Databases for Criticism & Analysis
When you need information that contains an analysis or critique, there are numerous places you can search. Your best starting points are listed below.
- Art Full TextAlso known as: | Art Abstracts | Art Index | Provides comprehensive indexing of international art publications, including English-language periodicals, yearbooks and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Dutch, and Swedish. Subjects areas indexed include art, architecture, design, film, archaeology and marketing.
- Design & Applied Arts Index (DAII)
A leading source of abstracts and bibliographic records for articles, news items, and reviews published in Design and Applied Arts periodicals from 1973 onwards. Topics include ceramics, glass, jewellery, wood, metalsmithing, graphic design, fashion and clothing, textiles, furniture, interior design, architecture, computer aided design, Web design, computer-generated graphics, animation, product design, industrial design, garden design, and landscape architecture.
- Oxford Art Online
Also known as: Grove Dictionary of Art| Grove Art Online| This database contains articles on every aspect of the visual arts - painting, sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, decorative arts, and photography from prehistory to the present day. There are peer-reviewed articles with supporting materials including bibliographies, media, and links to related resources. The search engine has options to refine by source, type, subject, and availability.
- Bloomsbury Applied Visual Arts
This database combines visual inspiration with practical advice on everything from idea generation and research techniques to portfolio development making this the ultimate guide to a visual arts education. It includes multiple fields of practice, including: Fashion and Textiles, Design and Illustration, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Interiors, Marketing and Advertising.
- Art Index RetrospectiveIndex of articles published from 1929 to 1984. Provides comprehensive indexing of international art publications, including English-language periodicals, yearbooks and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Dutch, and Swedish. Subject areas: art, architecture, design, film, archaeology and marketing.
- ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM)
ARTbibliographies Modern contains abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, dissertations, and exhibition reviews. 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. Photography is covered from its invention in 1839 to the present. - Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new windowOBO is a collection of disciplined-based subject guides to important and significant sources in that area of study. Each guide contains a selective list of bibliographic citations with recommendations, along with an editorial commentary to show how the cited sources are interrelated.
Use the main search box on the library homepage to search our book collection. It lets you search not only art and design publications, but also publications from numerous other disciplines (political science, sociology, history, et cetera). Searching this way is a particularly good idea if your work is interdisciplinary.
Because only a selection of databases are linked through the main page search box, you are better off performing targetted searching through databases for articles, images and other periodicals.
Exhibition Catalogues
Exhibition catalogues can provide a good source of commentary on an artist's work, particularly for artists who have not yet been studied extensively.
To find catalogues, use the search box on the library homepage.
Include the name of the artist, plus words such as "exhibitions" and "exhibition catalogues".
If we don't have the catalogue you need, recommend a purchase, and/or place an interlibrary loan.