Guides: Art History: Home

Getting Started

For background information, start with an exhaustive reference work such as Grove Art Online or its predecessor in print, the Encyclopedia of World Art (N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1959-1983. Ref. N 32 .E4833) - half of each volume consists of illustrative plates. Both the 'Guided Tour' and 'Tips for Users' (available from the Home page) provide useful information on searching Grove/Oxford Art Online.

Bibliographies located in books or at the end of journal articles can be very helpful. To learn if Pepperdine has access to a particular journal, search for the name of the journal in the library catalog, or use the 'Journals & Periodicals' search feature on the Library's Web site.

Specialized Online Encyclopedias

Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
Overview of the major cultures of the classical Mediterranean world from the Bronze Age to the fifth century CE, plus the legacy of the classical world and its interpretation and influence in subsequentical world centuries.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
Contains 600 entries covering the prehistoric, predynastic, and dynastic phases of ancient Egypt within the context of its contiguous and sometimes conquering neighbors, tracing its history through the Islamic conquest of 642 CE, with the focus on dynastic Egypt.

Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture This link opens in a new window
Covers all aspects of Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Africa to Central, South, and East Asia, includes entries on artists, rulers, writers, ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, calligraphy, textiles, and more.

Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican culture
Chronicles Pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern Mesoamerica, defined as the lands stretching from Mexico to the southern tip of Central America with 600+ articles on the great civilizations of the pre-Columbian era (including the Olmec, Aztec, and Maya peoples) up through the colonial and postcolonial periods.
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Articles on all aspects of the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century, exploring art, architecture, religion, law, science, language, philosophy, and theology, as well as cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history. With a focus on focus on Europe and Christendom, the Encyclopedia also covers the rise of Islam and people of other cultures with whom Europeans came into contact.
Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art
Covers a wide range of subject areas, addressing people and subjects specific to all areas of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, and including articles on artists, artisans, patrons, painting, architecture, sculpture, cities, centres of production, theory, criticism, and more.

Grove Encyclopedia of American Art (GEAA) This link opens in a new window
GEAA deals with all aspects of American art and architecture from Native American art to Colonial art to contemporary American art. There are articles on all subject areas in American fine art including: biographies of major artists, architects and patrons, architecture, painting, new media, photography, sculpture, installation art, performance art, new media art, art education, and more.
Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts This link opens in a new window
Entries covering thousands of years of decorative arts production throughout western and non-western cultures including the qualities and historical uses of materials and definitions on art forms and styles.
Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques This link opens in a new window
Historical and current uses of materials and techniques in a wide range of areas from painting and sculpture to non-traditional media such as digital and video art.
Coverage includes materials in art practice (e.g. ink, enamel, digital materials); materials in conservation (e.g. adhesives); classes of artifacts (e.g. wallpaper, mosaic, ceramic); techniques and methods (e.g. book binding, gilding, printing, weaving), terms (e.g. rustication), tools (e.g. easel, laser), theory (e.g. technical examination, conservation controversies), fakes & forgeries, and conservation theorists and practitioners.

Encyclopedia of American Studies
Brings together a large range of disciplines related to the history and cultures of the United States, from pre-colonial days to the present.
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Click on 'Resources' and then on 'Arts and Literature'

Finding Articles

Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive, international resource covering fine, decorative and commercial art, as well as photography, folk art, film, and architecture.
Full-text articles from more than 300 periodicals dating back to 1995
High-quality indexing and abstracting of over 600 periodicals dating as far back as 1984, including 280 peer-reviewed journals
Indexing and abstracting of over 13,000 art dissertations
Indexing of nearly 200,000 art reproductions
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Use Advanced Search and 'unclick' Include only content I can access - you can obtain articles through InterLibrary Loan if the full-text is not available

Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
The Getty Research Institute provides access to the BHA and to the Repertoire de la litterature de l'art (RILA) for no charge on its Web site. The databases, searchable together, cover material published between 1975 and 2007.

Dissertations & Theses Global (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The bibliographies can be especially helpful