Oberlin College Library - Reference Guide : Objects in the AMAM

The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) has produced four catalogs of its collections; the most accessible and up-to-date is the web catalog, although it is sometimes unstable. The CD-ROM catalog (published in 1998) is the next place to go for information about objects in the AMAM.

1. Allen Memorial Art Museum.
Catalogue of European and American paintings and sculpture in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College.
Oberlin, Ohio, Oberlin College, 1967
Art Library Reference, N 650 .A57 copies 1 & 5
Art Library, N 650 .A57 copies 3, 4 & 6
Scholarly entries and black and white images make this an excellent resource for works acquired by the mid-1960s. Many, but not all, entries in this catalog have been updated in the Museum's CD-ROM catalog Masterworks for Learning and on their web site.

2. Allen Memorial Art Museum
Masterworks for learning: a college collection catalogue [CD-ROM].
Oberlin College, Allen Memorial Art Museum; [catalogue editor, Jenny Squires Wilker]
Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, c1998
Art Library, Limited Access N650 .A65 1998
Main Library, Reference CD-ROM N650 .A65 1998 c.3
This multi-media CD is divided into two main sections. The Museum introduces the Allen Memorial Art Museum, its history, and its educational goals. The Catalogue presents 171 illustrated scholarly entries on selected paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, and decorative arts in the AMAM collection, in addition to brief label information on all works in the collection. Double click on thumbnails to display essays provenance, and bibliographies for illustrated works.

4. Allen Memorial Art Museum. Compiled by J. Chvostal
Prints in the Allen Memorial Art Museum: catalog.
Oberlin: [The Museum] 1988
Art Library Reference, N 650 .A575 1988
Basic information is given (Artist, birth/death dates, Acc.#, Title, Media) but there are no images.
Prints are arranged first by century then nationality:

Before 1800

American Prints Before 1800
Bohemian Prints Before 1800
Dutch Prints Before 1800
English Prints Before 1800
Etc.

After 1800 – American
After 1800- French
After 1800 (except French and American)

Argentinian Prints After 1800
Austrian Prints After 1800
Belgian Prints After 1800
Etc.

Artist Biographies Master Index.
Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., c1986.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .A78 1986
A time-saver, this index compiles entries from approximately 80 artist biographical dictionaries into a single alphabetical list. Under each artist’s name is one or more codes for dictionaries with biographies for that artist. (The codes and the dictionaries they stand for are listed in the front.) This is also a good place to check for spellings of difficult names and lesser-known artists. The dictionaries indexed cover painters, sculptors, illustrators, designers, graphic artists, craftsmen, architects, and photographers. Updated and expanded by the Biography and Genealogy Master Index [Computer File] at
http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/db/bgmi/

Havlice, Patricia Pate.
Index to Artistic Biography .
Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1973. 2 volumes. First Supplement, 1981. Second Supplement, 2002.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .H38
Havlice gives very little actual biographical information for the 100,000+ artists included; instead she indicates sources where biographical information can be found. Abbreviated references are given in each entry, coming from 265 biographical dictionaries published from 1902 to the end of the 20 th century in 10 languages ((64 sources are covered in the 1973 edition; 70 sources in the 1981 edition; 131 sources in the 2002 edition). Variant spellings and alternate names of each artist are given in parentheses following the artist's name. This work is one of the first places to check for artist biographies especially when looking for more obscure artists. Note: Havlice is particularly useful, as it excludes artists covered in the 1960-66 edition of Benezit (Art Ref. N 40 .B47) and in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (Art Ref. N 40 .B94 1903a) as well as in Thieme-Becker (Art Ref. N 40 .T4) and Vollmer (Art Ref. N 40 .T412).

Meissner, Gunter and K.G. Saur Verlag.
Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon: die bildenden Kunstler aller Zeiten und Volker.
München: K.G. Saur, 1992.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .A64 1992
This ambitious publication updates and expands Thieme-Becker (Art Ref. N 40 .T4), and will eventually take its place as the most comprehensive and scholarly biographical artist dictionary available., Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon (AKL), like its predecessor, covers painters, sculptors, architects, engravers, and some decorative artists of all nationalities and times. Locations of selected works are also given. It is important to check the abbreviations list for German terms and abbreviations used in the entries. Entries are longer and more comprehensive than Thieme-Becker.

The Dictionary of Art. Editor, Jane Turner.
New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 1996. 34 volumes.
Print: Art Library, Reference N 31 .D5 1996
Web: Updated and expanded by Grove Art Online; Search OBIS for the title grove art online
A comprehensive art encyclopedia, this ambitious work covers all media, countries, and periods. The signed articles are written by authorities in each field and include bibliographies. The dictionary includes biographies of artists, patrons, collectors, dealers, theorists, critics, and scholars and claims to have more architects' biographies (3,700), "than any architectural reference work." Survey articles cover the cultures,civilizations, and countries of Africa, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Ancient Near East, Ancient Rome, Central Asia and Mongolia, China, India, the Islamic world, Japan, Korea, Native North America, Pacific and Aboriginal Australia, Pre-Columbian Americas, and Southeast Asia. Articles on non-Western cultures cover the full range of art forms produced, from architecture to the fine and decorative arts. "The architectural history of every nation and culture in the world is explored in up-to-date studies in both country and civilization articles." The urban culture and history of 1,350 cities worldwide is covered. Artistic styles, movements and theories are included, as are forms, themes, and subject matter. Art materials, techniques, and conservation are also discussed. The dictionary claims to be "the largest single collection of images available in an art publication" and "the most comprehensive series of bibliographies in the art-historical world." Volume 33 includes appendices; the index, in volume 34, contains over a half a million entries. Note: The index does not follow standard alphabetical rules; please ask for help.

Hall, James.
Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art .
London: J. Murray, 1984. Rev. ed., 1st pbk. ed
Art Library Reference, N 7560 .H34 1984
A dictionary of themes common to western art -- especially those arising from classical and Christian sources -- primarily from the Renaissance onward. Included are persons (and personifications), objects (especially attributes), and common events (e.g., The Raising of Lazarus). Special attention is paid to the interpretation of symbols in art. There is a bibliography and list of sources at the beginning of the dictionary and an index at the end, but no illustrations.

Schiller, Gertrud. (Translated by Janet Seligman)
Iconography of Christian Art.
London, Lund Humphries, 1971-1972
Art Library Reference, N 7830 .S3513
A comprehensive tool for the study of Christian iconography in art, Schiller's complete work consists of 5 volumes; these 2 volumes are the only which have been translated into English. The remaining 3 volumes (all under N 7830 .S35) cover Bd. 3. Die Auferstehung und Erhohung Christi (The Resurrection and Raising of Christ); Bd. 4, 1. Die Kirche (The Church); Bd. 4, 2. Maria (Mary); Bd. 5. Die Apokalypse des Johannes (The Book of Revelation). Volumes 1 and 2 describe the major events in the life of Christ and those figures closely associated with Him. Following each description is a discussion of how this event or concept has typically been interpreted in art. For each concept or event Schiller investigates the origin, traces its development, and its connection with biblical texts, dogma, the liturgy, devotional writing and religious trends. Symbols are also interpreted. A bibliography and over 1,300 black and white illustrations are included.

Art Abstracts. (previous title: The Art Index.)
New York, H.W. Wilson. 1929 -
Paper:v.1-40 (1929 - 1992); Art Library Z 5937.A78
Web: 1929 - present; updated quarterly. Search OBIS for the title art abstracts.
The most widely used art index in U.S., Art Abstracts lists citations to articles in fine art periodicals by subject and author (of the article). All periods and media are covered. In the mid-1990's select articles are abstracted. Entries in the database also cite selected art reproductions used to illustrate articles and advertisements, under the artists' names. Exhibition catalogs and books are not included, although reviews of each are. Book reviews are included from the mid-1970's onward; the print predecessor of Art Abstracts, Art Index (Art Z 5937 .A78), has book reviews from 1929 onward.

