Art History: Find Articles
Resources for research on the history of art.
Learn About An Artist
Search the name of an artist in each of these databases to find biographical information and reviews of their major work.
- Gale Ebooks (formerly GVRL) This link opens in a new windowGale eBooks has over 200 encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Look here for biology, chemistry, nursing and medicine, sociology, history, education, law, and more.
Art History Websites
- Archives of American Art - SmithsonianPart of the Smithsonian museums. Provides a collection of papers and primary records of visual art in America.
- Virtual Collection from the Vatican MuseumVirtually visit the works of art in the Vatican Museum.
- Italian Renaissance Learning ResourcesIncludes 8 themed units to explore Italian Renaissance art for free. A collaboration between the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and Grove Art Online from Oxford University Press.
Art History Databases
- PCC Visual Resource CollectionThe PCC Visual Resource Collection was created to enhance the studio and art history curriculum at Portland Community College. The collection contains traditional survey images, along with images of architectural, design and art historical significance not available anywhere else, including art process images, images of work in the PCC campus art collections and images collected on faculty research trips.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new windowAs of August 1, 2024, the ARTstor platform is retired. The ARTstor Digital Library now resides on the JSTOR platform. JSTOR images include more than 3.5 million images. You must register for a JSTOR account to save any images for future reference and to use JSTOR's presentation tools. To register for a user account, you must either be logged into JSTOR from on campus or through the JSTOR database link on the library website. To stay logged in, select “Keep me Logged In” when registering for an account.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new windowLimited to 5 concurrent users. Features over 45,000 articles and images covering every aspect of the visual arts. There are over 7,000 searchable images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as links to other museums and galleries.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR has full text of over 1000 scholarly journals in the arts and sciences, as far back as 18xx up to 3-5 years ago. Note: It does not include current issues of the journals. All ARTstor image collections are now part of JSTOR, and can be searched using the "Images" tab then selecting "ARTstor collections".
- Fine Arts (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowProvides more than 150 full-text magazines and journals that are covered in indices such as the Wilson Art Index and RILM, this collection will provide support for research in areas such as drama, music, art history, and filmmaking.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 4,500 scholarly social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. 3,700 are peer-reviewed.