"This...site for design (graphic, architectural, product) professionals, faculty, and students provides critical writings by well-known writers...The various channels are titled Observatory, for Design and Visual Culture; Places, Forum of Design for the Public Realm; Change Observer, for Design and Social Innovation; Observer Media, for Audio and Video; and Oblog, the Design Observer Blog..." Includes interviews and podcasts from leading design figures as well as job listings. [Choice, Aug. '14]
"As 'the woprld's first interactive digital archive of policy-relevant data on the arts and cultural policy in the United States,' [CPANDA] offers free access to data sets created using well-documented social science methodology...Data sets can be browsed by title, state, and subject." [Choice, March 2007]
Google Arts & Culture"Google Arts & Culture is a non-profit initiative. We work with cultural institutions and artists around the world. Together, our mission is to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere."
Created by Andras Riedlmayer, Bibliographer in Islamic Art and Architecture at Harvard, this site provides access to resources and links to electronic materials relating to all aspects of Islamic art and architecture. Some specific resources may be unavailable to users not affiliated with Harvard University.
"This site makes accessible some 250 digitized titles from Getty Publication's 40-plus-year publishing history, including many out-of-print titles. Exhibitions catalogues..., the J. Paul Getty Museum's journals, and Getty symposium papers are just a few of the publications available... Users may search by title, author, or keyword... They may also limit a search or browse via drop-down menus for imprint/program, publication type, subject category, or series." [Choice online, June, 2014]
The Getty Research Institute in California, in cooperation with several major European and American art institutes and museums, has produced this database of nearly 20,000 digital texts from the field of art history. Users have two search options: a simple keyword search, or an advanced search option that allows searching by author, title, and subject as well.
Combines displays of experimental and avant-garde video artists with a space for exhibitions and performances by artists in the broader video community. Metadata for each video is included. Material is organized according to broad categories (e.g. Music, Comedy, Documentary).
"[T]he Atlas is a teaching tool that offers a graphic description of the spread of printing up to the year 1500." [Choice, Feb. 2009] In addition to an interactive map of Europe showing the location of individual printers, universities, paper mills, and trade routes, from 1450-1500, there is a timeline and animations showing how early books were produced. Many links to other resources are available here as well.
Online Collections/Exhibitions
Here you will find links to the websites of specialized digital collections of art from museums and open-access databases.
"accessCeramics is a valuable, growing online collection of over 2,800 images from more than 360 contemporary ceramic artists. The collection is organized in a remarkably useful database that allows browsing by artist's name, geographical location, forming technique, glazing surface, firing temperature, material, object type, institution, or collection. Artists from around the world are represented, with a primary focus on US artists...Many of the individual artists' galleries of images include links to the artists' personal websites for more information." [Choice, Oct. 2013]
The Smithsonian Institution has put together this database of 16 million primary source materials on American culture including both print and visual resources. Many are fully digitized. There is a separate Research Collection arranged alphabetically. An image gallery search box is also provided.
"Covering contemporary art movements across Asia, the online iteration of the [Asia Art Archive] provides a searchable catalog of the full collection, located in Hong Kong, as well as a growing collection of digitized material." [Choice online, Jan. 2013] Both simple and advanced search options are provided.
From the Rochester Institute of Technology, this site provides access to the Cary Collection of graphic arts materials. Included are images of "printing presses, letter blocks, art, books, and more..." Collections cover "lithography, bookmaking, and typography" among other topics. Useful for "the history and development of printing and the graphic arts." Searching is possible by keyword and category. [Choice online, June '13]
Here are found several collections of successful design ideas in a wide range of media. The page is meant to get you thinking about your own design ideas.
Here you may find digital images from a number of collections held in the Beinecke Library at Yale University.Included are photographs, manuscripts, artwork, objects, and "scanned pagers from printed books." Materials have been selected from such collections as Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, the Cary Playing Card Database, Papyrus collections and Western Americana. Somewhat difficult to navigate, but a source of much of interest. [Choice, Aug. 2011]
Google Arts & Culture"Google Arts & Culture is a non-profit initiative. We work with cultural institutions and artists around the world. Together, our mission is to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere."
