Articles - Criticism & Analysis - Art and Design - Subject Guides at University of Alberta Libraries

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 Text This link opens in a new window Also 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.
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Design & Applied Arts Index (DAII) This link opens in a new window 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.
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Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window 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.
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Bloomsbury Applied Visual Arts This link opens in a new window 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.
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Art Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window Index 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.
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ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) This link opens in a new window 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.
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A particular emphasis is placed upon adding new and lesser-known artists and on the coverage of foreign-language literature. Approximately 13,000 new entries are added each year.

ARTbibliographies Modern covers all aspects of modern and contemporary art, including performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artists' books, theater arts, crafts, jewelry, illustration, and more, as well as the traditional fine arts of painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing.

This web version of the database covers volume years 1974 to the present.
Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window OBO 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.
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It's also a good idea to search the main search box on the library homepage. This box lets you search our books as well as many of the articles we have. As well, 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, i.e., it reaches across disciplines.

Exhibition Catalogues

Exhibition catalogues can be among the best places to find commentary on an artist's work, particularly for artists who have not yet been studied extensively. We have thousands of catalogues in the library's collection.

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," to discover whether we have catalogues that could be relevant for you.

If we don't have the catalogue you need, please contact me, or place an Interlibrary Loan to have the catalogue brought here for you.