Art Library Research Guide: Starting Your Paper

Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2008. Art Library N7476.B37

Sayre, Henry M.  Writing about art.  3rd ed.  Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1999. N7476.S29 1999

Subject Heading: Art criticism--Authorship.

Art History assignments often ask the student to study a single work of art, whereas the professional art historian rarely limits herself to a single subject in her books. An exception to this rule is Allen Lane's series Art in Context, each book of which is a comprehenisve study on single and famous work of art. For those students looking for a professional example of how an art historian would write an art history paper, these books are worth looking at.

Heller, Reinhold. Edvard Munch: The Scream. New York: Viking Press, 1973. Art Library ND773.M8H4

Hibbard, Howard. Poussin: the Holy Family on the steps. New York: Viking Press, 1974. Art Library ND553.P8H52

Powell, Nicolas. Fuseli: The Nightmare. New York: Viking Press, 1973. Art Library ND853.F85P68

Spector, Jack. Delacroix: The Death of Sardanapalus. New York: Viking Press, 1974. Art Library ND553.D33S62

Thomas, Hugh. Goya: The Third of May 1808. New York: Viking Press, 1974. Douglass Library ND813.G7T47

Series Heading: Art in context

Need help with the writing itself? Contact the Rutgers Writing Center.

Many of the references on this page were found on Duke University's Art History guide by Lee Sorenson.