Fine Arts

The nonutilitarian arts, arts concerned primarily with the creation of beauty.

Sub-headings:

Architecture

Design of buildings, landscapes and other types of structures and spaces.

Collectors & Collecting

Information on how to build an art collection as well as about collectors themselves.

Craft & Folk Art

Decorative arts and crafts both traditional and as they relate to specific ethnic groups.

Graphic Arts & Design

Resources concerning applied/commercial arts and design, including but not limited to graphic design, printmaking, illustration, book arts.

Photography & Film

Includes resources related to fine arts photography and filmmaking.

Performing Arts

Artistic works interpreted or performed by individuals or groups and presented in public venues such as concert halls or theaters. Includes history and study of various performing arts.

Visual Arts

The "traditional" visual arts: painting, drawing, sculpture.

Resources in this category:

About.com: Art History
http://arthistory.about.com/

An Internet guide for art history, with feature articles, Website links, and discussion forums. Topics covered include art history 101, countries & cultures, timelines of art history, and artists from A to Z.

About.com: Contemporary Art
http://arthistory.about.com/od/current_contemporary_art/Cont...

An Internet guide for contemporary art, with feature articles, Website links, and discussion forums. Topics covered include art movements, museum, exhibition reviews, fairs and shows, and images.

Aesthetics On-Line: American Society for Aesthetics/British Society of Aesthetics
http://aesthetics-online.org/

"The American Society for Aesthetics was founded in 1942 to promote study, research, discussion, and publication in aesthetics." The aim of the British Society of Aesthetics, founded in 1960, "is to promote study, research and discussion of the fine arts and related types of experience from a philosophical, psychological, sociological, scientific, historical, critical and educational standpoint." The contents include "articles about philosophy and the arts, information about aesthetics events worldwide, and links to other arts, philosophy and aesthetics-related resources on the internet (including the aesthetics email list)." There are also book lists, news, and a direct link to the journal site.

The Age of King Charles V
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/aaccueil.htm

"1000 illuminations from the Department of Manuscripts" of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France) from the period of Charles V, 1338-1380. Titles include Froissart's Chronicles, Grandes Chroniques de France, the Catalan Atlas, Anglicus' On the Properties of Things, John of Berry's Petites Heures, Phoebus' Book of the Hunt, and the Breviary of Martin of Aragon. Titles include abstract and are arranged alphabetically and by theme. Each manuscript image includes catalog record.

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabulari...

"A controlled vocabulary that can be used to improve access to cultural heritage information in the global networked environment. The AAT is a comprehensive vocabulary of nearly 120,000 terms for describing objects, textural materials, images, architecture and material culture from antiquity to the present. Many of the terms refer to objects of significance in the discussion and analysis of cultural history, encompassing the natural and built environments, furnishings and equipment, and artifacts of visual and verbal communication. Although its focus is on the Western world, the AAT's scope extends to other cultures. The AAT provides not only the terminology for objects, but the vocabulary necessary to describe them. This supporting terminology includes the materials and techniques relating to their construction and conservation (such as deacidification), their physical attributes (such as shape and color), terminology associated with their production and study (such as the roles of persons), vocabulary indicating their style or period, and concepts relating to their history, theory, criticism, and purpose." Users can browse the world hierarchically, or use the search function.

Art and Life in Africa Online
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/index.html

This site contains photographs and descriptions of African art objects. It is a selected chapter of the site owner's CD-ROM, showing the African art objects that are present and used during the different phases of an African's life, from birth to death. A bonus is that the photographic images rotate so you can see the pieces from all angles! Plus, this is easy to navigate!! There is also information about African countries and cultures.

Art Attack
http://whyfiles.org/081art_sci/

"Art Crimes. How does science help to solve fraud - the most popular category of art crime? Art fakery is a peculiar beast. Sometimes it is driven by pure greed. Sometimes it is driven by misplaced artistic admiration." Art Attack includes sections on detection techniques, such as the use of neutrons and x-rays.

Art Crimes: The Writing on the Wall
http://www.graffiti.org/

Resource on the topic of graffiti art. Browse the image gallery of grafitti from all over the world, read about selected artists and their works, and check out links to related sites. Also includes articles and events information.

The Art Historians' Guide to the Movies
http://personal1.stthomas.edu/cdeliason/ahgttm.htm

"The Art Historians' Guide to the Movies is a record of appearances of and references to famous works of art and architecture in the movies. It is intended to be a source for teachers of art history who are considering showing clips or entire films as part of their presentation of the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture."

Art History Resources on the Web
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html

An extensive hierarchical directory to online materials relating to art, and art history. The main directory is split into nine broad time/topical categories. Links to museums and galleries worldwide, as well as some information on prints and photography are provided.

Art in the White House - A Nation's Pride
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/art/index.html

"Pride of the American nation, the White House collection of fine arts owes its existence to the scores of individuals and organizations that have nurtured and supported it. They have been diverse in outlook, taste and purpose, but their vision and generosity have given coherence to the collection as a whole." This website shows you the various fine arts that have been displayed in the White House throughout the years. Includes great historical commentary, bibliographies, facts and figures, and much, much more.

The Art of Renaissance Science: Galileo and Perspective
http://www.mcm.edu/academic/galileo/ars/arshtml/arstoc.html

"Joseph W. Dauben of the City University of New York reveals that the interplay of science and art has a history stretching back centuries. [This work] presents a detailed look at the influence Italian renaissance artists had on Galileo, his view of nature, and the observations and mathematical principles he elucidated."

ArtLex: Dictionary of Visual Art
http://www.artlex.com/

"For artists, art students, and art educators in art production, art criticism, art history, aesthetics, and art education." Over 2600 entries browsable alphabetically. Provides images of works of art and quotations. Some definitions contain links to other related areas on the Web.

