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Art and Art History : Artists

collection of e-resources useful for art historical research

Librarian Profile

Profile Photo
Anna Simon
Contact:
Kohler Art Library
160b Elvehjem Building
800 University Ave.
608-263-2257
Social: Twitter Page

General Biographical Research Guide

Online artist projects or artist websites

Look for online scholarly research projects devoted to individual artists. Look for websites maintained directly by contemporary artists.  Look for sites maintained by artists' estates.  Carefully evaluate the sites' authority.

Biographical information in books

Search the library catalog for publications by or about your artist.  Combine the artist name with terms such as:

  • autobiography
  • biography
  • correspondence
  • diaries
  • interviews
  • letters
  • obituaries
  • personal narratives
  • self portraits
  • sources and documents

If the number of research publications supports this degree of detail, standardized subject terms also include the following:

  • childhood and youth
  • education
  • family
  • friends and associates
  • homes and haunts
  • political activities
  • political and social views
  • quotations
  • relations with authors
  • relations with women
  • religion
  • travel

Name Authority File

The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) allows searches for personal names that worldwide libraries may have used for subject or author entries.    

http://viaf.org/