Online Resources

The DMA is committed to making art accessible in Dallas and around the world, and our online resources play an important role in that mission. Explore the possibilities:

• Library Catalogs
• Artist Biography
• Art Research – General
• Art Research – By Subject
• Auction Sales Results
• Conservation
• Digital Books, Newspapers, and Journals
• Images
• Provenance
• Writing and Style Guides

DMA Staff: Contact the Librarian regarding access to full-text research databases and indexes.

Databases marked with an * are limited to on-site or DMA staff access.

• Mildred R. and Frederick M. Mayer Library Catalog
• *FirstSearch: Precise, full-featured searching of WorldCat.
• WorldCat: Search library collections across the world.
• Art Discovery Group Catalogue: Focused search within WorldCat on art historical literature found in art libraries worldwide

Local Libraries with Art Resources

• Southern Methodist University’s Hamon Arts Library
• University of Texas at Dallas’ Eugene McDermott Library
• Dallas Public Library

• *Benezit Dictionary of Artists: Artist biographies, exhibition histories, auction records, and signatures.
• *Grove Art Online: Standard resource for artists, patrons, movements, places, and periods.
• Artists' Biographies Research Guide: Biographical resource suggestions provided by the Getty Research Institute.
• Art History Research Net Guide: A list of websites containing biographical information on designers, architects, craftspeople, painters, sculptors, and other creators.
• Dictionary of Art Historians: Biographical entries for historians of Western art.
• Getty Union List of Artist Names (ULAN): An evolving vocabulary provided by the Getty Research Institute used to identify an artist's name (and variances of his or her name), and nationality, role, and related people.
• National Museum of Women in the Arts – Artist Profiles: Biographical information for over 1,000 national and international women artists.
• Native American Artist Resource Collection Online: Biographical information for nearly 25,000 Native American artists.
• Women Artist Index: Biographical information on 20th-century women artists in the Archive of Women Artists Research & Exhibitions.

• *Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms: Definitions for various visual art terms related to materials, techniques, and defining styles and movements.
• *Encyclopedia of Aesthetics: Major concepts, thinkers, and debates regarding meaning, uses, and value of all art.
• *Oxford Art Online: Standard and authoritative art reference resource.
• *Oxford Companion to Western Art: Comprehensive overview of artists, movements, patronage, theory, and scientific research regarding Western art.
• Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA); Répertoire internationale de la littérature de l'art (RILA): European and American visual arts material including articles from over 1,200 journals.
• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Essays on various topics ranging from Andean textiles to American women sculptors and a timeline to explore art and culture by time period or location.
• IFAR Catalogues Raisonnés Database: Identifies published catalogues raisonnés and catalogs in preparation.
• Print Council of America's Index to Print Catalogue Raisonnés: Identifies published catalogues raisonnés related to European and American prints, print publishers, drawings, and photographs. Also covers Japanese prints and photographs.

• African Art Research Guide:  A list of freely-available resources for students, teachers, and researchers.
• Africa South of the Sahara – Selected Internet Resources: An annotated directory of online resources on Africa from Stanford University Libraries.
• Arts and Life in Africa: Encyclopedic essays and extensive bibliography regarding African arts and culture. The project is hosted by the University of Iowa Stanley Museum.
• Ross Archive of African Images (RAAI): Database of African art images and accompanying historical data published between 1590 and 1920.

• African American Visual Artists Database: A bibliographic database for artists from Africa and of the African Diaspora who have lived, worked, studied, or exhibited in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.
• American Watercolors – Research Resources from the Philadelphia Museum of Art: A subject guide with bibliographies, a chronology of the American watercolor movement, online resources, and various catalogs.
• Archives of American Art: A repository of letters, scrapbooks, financial records, oral histories, and other primary sources focused on the past 200 years of American art.
• Colonial Virginia Portraits: An interactive database of portraits with a documented history in Virginia or featuring colonial Virginian subjects before circa 1776.
• Women Artist Archives National Directory (WAAND): A directory from Rutgers University of archival collections for artists active in the U.S. since 1945.

• Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI): A wide range of dissertation/theses, maps, bibliographies, drawings and photographs, and links to other resources focused on Mesoamerican studies.
• Mesoweb: Photographs, publications, and links to online resources regarding ancient Mexican and Central American cultures.
• National Museum of the American Indian: Educational materials from the Smithsonian Museum.
• Visual Resources Catalog of Native American Artists (VIRCONA): A database of Native North American artists represented in the slide collection of University of New Mexico's Bunting Visual Resources Library.

• Asia Art Archive: Digital archive for Asia Art Archive's projects with various artists, institutions, and art spaces.
• Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Asian Art: Archive of nearly 300,000 original slides and photographs of art and architecture throughout Asia with a major focus on Buddhism.
• National Museum of Asian Art: Scholarly online publications from the Smithsonian Libraries.

• Attic Vase Inscription Database: A searchable database of Henry R. Immerwahr's Corpus of Attic Vase Inscriptions.
• Classical Art Research Centre (University of Oxford): Resources include the Beazley Archive Pottery Database and other databases; dictionary, bibliography, and archival documents.

• American Craft Council (ACC) Library and Archives Digital Collection: Digitized materials including documentation of craft conferences, exhibitions, and fairs, and the Society of North American Goldsmith's slide archive.
• Art Jewelry Forum: Interviews with artists and articles about contemporary art jewelry.
• Black Craftspeople Digital Archive: Archival material and a searchable map containing information on lack craftspeople in the South.
• Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture: Collection of decorative arts electronic resources with a focus on Early America.
• Fashion and Race Database: Platform that works to center and amplify BIPOC fashion scholarship.
• Fashion History Timeline: Open access resource with a focus on the history of Western fashion and dress.
• Friends of Fiber Art International Artist Files: Digitized ephemera documenting various fiber artists. This collection is part of American Craft Council's digital collections.
• Maine Antiques Digest Trade Directory: Comprehensive trade directory for North American antique dealers.

• Art of Renaissance Europe: A Resource for Educators: Lesson plans and activities that explore Renaissance themes, techniques, and artists.
• Bauhaus: Building the New Artist: Produced in conjunction with the Getty's exhibition, Bauhaus Beginnings, this online exhibition provides an overview of Bauhaus history, teachers and curriculum.
• Database of Salon Artists: Searchable record of Paris Salon entries from 1827 to 1850.
• Digital Cicognara: An initiative to digitize the private book collection of Count Leopoldo Cicognara, which includes foundational works in art and archaeology from the 15th to 19th centuries.
• Gallica: The digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
• Spanish Artists From the 4th to 20th Century: A Critical Dictionary: A searchable database of more than 5,000 Spanish artists.

• Aga Khan Documentation Center: Repository of primary resources to support the research of art, architecture, urbanism, and landscape design in Muslim societies.
• Discover Islamic Art: Database of objects and monuments from the Discover Islamic Art virtual museum and the Explore Islamic Art Collections project.
• FIHIRST: Catalog of manuscripts from the Islamicworld.

• Documents of Latin American and Latino Art: A digital archive and publications project of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
• Handbook of Latin American Studies: A database from the Library of Congress that provides scholarly assessments of publications related to Latin America from the 1930s to the present.

• Artist Archive Initiative: Conceptualizes artist archival material to aid future exhibitions and reactivation of artists' work.
• Art21: Articles, videos, and other educational resources on contemporary artists.
• The International Dada Archive: Collection of documentation and scholarship related to Dada.

• Handbook of Texas: Encyclopedia for Texas history, including entries on artists and art institutions.
• Portal to Texas History: Rare, historical, and primary source material from or about Texas.
• Texas Artists: Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on Paper: Digitized paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that are held by participating Texas institutions, including the DMA.
• Texas Talks Art: A weekly series that pairs a Texas-based artist or artist collective with a Texas-based curator to discuss their current work and practice.
• Texas Artist Databases: Resources for discovering and researching Texas art and artists.

