Reference Books for Artists

The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms (World of Art)

by: Edward Lucie-Smith

What exactly is neoexpressionism? the difference between applique and applique? the part of a city known as the acropolis? or the painting technique called gouache?

This is an authoritative and concise dictionary with more than 2,000 entries that embrace the vast vocabulary of terms used in relation to painting and sculpture, architecture and photography, and the decorative, applied, and graphic arts.

The hundreds of illustrations and diagrams play a vital role as information: art movements become immediately recognizable by a representative painting, and the defining features of each order of architecture are identifiable at a glance.

This revised edition features a substantial number of new entries, including references to today's influential artist groups and tendencies and new terms connected with the use of computer technology in the art world, from digital image to pixel.

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The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by: Michael Clarke

1,800 entries covering periods, styles, materials, well known schools, foreign terms, techniques, and art historical terms.

From Baroque to Postmodernism , batik to mezzotint, and canvas to porcelain , this new dictionary provides succinct and accessible explanations of over 1,800 terms used in the wide variety of visual media that makes up the art world.
* Extensive coverage of periods and styles throughout art history
* Includes many materials, techniques, technical and foreign terms
* Also explains philosophical terms and methodologies
Suggested Readership: Students of Art, gallery and museum visitors, and a wide readership interested in the arts.

Michael Clarke is Director of the National Gallery of Scotland.

Deborah Clarke works for Philips Auctioneers and specializes in ceramics and modern design.

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Looking at Prints, Drawings and Watercolours: A Guide to Technical Terms (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum)

by: Paul Goldman

Many of the terms applied by art historians and curators to describe prints, drawings, and watercolors are not readily understood by the majority of exhibition visitors and art enthusiasts. These terms can also be difficult to find in reference books.

This publication, which is part of the popular Looking At series of art glossaries, defines and illustrates in one portable volume the most commonly used technical terms related to these three media.

This handy reference guide features over one hundred entries--alphabetically arranged from aquatint to wood engraving--that concisely explain the processes and materials utilized in creating prints, drawings, and watercolors. This edition, revised from a book originally published in 1989, has been updated with additional color illustrations and new entries on digital printmaking and copies and fakes. It is richly illustrated with objects from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Museum.

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The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms

by: Simon Wilson, Jessica Lack

How many times have you read the caption next to a work of art in a museum, or a review of a contemporary art exhibition in a magazine and found yourself none the wiser?

For many, the language in which modern art is described can be as mystifying as the art itself. How necessary, then, to find a reliable guide through the confusing terminology that bedevils so much art writing.

Drawing on the expertise of the most visited modern art museum in the world, The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date resource for museum goers, art students, and general readers alike, comprehensive in scope but small enough to fit into a bag or pocket. From Abstract Expressionism and Body Art through Young British Artists (YBAs) and Group Zero, with hundreds of topics in between, every term, whether it be a theme, a movement, a medium, or a practice, is defined with clarity and precision.

The entries are complemented by 50 illustrations.

International in scope, and ranging in time from the dawn of Impressionism through to the internet age, this is the perfect companion for all those wanting to increase their understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art.

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The Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists

by: Ms. Erika Langmuir, Norbert Lynton

The Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists is a superb reference work dealing with all aspects of Western art from 1300 to the present day.

It provides information on painters, sculptors, and graphic artists, technical processes, terminology, theory, schools, movements, patrons and collecting, and much more. There are also extended conceptual entries ranging over such subjects as abstraction, allegory, genres, iconography, illusionism, minimalism, realism, and symbolism.

Written by Erika Langmuir and Norbert Lynton, the 3,000 entries are unusually readable and lucid, providing vivid characterizations of artistic styles and artists.

Entries vary between short and encyclopedic; major artists and artists whose careers or talents have recently been reassessed or who seem to merit reassessment are given a fuller treatment. There is extensive cross-referencing between entries.

Erika Langmuir is a former head of education at the National Gallery, London. Norbert Lynton, professor emeritus of the University of Sussex and former director of exhibitions for the Arts Council of Great Britain and has written widely on twentieth-century art.

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The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by: Ian Chilvers

Based on the acclaimed Oxford Dictionary of Art, this is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to Western art--from ancient Greece to the present day.

For this third edition, new entries have been added on younger, contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, and Rachel Whiteread, and the existing entries have been thoroughly revised and updated.

With over 2,500 entries, arranged in A-Z order for ease of reference, this is an ideal book for students and for anyone who enjoys visiting art galleries and exhibitions.

There are entries on artists, painting, sculpture, the graphic arts, leading collectors, dealers, and patrons, museums and galleries, and materials and techniques, many enlivened by quotations from artists and critics. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists is an engaging and reliable companion for anyone with an interest in the history of art

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The Penguin Dictionary of Art And Artists: Seventh Edition (Dictionary, Penguin)

by: Peter Murray, Linda Murray

Fully revised for its seventh edition, this comprehensive and detailed reference contains entries on major artists of the last seven centuries; short biographies of over 1,200 artists; descriptions of artistic techniques and styles; definitions of artistic movements; and much more.

An indispensable source of information for both artists and those interested in the arts in general.

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The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists (The World of Art Series)

This dictionary provides comprehensive information on the fine arts, with entries on paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, and the artists who have made them, throughout the world. It covers historical styles and movements in the arts, and contains entries on techniques, materials and terms, as well as on the major writers whose ideas have influenced the course of art and the work of artists.

This revised and updated edition (as at 1994) contains more than 2500 entries, over 200 entries having been added to those in the previous edition.

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The Art Atlas

The Art Atlas is the first work to present the art of the entire world from ancient to modern times through extensive use of specially commissioned maps. Covering painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as other arts and artifacts, the volume provides an entirely new vision of the history of the world's art by showing how physical and political geography has shaped its developments.

Over 350 pages in scope, Atlas compares countries separated by thousands of miles and many centuries, demonstrating how the art of each is affected by opportunities and constraints dictated by location or culture. Here, for the first time, readers can appreciate the art of prehistoric Oceania and the Nile Valley of the Pharaohs alongside that of nineteenth-century Russia and the twentieth-century United States. In addition to showing where and when great artists lived and worked, Atlas explains how major styles developed and the ways in which art has been influenced by religion, trade, travel, war, and other historical factors. The volume also provides the first comprehensive picture of the impact of the natural world on the development of art, charting the sources of fibers for weaving, pigments for coloring, wood for carving, paper for printing, and stone for use in sculpture and architecture.

With its combination of enormous breadth and constant clarity of focus, abdundant illustrations and a user-friendly, searchable CD, Atlas provides exceptional insight into what unites art and what makes it so varied. Organized into seven chronological periods and including contributions from 68 internationally renowned art historians, The Art Atlas is an original, comprehensive and up-todate reference work that will be a benchmark for many years to come.

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ArtSpeak : A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1945 to the Present (Speak Series)

by: Robert Atkins

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The Necessity of Artspeak: The Language of Arts in the Western Tradition

by: Roy Harris

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Smithsonian Q & A: American Art and Artists: The Ultimate Question & Answer Book

by: Tricia Wright

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Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by: Anne Lee Morgan

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African American Art and Artists

by: Samella Lewis

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