Art & Art History 

Biographies and Dictionaries

Biography - Key Resources

Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon Bio-Bibliographischer [AKL] (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] (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, shelved in 2nd Floor Reference)
Along with its sequel by Vollmer (FA REF N40.V6 1953), Thieme-Becker as it is known was the original compilation of artists biographies that preceded and is now included in the AKL.

Benezit, Dictionary of Artists (FA REF N40.D5213 2006) and 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 1999, shelved in 2nd Floor Reference)
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)
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.

On the Web:

Grove Art Online

Oxford Reference Online

Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Oxford Dictionary of Saints ( FA STKS BX4659 .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 DF521 .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.

Oxford Classical Dictionary (FA STKS DE5 .O9)
The third edition contains more than 6,250 contributions from an international team of 354 scholars and covers the field of Greco-Roman studies.

The Golden Legend (FA REF BX4654 .J334 1969)
First written by Father Jacobus de Voragine in 13th century Genoa, this collection of selected saints lives is a standard and is based on legends known to Western artists of the Middle Ages.

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

Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 4 vols. (FA OVERSZE BH56 .E53 1998)

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