WCCC Library: Art

This website was created by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, a professor in the department of art history at Sweet Briar College. It contains links to images of historical artwork from different time periods around the world.

This website is an extensive guide to fine art on the internet. As of January 2006, the website had indexed over 2,300 art sites, offering 95,000 links to approximately 180,000 works of art by 8,200 artists. Although there are some links to sites selling art online, the majority of links go to online museum exhibits. The site can be browsed by subject (Expressionism, Futurism, etc.) or searched by artist’s name, title of work, or museum.

Over the course of six seasons, The Artist Project will share the perspectives of one hundred and twenty artists with the public, telling us what they see when they look at The Met.

Under Arts and Humanities and Partner Content in drop down menu

Perseus is a digital library hosted by Tufts University. The art and archeology section documents 523 coins, 1548 vases, over 1400 sculptures, 179 sites and 381 buildings. Each entry includes both images and descriptions of the object described.

The British Museum is located in London, England. Its physical collection contains items from around the world and spans two million years of human history. Its website contains images and descriptions of some of the items in these physical collections. Most of the focus is on Europe and the Middle East. To view these online exhibits, click the link labeled “Explore” on the home page.

The Guggenheim has five museums in cities around the world. Its online collection represents over 150 artists. Mediums include film/video, installation, internet art, painting, photography, sculpture, and work on paper. Each piece can be viewed at small, medium, or large resolution and includes commentary. The site also includes artist biographies, definitions, and suggested readings. The database can either be searched by keyword or browsed by topic.

The Louvre is located in Paris, France. This English-language version of the museum’s website includes information about collections, exhibitions, activities, and more. The website also includes four databases that allow online users to view the museum’s art. To view the art displayed in these databases click on Collections, then Databases.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located in New York, NY. Its online collection includes many images and descriptions from the museum’s permanent collection. The site also includes special features such as conservation, recent acquisitions, virtual tour, and more. An in-depth timeline of art history is also available at this site.

The Museum of Modern Art, located in New York, NY, is “dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art in the world.” The museum’s website includes an online catalog that is searchable by keyword, artist name, title, year, department, or classification. Each record includes an image and description of the item.

The National Gallery of Art is located in Washington, D.C. The website includes online tours that are viewable by school, medium, artist, art work, or theme. These tours include images, overviews, artist biographies, and links to external sites about the artist and art work.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website includes a searchable database of 4809 of the museum’s pieces. Each item record contains an image and description. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s library houses 200,000 books, auction catalogs, and periodicals from the sixteenth century to the present. The library’s website provides a searchable online catalog of these items.

The Smithsonian museums are located in Washington, D.C. The website includes extensive exhibition images and essays related to collections from over fifteen Smithsonian museums and galleries.

ArtLex Art Dictionary provides definitions, images, and pronunciation notes for more than 3,600 art terms.