About the Art Library

The Art Library's collection includes over 81,000 books, exhibition catalogs, and bound periodicals, uncataloged exhibition and sales catalogs, and a large vertical file collection. The Art Library currently receives over 250 journals and other serials.

The collection covers all of the Visual Arts fields including Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Prints, Photography, and the Decorative Arts, as well as related materials in such fields as Anthropology, Archaeology, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning. The collection covers the Visual Arts of all periods, Prehistoric through Modern, and of all nationalities with special emphasis on Western European, Chinese, Japanese, and American art.

The Clarence Ward Art Library is located on the top floor of the addition to the Allen Memorial Art Museum designed by the noted architectural firm, Venturi and Rauch. The library is named after Professor Clarence Ward, Museum Director and Art Department Chairman from 1917 to 1948.