From the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, this database contains images of Himalayan art objects from over 300 different collections around the world. "This resources provides numerous access points for content, allowing browsing by geography, religious movements, iconography, and more...A My Gallery feature allows users to store favorite images together..." [Choice, August 2013] One cautionary note: image quality varies greatly among the collections.
"...[A]n online museum dedicated to presenting the lives of working people through art, music, and artifacts...Users may browse by Types of Art, Themes, and Time Period..." [Choice, Nov. 2008]
A collection of more than 9,000 photos, videos, and other photography-related items. Some are digitized and open-access. May be searched by artist/photographer or artwork title.
"...[T]he main purpose here is to provide general and practical information in preparation for a visit to the National Gallery building and its collection...A database of images and didactic texts gives access to a listing of 2,300 paintings in the collection, ranging from the 13th through the early 20th century. Searching is alphabetical by the artist's name...An art glossary provides a helpful adjunct source for visitors..." [Choice, Oct. 2011]
NYARC "...comprises the research libraries of three New York City Museums: The Brooklyn Museum, The Frick Collection, and the Museum of Modern Art...The website functions as a portal...to the Arcade online catalog that unites the the collections of the three member museum libraries." It also provides "access to a growing number of digital collections" including the Frick Digital Image Archive. [Choice, Apr. 2012]
Norman Rockwell. Combines the more than 4000 records and images of the artist's work from the "Definitive Catalogue" (1986) and 672 further images of works added since then. Additional materials such as letters, fan mail, and memorabilia are included. What Rockwell thought about the creation of specific works is also available.
"...Public Art Archive (PAA) aims to document public art in the US and Canada...So far more than 200 institutions, municipalities, and organizations have participated. Participation is hit-or-miss...One may browse by artist (3,550-plus); collections (200-plus); materials (200-plus); type of work (e.g. painting, sculpture--up to 96 types); placement (i.e. venue; 130-plus); and location, which goes to a world map, with Google Maps zooming capabilities, but no option to enter a search location..." [Choice, Oct. 2013]
Here is a collection of images from the British Architectural Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects. All periods are represented and related subjects, such as interior design, landscaping, planning and the decorative arts are also covered. "The visual resources comprise over 1.5 million photographs, 750,000-plus drawings, 135,000-plus books, about 700 current journals, papers of British architects and architectural historians, and archives of institutions and societies." [Choice, July 2014]
The sites below offer excellent images for research in art and art history and are especially good for illustrating a research paper or creating a class presentation.
African & Asian Visual Artists Archive -- A comprehensive archive of contemporary visual art by artists of African and Asian descent working in the UK since the post-war period. The archive houses over 6,000 slides of artworks and exhibitions, as well as publications and videos about and by artists. There are over 200 individual artist folders, as well as curators, art historians, cultural critics and arts organization files.
American Memory Project -- Created by the Library of Congress, American Memory is a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.
Web Gallery of Art -- WGA is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 11th to mid-19th centuries. Content focuses on the Renaissance period, the Medieval roots of the period and its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently Neoclassicism, Romanticism and Realism were also included.
The American Institute of Graphic Artists is the largest and most well-known professional association for those involved in the graphic arts. This is the organization's home page, with links to all sorts of news, tools, ideas, and employment opportunities.
The purpose of this web site is mainly to assist experts to determine the authenticity of works of art on an impartial, authoritative basis. However, it also provides "catalogues raisonnes" for numerous artists' work so interested researchers might survey large numbers of works by specific individuals. There are also guides to art terminology and determining provenance.
"...[A] member-supported, nonprofit organization founded in 1960 to champion the creation and understanding of sculpture and its unique, vital contribution to society." "A full-service resource for sculptors, collectors, historians, and others...Under Resources, visitors may browse or search a comprehensive list of museums, parks and gardens, and more...A valuable source for anyone interested in the world of sculpture." [Choice Online, Oct. 2011]
"WetCanvas is a website with an underlying model of social networking. Geared to people working in creative fields, it is incredibly powerful and effective at connecting artists to one another...The site covers all the media in which artists (or aspiring artists) work...Its alphabetically arranged Content Channels range from Abstract/Contemporary Art to Wearable Art." Content is user generated so those interested in the site will have to take some time exploring it before they can take full advantage of all its features. [Choice, Aug. '14]
