Theories and Methods of Art History (FAH100)

by Chao Chen, Humanities Reference Librarian

email chao.chen@tufts.edu | phone 617.627.2057 | home icon Homepage

Chao Chen


Preparations for Research

A. Sources for research ideas:
You may get inspiration to research a topic from many sources, including the following

  • 1. Professor’s suggestions; Course Syllabus
  • 2. Textbooks on Course Reserves.
  • 3. Bibliographies found in the above readings;
  • 4. Other sources that inspire or interest you.

B. Survey the sources—list, from the above sources, terms, concepts, and topics you need or want to explore further:
(Be mindful if a line of inquiry might suggest itself.)

  • Authors, titles (of books and articles) and ideas from the above.
  • Terms, concepts, methods/approaches/theories you need or want to explore further.
  • Artists, art works, an art historian’s analysis of a "problem", and so on
  • The above overlap and relate to each other; state these relationships when you identify them.

 

 

If you prefer to start with the visuals to help frame your research; try these sources:


JSTOR (a collection of journals with omission of the current years)

Click on the Images in JStor Tab to view images within the journal articles. (The ARTStor Images Tab is not the same as searching ARTstor separately.)

ARTstor (the digital images database)

1. Oxford Art Online

Includes "Grove Art Online"—the online equivalent of the 34 volumes of the print version of The Dictionary of Art, plus updates since the print version.)


2. Oxford Reference Online

Art and Architecture; social, political, religious history; history of ideas; all periods.

Search Oxford Reference Online

3. Textbooks on Course Reserves.

4. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory (1996-current)

5. Dictionary of Art Historians

6. Dictionary of Literary Biography
Includes biographical, critical essays and bibliographies on the 20th century American and European cultural theorists.


 

Subject Encyclopedias/dictionaries & Textbooks provide:

1. thorough introductions and summaries of major art movements and art theories in their historical and social contexts

2. and with cross-references to related topics and bibliographies; bio-bibliographies of artists

3. and their works and writings, theories, etc. in critical context.


arrow Readings on Course Reserves.



arrow WorldCat (catalogs of libraries worldwide)



Procedure Note:

1. Verify if Tufts Library has the book you need.

2. Use ILliad (interlibrary loan service) to request non-Tufts books.


Recommended


A Survival Guide for Art History Students
N385 .M37 2005		 Look!: the Fundamentals of Art History
N345 .D26 2006
book cover book cover
A Short Guide to Writing about Art.
N7476 .B37 2008		 Writing about Art.
N7476 .S29 2006
book cover book cover

Path of Discovery in the Catalogs

1. Find a title/author (assigned readings/Course Reserves);

2. Note the descriptive language of the Catalog record.

3. Use that language in further searches

  1. e.g. Click on subject/author in the record to see further results and related topics.
Author Pollock, Griselda.
Title Encounters in the Virtual Feminist Museum: Time, Space and the Archive.
Publisher London; New York: Routledge, 2007.
Subject Feminism and art.
  Women in art.
Modernism (Art).

A subject search on a contemporary artist:

  1. Shonibare, Yinka (last name first)

Perform, also, a Keyword Search

  1. Yinka Shonibare

A contemporary artist is likely to be part of a broader discussion, found in a chapter of a book rather than in a monograph (books focusing on a singular subject). With Yinka Shonibare, you will discover some broader discussions in the Catalog records:

  1. "contemporary African art"
  2. "art of the contemporary African diaspora"
  3. "Textile fabrics in art"

The above example also suggests these common types of keywords to use in searching book catalogs:

  1. medium
  2. geographical location
  3. nationality/ethnic groups
  4. period

Use exhibition cataloguef for critical essays by scholars; search for more of their works in journals.

Author Shonibare, Yinka, 1962-
Title Yinka Shonibare: Double Dutch
Note "This catalogue is published on the occasion of the exhibition ... held at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam from 21 februari-25 april 2004 and at the Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna from 15 May-5 September 2004"--Colophon.
Contents Independence cha cha : the art of Yinka Shonibare / Manthia Diawara -- To entertain and provoke : western influences in the work of Yinka Shonibare / Jaap Guldemond, Gabriele Mackert -- Laughing at ourselves / John Picton -- The African dandy / Angela McRobbie -- Lordly pleasures : the Victorian aristocracy at play / Peter Bailey -- The head stream that never runs dry : Shonibare's haunting vision bears witness to the profound influence of his native country / Onyema Offoedu-Okeke -- Experience, uncertainty, and the power of the false / Achille Mbembe.
Subject Shonibare, Yinka, 1962- -- Exhibitions.
  Fashion in art -- Exhibitions.
Textile fabrics in art -- Exhibitions.

Perform a Keyword Search for a broader question related to your artist/art works:

(batik or fabrics or textile*) and art* and africa*

Sample results in Tufts Library Catalog:

  • The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design without End. c2008.
  • Accidentally on purpose: the aesthetic management of irregularities in African textiles and African-American quilts. c2006

Note:

  • 1. include "and" in between keywords;
  • 2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;
  • 3. art* for all forms: art, artists, artistic, etc.

With well-studied artists from the past, there will be lot more books. It helps to browse through some typical subject subdivisions in book catalogs:

Gogh, Vincent van

Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890 -- Catalogues Raisonnés
Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890 -- Correspondence

Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890 -- Criticism and interpretation

Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890 -- Exhibitions

Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890 -- Themes, motives


1. ARTbibliographies Modern

2. Additional Databases

Art Abstracts

Arts & Humanities Citation Index

3. JSTOR (a collection of journals with omission of the current years)

Consult, also, Library Research Sources for Architectural Studies.


Click on the number to pause the slide.

Some Database Charateristics


Each Database is selective

arrow Subject Matter—disciplinary perspective, period, geographical region, and more;
arrow Scope
arrow Depth (of indexing) —citation, abstracts, full texts, which determines their search capabilities.



Strategy in Selecting a Database


arrow First, run a relatively broad search in them to assess their relevance on a topic;
arrow Next, try out a variety of keyword, subject, and author searches in a chosen database.
arrow Last, use newly learned ideas and words in other databases.

Range of Keywords—Scope of a Research Question


1. An initial focused search:

  1. "Yinka Shonibare and textiles"
  2. "Yinka Shonibare and identity"

2. Try a general search with simply the artist name.


3. Examine the general search results to discover possible new directions such as

  1. England, Nigeria, (regional influences),
  2. hybrid (medium),
  3. post-colonialism (method/theory),
  4. authenticity (an issue/problem),
  5. humour (a theme).

About JSTOR

1. JSTOR provides images in the articles, information which is not conveyed in text alone;

2. Likely to include seminal works on a subject, which are highly original and influential, and central to the development or understanding of a subject.

3. Make sure to supplement with more up-to-date information from other sources when using JSTOR.

Click to browse two major journals in the field:

journal cover journal cover

Evaluation of Search Results:

In what types of journals and publications (besides art history journals) did you find relevant work? What does this suggest about research on your topic?

What sorts of audiences seem to be addressed in works on your topic? How can you tell? 

What aspects of the search results surprised you? Why? Did “peripheral materials” lead you anywhere? How?

Based on your search, how would you characterize the main approaches to your topic? What do you think are some of the central debates in the study of your topic? What is your evidence for thinking so?

Review of Recent Books

1. Review of any recent books on a subject;

2. Such review articles are likely to summarize the current state of research in an area;

3. Search by either the keyword “review*”, or limit your search to book reviews in any database.

A sample search:

review* and africa* and (textile* or fabric*)


Note:

1. include "and" in between keywords;

2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;

3. review* searches for or all forms: review, reviews, reviewing, etc.

Find Authors Who Have Recently Cited an Article

1. Not every single article is cited;
2. Influential authors are cited more often;
3. More recent publications take time to be cited.

Therefore, search for seminal works by influential scholars and find out who cited them recently.

