Research Guides @ Fordham: Visual Arts: Begin Here

Choosing Keywords or Search Terms

Suggested search terms might include an art genre, medium, time period, artist, or subject area. They may also include a combination of these categories. For example:

Nature photography
Surrealist films
Socialism art
Georgia O'Keeffe watercolors

Experiment with your search terms to find a bigger variety of resources.

MoMA Learning Glossary of Art Terms
The MoMA Glossary of Art Terms can help you select terms for your search.

Background Information Databases

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Resources for art research including Grove Art Online - the world's largest art encyclopedia and Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. Fordham University community can ignore the log in box! Subscription DOES NOT INCLUDE Benezit Dictionary of Artists.
Oxford Reference Premium This link opens in a new window
Over 300 dictionaries, encyclopedias and subject reference books published by Oxford University Press. 5 Simultaneous User limit
Gale Ebooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Online access to encyclopedias, reference works, and other ebooks covering a wide range of topics. Includes Scribners Writers and Twaynes Authors titles.
Credo Reference - Academic Core This link opens in a new window
NEW PLATFORM! Millions of entries from notable subject encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, companions and readers covering over 80 major subject disciplines and more than 6 million research concepts. Access to more than 1,000 videos and animations, and 500,000 contextual visual aids, images, photographs and maps.

Reference Books

Benezit Dictionary of Artists by Emmanuel Bénézit
Call Number: (RH Ref) N40 .B47 2006
Paris : Gründ, 2006.
The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists by Ian Chilvers
Oxford University Press, 2015.
Electronic resource; authentication is required.
A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art by John Glaves-Smith
Oxford University Press, 2015.
Electronic resource; authentication is required.

Sources on Art Writing

A Short Guide to Writing about Art by Sylvan Barnet
Boston : Pearson, 2015.
Digital Reserve book; authentication is required.
Writing about Visual Art by David Carrier
Call Number: (RH) N7476 .C378 2003
New York : Allworth Press, 2003.
Also available electronically; authentication is required.
Writing about Art by Henry M. Sayre
Call Number: (LC) N7476 .S29 2006
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
Writing Architecture: A Practical Guide to Clear Communication about the Built Environment by Carter Wiseman
Call Number: (RH) NA2540 .W67 2014
San Antonio : Trinity University Press, 2014.