• The Illustrated Bartsch: Encyclopedic compilation of European printmakers from the 14th century to the mid-1800s.
• Vetusta Monuments: Published by the Society of Antiquarians of London, the first three volumes focus on 18th century engravings.

• *Artnet: Browse by gallery, auction house, and artist. Contains biographical information.
• *Artprice: Resources for the art market, including auction sales and artist prices.
• *askART: Contains biographical information.
• *Invaluable: Browse by gallery, auction house, and artist.
• Artsy: Contains biographical information.

• Abstracts of International Conservation Literature (AATA): Research database containing abstracts related to preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage.
• Bibliographic Database of the Conservation Information Network: Authoritative bibliographic resource for the conservation, preservation, and restoration of cultural property.
• Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO): Resource developed by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, that includes chemical, physical, visual, and analytical information on historic and contemporary materials.

• Art History Research Net Research Guide No. 2: Full-text access to digitized, free-to-access periodicals related to architecture, art, crafts, and design.
• Chronicling America: Database featuring digitized American newspapers (1777–1963). Includes the U.S. Newspaper Directory which covers American newspapers published from 1690 to the present.
• DMA Exhibition Records collection: DMA exhibition catalogs and installation images (1903–1983) hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
• Digital Public Library of America: Digitized materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions across America.
• Europeana: Repository for digitized materials from European galleries, libraries, archives, and museums.
• Frick Digital Collections: Images, archival documentation, and books from the photoarchive, Frick Art Reference Library, and archives.
• Gallica: Digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
• Getty Publications Virtual Library: Online access to over 300 Getty publications.
• Getty Research Portal: Art history publications, rare books, and related literature from institutions worldwide.
• HathiTrust: Collaborative repository of materials from research institutions around the world.
• International Advertising & Design Database: Full-text access to periodicals related to advertising and design.
• Internet Archive: Digital library with free access to books, video, audio, websites, images and software.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications: Full-text access to out-of-print publications, including Bulletin and Journal issues from the past five decades.
• National Gallery of Art Backlist: Downloadable titles from the National Gallery of Art.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Online access to Guggenheim Museum publications through the Internet Archive.
• USModernist Library: Digitized issues of major 20th-century architecture magazines. Includes biographical information of major architects.

• *Artstor: An extensive image database with helpful tools to help you organize images and use them for papers and presentations.
• Joconde: Images from major French public and private museum collections.
• Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive: Database of over 10,000 photos of British paintings, sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts. Also contains helpful collection use videos.
• PHAROS: International Consortium of Art Images: Photo archive collections from 14 European and North American art historical institutions.

• *IFAR Art Law & Cultural Property Database: Legislation related to export and ownership of cultural property for various countries, as well as case law (primarily in the U.S.) and statutes.
• Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America: Primary source material on American art collectors, dealers, agents, and advisors.
• Getty Provenance Index: More than 2.3 million records taken from source material such as archival inventories, auction catalogs, and dealer stock books.
• Montias Database of 17th-Century Dutch Art Inventories: Information from 1,280 inventories of goods (paintings, prints, sculptures, furniture, etc.) owned by people living in 17th-century Amsterdam.
• Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal Project: Registry provided by the American Alliance of Museums featuring almost 30,000 objects in U.S. museums that changed hands in continental Europe during the Nazi era.
• Wildenstein Plattner Institute – Digital Archives: Primary sources and research materials compiled by the Wildenstein Institute for the writing of catalogues raisonnés on major French artists of the 18th and early 20th centuries.
• Wildenstein Plattner Institute – Sales Catalogs Database: Searchable collection of 11,000+ digitized sales catalogs dating pre-1945 provided by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute.

• *Chicago Manual of Style Online: Online Chicago Manual of Style.
• How to do Things with Pictures: A Guide to Writing in Art History: An online Harvard University publication focused on writing about art.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): A free style guide for Chicago Manual of Style.