y363 1986)
The American art exhibition index compiles records of exhibitions in the United States from 1876 to 1976.

Official Museum Directory, 2 vols. (FA REF AM 11 .M8 2001)
The directory is a comprehensive reference including statistics and profiles for more than 8,000 museums in the United States.

International Directory of Arts, 3 vols. (FA REF 50 .I6 2002)
The directory includes more than 129,000 current addresses for all types of art institutions including museums and galleries, antique dealers and appraisers.