Tips for Researching Contemporary Artists
For Art 122y, Commentary on Art, Fall,
2008
Henry Pisciotta, Arts and Architecture Librarian
Choosing an Artist
There are so many ways!
Finding Books on a Specific Artist
If you want to borrow books on a specific artist you'll need to use the library catalog (The Cat). Going straight to the shelves and browsing is not usually effective for this purpose because the books on a single artist are often scattered around under different media, periods, and countries.
Available as a database on LIAS.
The Penn State Libraries' catalog contains virtually all of the holdings of the University Park Libraries as well as those of the many other campuses of Penn State. Like most library catalogs it list the titles of books, magazines, and other publications held by the library – but only has a single record for each magazine title; they do not include records for each of the articles in a magazine. (For that, see “Finding Articles” below.) As with any database, you may need to try several methods of searching in order to get good results. If your artist has a distinctive name (like Andy Warhol) it is easiest to search using the system defaults. Just type in the name in any order.
However, if the artists has common names (such as Fred Wilson) you might get too much garbage with this type of search. If that happens, try clicking the "Begins With (Browse)" button and typing the name in inverted order (Wilson, Fred), then change the pull-down menu to "LC Subj Headings." (Library of Congress Subject Headings are a standard form for names and subjects used in American libraries.) Sometimes, if you change “LC Subj Heading” to “Author” and repeat this search, you'll get a few more books, because artists are occasionally listed only as the authors. If you get no results at all, check the spelling of the name. You may “mark” the records that interest you and print or email the marked records. To find them on the shelves, you will need to note three bits of information in order to fetch it: the name and portion of the library, the area within the library, and the classification number. For example: Pattee - Stacks 1A NX512.W37M34 2002
If the book is not on the shelf, please ask at the nearest service desk. If a book you want is charged out, stored in the “annex", owned only at another campus, click on the "I Want It" button and complete the brief form. Then the book will be retrieved and held for you at a library service desk, usually with a few days
Finding Articles on an Artist
To find a good selection of articles on artists, you usually need to use a "periodical index." This indicates which articles are in what journals. Some periodical indexes contain the electronic text of the article, but the best ones for art do not. Instead The Penn State Libraries have installed a “Get It” button. When you find a description of an article in the periodical index, click the “Get It” button and a new window will open. It tries to find the electronic text of the article in the many sources we have for these. If it finds one, it gives you a hotlink to a source for the article. If it fails to find one, it offers to search The Cat for you, to locate a paper copy. The best periodical indexes for artists are:
(a database on the Libraries web pages)
This index lists articles in a variety of visual arts magazines and a few in related disciplines. Search it like you would The Cat (see above). You seldom need to worry about common names (like Fred Wilson) since everything in the database is limited to the visual arts. A unique feature of this database: Watch out for the word “reproductions” in the results of your search. These are records describing pictures, not articles. They are usually gallery ads and often excellent quality pictures, with captions, but no magazine article. This database only contains information for articles published from 1984 to the present.
(a database on the Libraries web pages)
Covers articles on the visual arts of the late 19th century to the present. It indexes more articles of this type than Art Abstracts does. Includes things published as early as 1973. When you search an artist’s name in this database the order of the words makes a difference. So to get all mentions of the name, enter it both ways (andy warhol or warhol, andy.)
If the “get It” button indicates that an article you want is not held at Penn State, click the "ILL" button (that stands for Inter-Library Loan) and a photocopy or image file will be obtained for you. This often takes 2 weeks, but sometimes only a few days.
Finding Statements by an Artist
The artist's own words often provide an important perspective on the work. You can sometimes find them in Art Abstracts by adding the terms "statements" or "interviews" to your search, since these words are added to the database record when an article consists primarily of the artist's words. (But don’t add these terms unless there is too much to browse through when you search the artist’s name.) In Artbibliographies Modern the terms "artists writings," "artists diaries," and "artists correspondences" are used. The following books contain many short statements by modern artists in an arrangement that is easy to consult:
N6490.4 .A37 2005 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, STACKS 2 - REFERENCE COLLECTION)
N6490.C6567 2002 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, 2ND FLOOR - READY REFERENCE)
TR139.C663 1995 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, 2ND FLOOR - READY REFERENCE)
N8354.C66 1999 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, STACKS 2 - REFERENCE COLLECTION)
And this one indexes statements in other books:
NX456.R59 1996 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, STACKS 2 - REFERENCE COLLECTION)
If you want to choose an artist based upon statements, you could also find collections of interviews in The Cat by searching the terms “artists interviews” as “LC Subj Heading.”. Or try the similar LC Subject Heading “artists’ writings.”
Finding Pictures
There are many ways to find pictures of the artist's work. Some tips on finding all sorts of pictures are available in the Libraries’ web page “Picture Sources” (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/artshumanities/art/images.html)
Contacting Artists
To get direct contact information for an artist, you can try:
N6536.W5 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, STACKS 2 - REFERENCE COLLECTION)
N40.W6 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, STACKS 2 - REFERENCE COLLECTION)
Galleries that handle an artist’s work know how to contact the artist (assuming the artists is alive.) To find the appropriate galleries try:
N510.A78 (ARTS & HUMANITIES, PATTEE, 2ND FLOOR - READY REFERENCE)
http://www.artincontext.org
It’s a good idea to do as much research as you can before contacting an artist. This helps you to get the most out of the interaction (not just repeating simple facts, etc.) You knowledge of the artist also demonstrates the sincerity of your request and is more likely to get a response.
Or Ask!
If you get stuck with any type of search for art information please ask. Ask someone at any library service desk or use the "Ask" button on many of the Libraries web pages. It connects you to email or chat services or to phone numbers. Or contact me:
Henry Pisciotta
Arts and Architecture
Librarian
Pennsylvania State University Libraries
320 West
Pattee
865-6778
henryp@psu.edu
henrylibrarian
(AIM screen name)