There are so many great types of art books and publications in the AUArts physical collection and in the online materials available. These specialized items are excellent sources of information when doing research. They also include a vast number of images that can enhance research and assignments.
Here is a quick breakdown of some of the art book types to seek out:
SURVEY TEXTS
If you're in a first year Art History course, you'll be hearing the term Survey Text in class discussions. You might even see the term in an assignment.
What is it?
It's a comprehensive book/textbook, or a collection of images, that provides a broad, chronological overview of art across different cultures and time periods. A survey text aims to create a coherent narrative and a shared canon for the discipline being discussed. These books can cover a vast range of artworks and movements, and serve as a foundational resource to learn about the history and style(s) of art.
We have many titles, but here are a couple examples of art survey texts:
Author: Wood, Christopher S.
Publication date: 2019
Author: Honour, Hugh.; Fleming, John.
Publication date: 2009
MONOGRAPHS
In the AUArts Collection, a monograph tends to refer to books about a single artist. The book can be a scholarly publication or it can be more commercial, such as a coffee table book. Either type of book can provide the user with great images for an assignment or comprehensive details about the artist that can enhance research. These details can include publication details (books they have released about their art), or books about the artist and their specific style/impact. It might even include exhibition details from their careers.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUES
This type of book is usually produced by museums or galleries and tends to accompany an exhibition that is underway or has taken place. The contents of these books can include images of the artworks that are/were part of the exhibition, as well as commentary by the artist, or others that have extensive, scholarly knowledge about the artist's work.
The AUArts collection includes hundreds of exhibition catalogues that are in the general physical collection. There are also exhibition catalogues in the archives collection, which are specific to artists that have attended AUArts, and/or are from Alberta.
IMAGE COLLECTIONS
The AUArts collection includes physical images within books, but also access to high-resolution images via ARTSTOR.
With nearly 3 million images in over 300 collections from around the world, users that visit ARTSTOR have amazing images at their fingertips that are rights-cleared for education and research, and include Open Access content as well as rare materials.
Another great, home-grown resource at this site is our very own AUArts Teaching Image Collection. Over 55,000 images of art that has been created by AUArts graduates, and the collection continues to grow each year.
Unsettling Canadian Art History
by
Art, Borders and Belonging
by
The Library subscribes to two major eBook collections. When you search in Primo, results from these two major eBook collections should appear in your results. If you are not finding what you're looking for, go directly to the individual database, either through the E-Resources list or the links below, to search:
