Art History Internet Resources

The list of internet resources on this page is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but hopefully will provide some ideas on where reliable resources may be found.

Your first port of call is, of course, the University of Nottingham’s libraries' website . Accessible from anywhere that you can get online, you can:

• check out the availability of books/e-books and journals/e-journals held by the University (search the library catalogue).
• access the eLibrary Gateway where you will find electronic versions of journal articles (including many from reading lists).
• use the invaluable list of links to visual arts resources including databases of images: use the database search to look for 'Arts and Humanities' (subject) and 'Art History' (sub-subject) content.
• access the Manuscripts and Special Collections' electronic archives which includes an ever growing collection of images.

 

Useful websites for art history

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General

• Art History Resources on the Net.  A vast number of links to other sites which are arranged by period (and geography), e.g. 'Sixteenth-century art in N Europe and Spain'. Also covers photography. There is a comprehensive list of the websites of museums and galleries worldwide, and links to various research resources in Art History.
• The Artists' Papers Register (APR) online.  The APR now contains almost 16,000 entries relating to artists, designers and art-and-design-related organisations. The register represents a major resource for those working on the history of art and design – not just of British artists, but of any artist who has papers relating to them in the United Kingdom.
• Artguide.org.  A list of museums, galleries, historic houses, etc. in Britain and Ireland, with their addresses, phone numbers and links to their web sites (if they have them). Also a guide to current exhibitions – description, dates, opening times and how to get there.
• Artlex.com.  Definitions of more than 3,300 terms used in discussing art and visual culture, along with supporting images, pronunciation notes, quotations and cross-references.
• Artmag.com.  Current exhibitions-international guide.
• Artnet.com.  Information and images provided by dealers on contemporary artists: work for sale and exhibitions.
• ArtSource.  A gathering point for networked resources on Art and Architecture.
• BBC Learning.  Check the art category for a  list of recommended websites, each with a brief description and evaluation.
• Heiligenlexikon.de.  German site on a vast number of saints. Very good for biographies of saints, it includes lovely illustrations, and, very usefully, links to the (English) Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Library of Congress.  Research tools, exhibitions, library services, etc.
• The 'Mother of All Art & Art History Links Pages'.  Lots of links, arranged by category.
• RMN.  Covers works in all the major French museums.
• The World Wide Web Virtual Library: History of Art.  Another useful collection of links related to art history.
• Worlds Arts Resources.  Described as 'the definitive gateway to arts information and culture since 1995'.

 

Art historical organisations

• Association of Art Historians (AAH).  Formed in 1974 to promote the study of art history and ensure wider public recognition of the field. It is the only national organisation for professional art historians and researchers, including all those who are working in education, museums and galleries, independent art historians and students.
• College Art Association (CAA).  Founded in 1911, the facilitates the exchange of ideas and information among those interested in art and history of art.
• International Center of Medieval Art (ICMA).  A world-wide organization dedicated to the study of medieval art and culture.
• Technical Advisory Service for Images.  Provides a guide to finding images on the web plus links to many sites with high quality images.

 

Museums and galleries

Britain

• Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, Oxford
• British Museum, London
• Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham
• Hayward Gallery, London 
• Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow
• Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London
• IKON Gallery, Birmingham
• National Gallery, London
• National Portrait Gallery, London
• Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham
• Royal Academy of Arts, London
• Tate Gallery, London 
• The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

France

• The Louvre, Paris
• Musee d'Orsay,  Paris

Germany

• Germangalleries.de.  Lists links to major German museums and galleries.

Italy

• The Vatican Museums
• Roma2000.it.  Information on Monuments and Museums in Rome .

United States of America

• Guggenheim Museum, New York
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
• National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.

 

Electronic resources

Renaissance and Medieval

• The Cambridge English Renaissance Electronic Server (Ceres). Useful pages of links to other sites of Renaissance interest.
• The Catholic Encyclopedia. Very useful site. Try this for articles on religion, faith, the mass, liturgy, etc.
• Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies. Contains useful links.
• The Labyrinth. An ideal starting point for searches on Medieval Studies.
• Medieval Feminist Index.
• Medievalsources.co.uk. Described as a web-based learning resource containing hundreds of original medieval history documents.
• Project Wittenberg. Useful for 'Reformation to Counter Reformation: The North' module.
• Reformation. This site gives access to writings by Luther, Calvin, Melanchthon and others in English.

Image banks

• Artcyclopedia.com. The best way to find images. There is a database of 8000+ artists with direct links to most of the websites (usually galleries and museums) which have viewable works.
• Artsonfilm.wmin.ac.uk.  Offers online access to a large range of films on art and artists produced in the UK since the 1950s and is a unique record of British and international post-war art, as well as of documentary film-making in the UK.
• Greatbuildings.com.  A good resource for architecture, interlinked with RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects) and Architecture Week magazine.   
• Images of daily Life in Medieval France.
• Images relating to Medieval English Urban History.
• Images of the 'Dominion and Domination of the Gentle Sex'.
• The National Inventory of Continental European Paintings. Contains detailed records of nearly 8000 pre-1900 Continental European oil paintings from 200 public collections across the United Kingdom.
• The 'Web Gallery of Art'. 6500 digital reproductions of European paintings and sculptures from 1150 to 1750. Searchable by artist, title, period, etc.