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Art History, Curating and Visual Studies

Recommended websites

Libraries

  • National Art Library
    The National Art Library (NAL) is the UK's most comprehensive public reference collection of literature on the fine and decorative arts.
  • Paul Mellon Centre for the Study of British Art
    Based in London’s Bedford Square, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is an educational charity and research institute that champions new ways of understanding British art history and culture.
  • Stuart Hall Library
    At Iniva (The Institute of International Visual Art). Specialist research collection on international contemporary visual art and culture. The library provides the opportunity to study art from Indigenous, African, Caribbean, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern and UK artists of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Archives

Reference

  • Arts Council England
    Funding, sponsors, marketing, education and publications.
  • Arts Council of Northern Ireland 
  • Arts Council of Wales
  • ArtUK
    ‘Art UK is the only digital platform of its kind in the world. It makes the wealth of public art across the UK available in one place 24/7. This art is in our museums and galleries, our universities, libraries and civic buildings, our streets and squares.’  
  • Art & Architecture Thesaurus Online (Getty Vocabularies)
    Getty Vocabularies are structured resources for the visual arts domain, including art, architecture, decorative arts, other cultural works, archival materials, visual surrogates, and art conservation. Compliant with international standards for structured and controlled vocabularies, they provide authoritative information for cataloguers, researchers, and data providers.
  • CreativeScotland
    Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland. 
  • Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d'Estampes 
    Indispensable resource for specialists of drawings and prints used to trace the provenance of works on paper, by means of written or stamped collectors’ marks.
  • Getty Research Institute - GRI | Getty
    The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts and their various histories through its expertise, active collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, digital services, and residential scholars’ programs.
  • Oxford Art Online
    Single gateway to access and cross-search Oxford's regularly updated art reference works: the Grove Dictionary of Art and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. In addition, users can search and access Oxford art reference titles, including the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd edition), The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.

The following resource is paid for by subscription:

Highly selective list of major art gallery and museum websites. For Birmingham Galleries see Art in Birmingham

Museums and Galleries - Great Britain

  • Henry Moore Foundation
    The Henry Moore Foundation was founded by the artist and his family in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of the visual arts. Links to Henry Moore Institute and Henry Moore Studios & Gardens
  • National Gallery
    Website of National Gallery in London
  • National Portrait Gallery
    website of National Portrait Gallery in London
  • Queer Britain
    Britain’s first LGBTQ+ museum
  • Queercircle
    New London exhibition venue.
  • Royal Academy of Art
    Run by the Royal Academicians (artists and architects elected by their peers in recognition of their exceptional work.) Home to Britain’s longest established art school, the RA Schools.
  • Royal Collection Trust 
    Royal Collection Trust looks after the Royal Collection, one of the most important art collections in the world and manages the public opening of the official residences of His Majesty The King. 
  • Tate
    Website for all four Tate galleries
  • V&A
    Website for all four V&A museums
  • Woman Made Gallery 
    “WMG supports, cultivates and promotes the diverse contributions of women and non-binary artists through exhibitions, membership and community dialogue programs”
  • Women's Art Collection 
    Located in Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, UK

 

Museums and Galleries - International

  • Arts On Film Archive
    Films on art produced in the United Kingdom since the 1950s
  • British Cartoon Archive
    The British Cartoon Archive (BCA) based at the University of Kent is dedicated to the history of British cartooning over the last two hundred years.
  • British Museum Images
    One of the most comprehensive collections of prints and drawings in world culture and history.
  • Digital Bodleian
    Discover over a million images of rare books, manuscripts, and other treasures from the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford college libraries.
  • Paul Mellon Photograph Archive of British Art and Architecture
    Over 100,000 images of British art and architecture.
  • Wellcome Collection images
    mages from the Wellcome Trust's collections covering history of science and medicine and social history including Sanscrit manuscripts, Buddhist paintings and Persian books. 
  • UK Exhibitions by Women
    A database maintained by the UK Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
  • York Islamic Art and Architecture Database
    Here is a comprehensive resource list with links to a huge number of open source online images and texts related to the study of Islamic art and architecture, put together by Richard McClary in the History of Art Department at the University of York.

In addition to the above freely available websites you should use the following major image collections which the University subscribes to. The images in these collections are licensed for use in education. 

  • Autism in Museums
    'An initiative to raise awareness of accessibility for all in museums and cultural venues.' UK based.
    Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC)  
    Aims to 'facilitate the decarbonisation of the visual art sector and promote zero-waste practices.'
  • International Curators Forum
    Founded in 2007, with a focus on cultural diversity.
  • Museums Association UK  
    Professional membership organisation that campaigns for socially engaged museums and a representative workforce.
  • UK Registrars Group
    'A forum for communication and co-operation between registrars, collection managers, exhibition organizers and other museum professionals in fields related to the work undertaken by registrars.'

The ABC of Evaluation

Here is a suggested set of questions to ask yourself when making an assessment of any published source of information, not just websites:

A - Authority

Who authored it, and what are his/her/their credentials?  In the case of a book, there may be something in the 'blurb' on the back cover about the author. In academic publications there are often notes about the author(s) and their qualifications and experience which enable them to speak authoritatively about their subject.  Are they affiliated to a university or a research institute?

Websites are often created by more than one person, but it is still important to check who the authors are.  See if there is an 'About Us' link giving information about the website, or the organisation and people maintaining it.  Are there any reliable contact details?  What are the stated aims of the organisation?

Does the book or website contain up-to-date references to source materials, particularly to original research or statistics, so that you can check whether the discussion or opinions are based on reliable facts?  Is it aimed at a popular audience, or is it more scholarly and reasoned in its approach?  What kind of language does it use: is it rhetorical or emotive, and does the author back up his/her/their arguments with appropriate facts and original sources?

B - Bias

Think about the possibility of any bias in the information you have found.  Is it possible that the organisation represented by the author or website has a particular standpoint to promote: is it a campaigning or pressure group, a government department, or public information service?

If the source is likely to have a bias, make sure you check any references or links provided, and find some other sources with a contrasting standpoint, preferably from an academic book or journal.  It is good practice to use a variety of sources of information so you can compare and contrast different viewpoints on a topic.

C - Currency

Check how up-to-date the information is.  A book or a journal will usually have a clear date of publication on its cover or title page. If it doesn't, check the date of the latest item in any bibliography at the end of the book or article.

In the case of a website, try to find the date when it was last updated.  In some subjects such as law or economics, the validity of information may change more rapidly than in others, so you will need to be careful.   Are any links from it to other sites still active?

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