Still Looking?
- Trying to identify the scrawled name? Try the Dictionary of Signatures & Monograms of American Artists from the Colonial Period to the Mid-Twentieth Century (pub. 1988), R703.78 F. Artists are arranged alphabetically by name. There is also an index by initial and a "visual index" by the shape of a monogram.
- Try the Biography and Genealogy Master Index, R929.1 BIO.
- For contemporary artists, do a general NCLive.org search.
- In WorldCat try the artist's name as author, subject, or keyword. This may bring up exhibit catalogs.
- Try Ebay.com
Visit Your Local Museums!
- Mint MuseumTwo locations:
2730 Randolph Road, and
500 South Tryon Street
704.337.2000
For well-researched information on exhibiting artists, check out the Mint's wiki. - Bechler Museum of Modern Art420 South Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC
704.353.9200 - Gaston County Museum of Art & History131 W Main St
Dallas, North Carolina
(704) 922-7681
North Carolina Artists
- Art in North Carolina : episodes and developments, 1585-1970 byCall Number: R709.756 FOU N.C.Publication Date: 1972
- North Carolina Museum of ArtNCMALearn is an educational resource from the North Carolina Museum of Art. Not limited to NC Artists.
Librarian
Getting Started
- AskArt.comInformation on thousands of American artists. Portions of this site do require payment (mostly information on recent sale prices). However, the biographies, the list of museums owning the artist's work, and the list of books with entries for the artist are all free.
- Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS)600,000 records of the Inventory of American Painting & Sculpture, Photograph Archives and Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalogue Index.
Several major museums have made their digital art books collections (mostly pre-1964) available for free downloading:
- GuggenheimDownload free digital art books from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
- MetPublicationsDownload free art books from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's digital collection.
- Getty PublicationsDownload free digital art books.
- Digital Library of the Middle EastDLME offers free and open access to the rich cultural legacy of the Middle East and North Africa by bringing together collections from a wide range of cultural heritage institutions.
A Space of Their Own, a New Online Database, Will Feature Works by 600+ Overlooked Female Artists from the 15th-19th Centuries
The paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures the late Jane Fortune refers to above were discovered in museum storage spaces throughout Florence.
Many of their female creators were acclaimed during their lifetimes. By the time Fortune set about restoring their work—and visibility —to the public view, they were virtually unknown, even to museum staff.
Chronological List
The books below are arranged by date of publication, which is useful if you already know when the artist was working.
Any call number that starts with an "R" may be read and copied in the library but is unavailable for checkout.
- Britannica Encyclopedia of American ArtCall Number: R703 BPublication Date: 1973Short biographical sketches for better known artists. Note: The bibliographies for the entries are in a separate section beginning on p. 643.
American Art by Call Number: R709.73 AISBN: 0810906589Publication Date: 1979-06-01A fat history -- check the index.
History of African-American Artists by Call Number: 704.0396073 BEA OVERISBN: 0394570162Publication Date: 1993-10-26
Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art by Call Number: 745.025 SELISBN: 9780786475858Publication Date: 2016-01-20
Illustrators
The works of many book and magazine illustrators are now highly regarded.
- Illustrating children's books: history, technique, production. byCall Number: 741.642 PITPublication Date: 1963
- Illustrators of Books for Young People byCall Number: R927.4 WISBN: 0810808196Publication Date: 1975-06-01