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Art & Art History

Resources for the study of art, art images, and art history.

Kirifuri Waterfall on Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province (c.1832-1833) by Katsushika HokusaBooks can be useful in art and art history research in a wide variety of ways, depending on what type of book you are looking at. Some examples of the types of books on art and art history in Kent Library's collection: 

  • Overviews and introductions to an artistic topic or artist that provide more detail than a reference source
  • Collections of article-lengths essays on a shared topic by multiple scholars, artists, and other experts
  • Deep, detailed research and criticism on a single artistic topic 
  • Guides on how to create, evaluate, and promote art

What information you need to find will affect what books will be most helpful. Depending on your need and what type of book you find, you may benefit from selecting parts of the book to read rather than reading the whole thing to be the best approach.

Image credit: Kirifuri Waterfall on Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province (c.1832-1833) by Katsushika Hokusa

Library Book Collections

These first three tools will search the Kent Library collections, as well as some other academic library collections, for books on your topic.

Browse the Library's Shelves

Kent Library's print collections are organized by subject area. So, if you go up to find a book by call number, it is worth browsing the nearby shelves, as there are likely to be similar books around it.

Try looking in these areas*:

  • 720s architecture
  • 730s sculpture, ceramics & metalwork
  • 740s drawing & decorative work
  • 750s painting
  • 760s graphic arts
  • 770s photography 

Art books with images of art works in them may be oversized. Oversized books are placed on the top or bottom shelf of the bookshelf where their call number would go.

* Starting in summer 2018, Kent Library will begin changing its call number system, starting with all new books, from Dewey to Library of Congress (LC). Browsing the LC collection works the same as Dewey, just with an alpha-numeric system instead of just numbers.

Try looking in these areas of the LC collection:

  • N - Visual arts (general)
    • N5300-7418 Art history
    • N8350-8356 - Art as a profession
  • NA - Architecture
  • NB - Sculpture
  • NC - Drawing, design, & illustration
  • ND - Painting
  • NE - Print media
  • NK - Decorative arts
  • TR - Photography
  • TT - Handicrafts

Open Online Ebooks

Both the Getty and the Met have made some high-quality arts-related ebooks available online for free use.