Research Guides: How to Research Works of Art on Paper: Biographical Sources

Indexes to Artistic Biography

Art Reference N40 .A632 1999
Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon: Bio-bibliographischer Index A-Z = The Artists of the World: Bio-bibliographical Index A-Z. 10vols. Munchen: K.G. Saur, 1999-2000.
Rij-Rousseau example
Art Reference N40 .H38
Havlice, Patricia Pate. Index to Artistic Biography. 2 vols. and supp. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973, 1981.

Use these subject headings to find more in the Five College Library Catalog and other library catalogs:

General Collective Biography

Special Topics

Benezit Dictionary of Artists
170,000 entries on artists from antiquity to the present day.
Art Reference N40 .A63 1992
Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon: die bildenden Kunstler aller Zeiten und Volker.Munchen: Saur, 1992- . [known as Thieme-Becker] Rij-Rousseau example in Vollmer
Art Reference N40 .E4 1930
Edouard-Joseph, René. Dictionnaire biographique des artistes contemporains, 1910-1930. 3 vols. Paris: Art & édition, 1930-34.
Rij-Rousseau example
Who's Who in American Art
Brief biographical entries and directory information for over 11,000 living American artists, art "administrators, consultants, critics, curators, dealers, historians, educators, lecturers, collectors, librarians, and publishers." For historical information consult Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975 at Art Reference N6536 .W56 1999.

Biography in Context MLIN [Gale] This link opens in a new window
Extensive coverage of the contemporary visual artists included in the Contemporary Arts and St. James Guides Series (Contemporary Artists, Contemporary Women Artists, Guide to Black Artists, Guide to Hispanic Artists and others).

Biography in Context MLIN [Gale] This link opens in a new window
Extensive coverage of the contemporary visual artists included in the Contemporary Arts and St. James Guides Series (Contemporary Artists, Contemporary Women Artists, Guide to Black Artists, Guide to Hispanic Artists and others). Entries provide basic biographical information, lists of major commissions, updated bibliographies of publications by and about each subject, and brief critical and description essays on artists and their works.
American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Successor to the Dictionary of American Biography. Reliable scholarly biographies of major figures in American history. The online version American National Biography. 24 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
50,000 biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the 4th century BC to the year 2001.
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Online version of the multi-volume 2nd print edition

Researching Artists' Signatures
Getty Research Institute guide, 2006. Lists a variety of sources, most available in one of the Five College Libraries.
Art Reference N45 .G6
Goldstein, Franz. Monogramm-Lexikon: internationales Verzeichnis der Monogramme bildender Künstler seit 1850. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1964.
Klee example
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Art Reference N45 .F35 1988
Falk, Peter H. Dictionary of Signatures & Monograms of American Artists: From the Colonial Period to the Mid 20th Century. Madison, Conn.: Sound View Press, 1988.
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Art Reference N45 .F35 1988