Artist Research - Art & Politics in Latin America (HAA 0520) - Oakland Campus

Artist Biographies

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
To search for artist biographies in Oxford Art Online, navigate to the database and in the search box type in the name of the artist that you are searching for. Under the search box click the field that says "Benezit", which will search the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Some biographies may contain exhibitions that artists were a part of, museum and gallery holdings, and bibliographies that contain books, journal articles, exhibition catalogs, and periodicals that could help you do further research.

Finding Videos

Look for names of artists, exhibitions, or videos about the historical context of New York during the 1960s-1980s, or the historical context of the countries these artists came from.

EAI (Electronic Arts Intermix)
"The EAI collection spans the mid-1960s to the present, and is recognized as one of the most comprehensive video art collections in the world. The works in the collection range from seminal videos by pioneering figures — such as Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, Martha Rosler and Joan Jonas — to new digital works by emerging artists, including Seth Price, Paper Rad, Cory Arcangel and Takeshi Murata."
-EAI

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Academic Video Online allows users to cross-search all of the video published by Alexander Street Press. Virtually every video in the collection is fully transcribed in addition to being indexed for subjects, people, places, release date, language, publisher, and video type. NOTE: There are no restrictions on simultaneous users for Alexander Street Press Academic Video Online content. The vendor ProQuest advises that content can be shared on Zoom as long as you are not charging admission.

Art21
Over the past decade, ART21 has established itself as the preeminent chronicler of contemporary art and artists through its Peabody Award-winning biennial television series, Art in the Twenty-First Century. The nonprofit organization has used the power of digital media to introduce millions of people of all ages to contemporary art and artists and has created a new paradigm for teaching and learning about the creative process.

Exhibition Catalogs: May Not Be Published Online

Many exhibition catalogs published may not be available online, largely due to the cost of image rights.

Exhibition catalogs contain valuable insight into the curator's and museum director's thoughts. These statements and essays can often address:

Why were these works brought together under one roof at this point in time?
The social and political issues raised by the exhibition
Local and global partners who helped make the exhibition possible
Insight into the curator's relationship with the artist/s

Finding Exhibition Catalogs

Search PittCat, a listing of all the books Pitt owns
1. Begin with a keyword or title search for an artist's name, for example, Alice Neel.
2. Click on a title that looks like it is about this artist.
3. This is what we call "a PittCat record." Look for "LC Subject Headings" and click on one with the artist's name.
4. You will see a huge list of subject headings - browse through this list to find a heading like these:
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984 --Exhibitions.

This will provide you with a list of all the books that we have that focus on Alice Neel.

To find books that may devote only a chapter to her, or group exhibitions where she is one of many artists exhibiting, do NOT use subject headings. Use keyword searching.
Search Worldcat - the worldwide listing of books libraries own
Now that you have a subject heading for your artist:
1. paste that subject heading into the advanced search.
2. look at the list that is generated and look for books that Pitt does NOT own.
3. Request these books using EZBorrow or Interlibrary Loan (Links below)
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
If you can't find the book in EZBorrow, request it using ILL. This gives you free access to books worldwide.

Art & Architecture Databases

Some of the best databases to use for doing artist research include the following:

Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
Art Full Text is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from periodicals published throughout the world. In addition to articles, Art Full Text indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.
ARTbibliographies Modern This link opens in a new window
The scope of ARTbibliographies Modern extends from artists and movements beginning with Impressionism in the late 19th century, up to the most recent works and trends in the late 20th century. A particular emphasis is placed upon adding new and lesser-known artists and on the coverage of foreign-language literature.
International Bibliography of Art This link opens in a new window
The International Bibliography of Art (IBA) is the definitive resource for scholarly literature on western art. Coverage from 1975-2007 is provided in the Bibliography of the History of Art database.
Bibliography of the History of Art Repertoire de la litterature de l'art This link opens in a new window
The Bibliography of the History of Art is the most comprehensive art bibliography available worldwide, covering European and American visual arts from late antiquity to the present. This database indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings and dissertations, exhibition and dealers' catalogs, and articles from over 4,300 periodicals.

Search Tips When Doing Artist Research:

Search for the artist name. Either use first name, last name, or try using last name, first name.
Search for the artist name and name of art movement.
Search for the artist name and medium of artwork.
Search for the name of an exhibition they were in.
Search for artists they may have been friends with during the period of time in question.
Search for the name a of a school or gallery they may have been associated with during the period of time in question.
Search for a specific work of art by that artist by its title and year.
Refine your searches by using AND, OR, NOT, etc between keywords.
If you are looking for a specific article and know the author, type in the name of the article AND the author's name.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

Art & Politics in Latin America (HAA 0520) - Oakland Campus

Artist Biographies

Finding Videos

Exhibition Catalogs: May Not Be Published Online

Finding Exhibition Catalogs

Art & Architecture Databases