Those who cited the article found in Arts & Humanities Citation Index:

Title: Lost and 'Found' - Once More Fallen Woman.
Author(s): Nochlin, L.
Source: Art Bulletin Vol. 60 issue 1, 1978
Times Cited: 14

Read a Couple of Articles Carefully and Identify:

  • the "problem" addressed (the thesis of the article);
  • the central debates on this problem;
  • the major arguments by the author;
  • the methods applied in making these arguments;
  • the evidence (e.g., visual/formal details, original documents, or secondary sources);
  • if the conclusions are based on speculations, are they convincing?

Throughout your reading:

  • Compare and contrast methods by authors: key points of difference or convergence
  • Note controversies and weaknesses; explain and clarify gaps
  • How about the presentation, logic and clarity of the article?
  • State your own positions; provide your own interpretations and critiques

Finding Full Texts

1. Click on the FindItAtTufts button to these three options:

  • a. link to the full text of the article when available digitally;
  • b. link to a Library Catalog search for the journal in print that contains your article.
  • c. link to ILliad for requesting the article when the above two options are negative.

2. Search for a journal directly here:

Related Databases:

  1. Africa-Wide: NiPAD
  2. Bibliography of Asian Studies
  3. Index Islamicus
  4. PRISMA (Latin America)
  5. Slavic and East European Studies
  1. Women's Studies International  
  2. The Gerritsen Collection Women's History, 1543-1945.


Current (United States and International)

  1. LexisNexis Academic
  2. Factiva
  3. Massachusetts Newsstand 

Ethnic, Altenative and Independent Press

  1. Alt-PressWatch    
  2. Ethnic NewsWatch  from 1990 -
  3. Ethnic NewsWatch: A History  1960 -  1989

Historical

  1. American Periodicals (1740 - 1900)
  2. The Nation Digital Archive (1865 - present)
  3. Time Magazine (1923-Present)
  4. New York Times Online Archive
    (1851 - 3 years before current date)
  5. African American Newspapers - 19th Century  
  6. American Newspapers (1690 - 1922)
  7. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
  1. 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers (British)
  2. 19th Century British Newspapers
  3. British Periodicals (1680s - 1930s)
  4. Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985)

 


Factiva includes content in over 22 languages from over 150 countries and 350 geographic regions.


 


In print:

Books and journals with color plates, photographs, and other visuals are excellent sources.

 

An Advanced Keyword search; limit to print materials, in the Tufts Catalog:

edo and (paint* or print*) and (catalog* or exhibition*)

Note:

1. include "and" in between keywords;

2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;

3. paint* searches for or all forms: paint, paintings, painters, etc.


 

Digital Images


JSTOR (a collection of journals with omission of the current years)

Click on the Images in JStor Tab to view images within the journal articles. (The ARTStor Images Tab is not the same as searching ARTstor separately.)

ARTstor (the digital images database)

Artifact (Tufts University)

 


Using the Chicago Manual of Style:

The Manual presents two basic documentation systems, the humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the author-date system.


Consult Chicago Manual of Style Online for detailed guidance.


Print copy at the Reference Desk: Z253 .U69 2003


Brief samples (the humanities style):

Book Citation in a bibliography:

Steiner, Hadas A. Beyond Archigram: the structure of circulation. New York: Routledge, 2009.


Book Citation in a note:

Fernando Luiz Lara, The rise of popular modernist architecture in Brazil (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, c2008), 35.


Article citation in a bibliography:

Wright, Gwendolyn. "Cultural History: Europeans, Americans, and the Meanings of Space." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 64, no. 4 (2005), 436-440.


Article citation in a note:

Ralph E. Griswold, "Wright Was Wrong," Landscape Architecture 53 (April 1963), 190-214.

 

Citation Management Tool: RefWorks

  • 1. Store your records of books, articles, etc.
  • 2. Generate a bibliography in the style of your choice.
  • 3. Format in-text notes/footnotes while you write.

Learn how to use RefWorks
Back to Top

last updated: 24/07/09