ARTbibliographies Modern.
Santa Barbara, Calif.: American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press.
Print: v. 1-24 (1969-1993); Art Library.
Web: 1974 - present, updated semi-annually. Search OBIS for the title artbib.
ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) both indexes and abstracts journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art (20 th & 21 st centuries), with approximately 12-13,000 new entries being added each year. Coverage starts with material published in 1974 although a few entries date back as far as the late 1960s. Architecture and 19th century art (with the exception of photography) are covered until 1988. ABM abstracts both English and foreign-language material on famous and lesser-known artists, movements, and trends. The coverage of ABM is wide-ranging and includes performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artists' books, theatre arts, conservation, crafts, ceramic and glass art, ethnic arts, graphic and museum design, fashion, and calligraphy, as well as traditional media including illustration, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing. ARTbibliographies Modern is one of the few sources that indexes individual artists participating in group shows.

Bibliography of the History of Art / Bibliographie D'Histoire de L'Art (BHA).
Santa Monica, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Art History Information Program, c1991 -.
Created by the merger of RILA and RAA in 1989.
Paper: RAA 1910 – 1973. Art Reference (shelved by Special Collections)
RAA 1974 – 1989. Storage
RILA 1973/75 - 1989. Storage
BHA 1989 - 1996. Art Library (Z 5937 .B53)
Web: 1973- present, updated semi-annually. Search OBIS for the title bha
An index to the literature of European art from late Antiquity (4th century A.D.) to the present and American art from the colonial period. BHA also includes art from anywhere in the world that "reflects contact with the Western tradition." Media covered include the Fine Arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing and prints) as well as the decorative and applied arts (jewelry, furniture, ceramics, etc.) including popular art, folk art, and “all objects of material culture that are of interest to the art historian." Film "as a dramatic art" is not included, but photography and all contemporary new media are covered.
BHA's coverage includes books, periodical articles, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogs, dissertations, art dealers catalogs, and conference proceedings. Over 4,000 periodical titles are indexed in part or in full, representing a wide range of languages and cultures. BHA is the most current and thorough index available for the history of European and American art.

Edelstein, Debra.
Pronunciation dictionary of artists' names .
Art Institute of Chicago. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.,1993. 3rd rev. ed.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .K3 1993
Provides phonetic pronunciations of artists' names. Also noted is the artist's gender, primary artistic medium, nationality and birth and death date. Includes artists from Western Europe, North American, South American and Australia. A useful resource that can be used to advantage with McConkey's Klee as in Clay (Art Ref. NX 163.M3 1992).

McConkey, Wilfred J.
Klee as in clay: a pronunciation guide.
Lanham, Md. : Madison Books, c1992
Art Library Reference, NX 163 .M3 1992

The Art Book.
London: Phaidon Press, Ltd., 1994.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .A775 1994
The Art Book is a unique dictionary that emphasizes images rather than text. Each page has a full color reproduction of a work with a very brief entry on the artist. 500 artists from medieval to modern times are included in alphabetical order. References link similar styles and movements. A brief Glossary of Terms, a Glossary of Artistic Movements and a Directory of Museums and Galleries completes the work. This is a great resource for quickly sampling a wide-variety of artists. For a similar treatment of twentieth-century western art, see The 20th-Century Art Book (Art Ref. N 6490 .T85 1996).

Havlice, Patricia Pate.
World painting index.
Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1977
First supplement, 1973-1980. Second supplement, 1980-1989. Third supplement, 1990-1999.
Art Library Reference, ND 45 .H38
The World Painting Index is the first place to check when looking for a reproduction of a specific painting or works by a particular artist. This tool indexes reproductions in over 1,100 books and catalogues published from 1940 to early 1975. Volume 1 provides an alphabetical listing by artist and works. Volume 2 is alphabetical by title, cross-referenced to the artists in Volume 1. Use the supplements (ND 45 .H38 Suppl 1., ND 45 .H38 Suppl. 2, etc.) to locate reproductions in more recent publications.

Barnet, Sylvan.
A Short Guide to Writing about Art.
New York: Longman, c2000. 6th ed
Art Library, Reference N 7476 .B37 2000

Chicago Manual of Style. 15th edition
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Art Library, Reference Z 253 .U69 2003

Oberlin College Library - Reference Guide Series