The Arts in Victorian Britain
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/artov.html

Information about the art, design, and architecture of the Victorian era. It is part of a larger site about Victorian Britain in general. Includes hypertext of significant words and has links to outside articles and essays on selected topics. It was put together as an online translation of information learned in various courses in English and Art History at Brown University.

Arts Journal
http://www.artsjournal.com/

"Arts Journal is a weekday digest of some of the best arts and cultural journalism. Each day Arts Journal combs through more than 180 English-language newspapers, magazines and publications featuring writing about arts and culture."

Artsedge: The National Arts and Information Network
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

"ARTSEDGE empowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects." Teachers will find curriculum and evaluation guidelines, lesson plans, "cue sheets" and useful links.

ArtSource
http://www.ilpi.com/artsource/welcome.html

"A gathering point for networked resources on Art and Architecture. The content is diverse and includes pointers to resources around the net as well as original materials submitted by librarians, artists, and art historians, etc." Includes a guide to electronic exhibitions.

Axis - For Information on Visual Artists
http://www.axisartists.org.uk/

"Axis is a national contemporary visual arts service providing information about artists and makers living/working in Britain to a national and international audience via the largest interactive database of contemporary British art on the internet. The Axis database currently features 3,300 artists and makers and over 12,500 artwork images." The database can be searched by artist name, work type, material, geographic region, or general keyword.

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/

"The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive includes works by such twentieth-century masters as Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler, René Magritte, and Joan Miró- and also presents guest appearances by film luminaries such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Toshiro Mifune, Susan Sontag, and Wayne Wang. The gallery is dedicated to presenting the experimental, the rare and rarely seen, the unexpected and the controversial."

"BAM/PFA launched this website in Dec. 1994. Since then the site has grown into the central distribution point for most of BAM/PFA's Education Technology Projects. It went through a major re-design in May 1997 to take advantage of improving web technology and the addition of significant searchable resources, such as PFA Filmnotes and Online Collection Guides."

Bodleian Library Manuscript Images
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/browse....

Manuscript images from Oxford University's Bodleian Library. More than 1000 images from important works in the collection. Period represented: 8th to 19th century. Contries represented: England, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Images arranged according to text and period. Each image contains extensively cataloging, and and are available in four sizes. Texts include reference bibliography.

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabulari...

"A structured vocabulary developed primarily for the field of art history, but with the potential for wide applications in related disciplines such as archaeology, history and geography. The TGN contains nearly 1 million place names representing approximately 900,000 places. The thesaurus is composed of names and other information contributed by several Getty projects." Users can browse the world hierarchically, or use the search function.

Glossary for Medieval Art and Architecture
http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/INDEX.HTM

A glossary of terms used in describing medieval art and architecture. Browsable alphabetically.

Images of Women in Ancient Art
http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/

Art history website that presents a study of representations of women in ancient art. Discusses images of women in prehistory, Egypt, the Aegean, Palestine, Greece and 'Barbarian Women."

INFOMINE - Visual and Performing Arts
http://infomine.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/search?arts

Large annotated collection of Internet resources related to the visual and performing arts. Resources have been determined to be "'of use' as a scholarly information resource in research or educational activities at the university level." Collection can be searched or browsed by subject, keyword or title. Part of The Library of the University of California, Riverside's INFOMINE.

International Art News - absolutearts.com
http://www.absolutearts.com/

Daily updated news from the art world, plus a browsable artist portfolio of over 35,000 contemporary artworks. Searchable.

Internet ArtResources
http://artresources.com/

"A gallery, museum, artist, art publication or bookseller, art show, fair, event or exposition - find any or all through Internet ArtResources. Internet ArtResources was created with the fine arts collector/admirer in mind." Searchable.

Islamic & Arabic Arts & Architecture
http://islamicart.com/

"This site explains the historical and cultural significance of Islamic and Arabic artifacts. The main areas covered are architecture, calligraphy, oriental rugs, and coins. The site is searchable and includes FAQs, a bibliography, and links to other sites."

Isle of Lesbos
http://www.sappho.com/

Features Lesbian poetry, Lesbian images in art, Lesbian quotations and references and links to other Lesbian resources.

Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/

A comprehensive resource for Medieval Studies: bibliographies, European cultural studies, pedagogical resources, professional information and organizations, electronic texts, music.

Medical Humanities: Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database
http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Main?action=new

"Annotated bibliography of prose, poetry, film and art developed as a dynamic, accessible, comprehensive resource in medical humanities."

The National Portrait Gallery
http://www.npg.si.edu/

This reference tool helps find useful images - painting, sculpture, and photography - of people of historical interest in the United States. The images give a good representation of what presidents and other historical figures actually looked like, along with short citations of historical note. Look for ongoing exhibits of social history, portraits of presidents, and historical documentation of American history.

National Standards for Arts and Music Education
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/standards/

Information about the national standards for arts and music education which came out of Goals 2000: Educate America Act including ideas for implementation by schools and a link to the entire text of Goals 2000.

Perseus Digital Library: Classics Collection
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html

Primary and secondary sources for the study of Ancient Greece and Rome, including texts and images. "The library's materials include ancient texts and translations, philological tools, maps, extensively illustrated art catalogs, and secondary essays on topics like vase painting. A collaborative team from a number of academic institutions has worked together to amass Perseus materials. Over 70 museums have shared pictures of their art objects." Searchable.

The Surrealism Server
http://www.madsci.org/~lynn/juju/surr/surrealism.html

This site is an excellent resource for information regarding the surrealist movement and the movements creative process. This site contains both visual images and a thorough amount of text describing the movement.

The Thinker
http://www.thinker.org/

This site, sponsored by the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, is a guide to and medium for the De Young and Legion of Honor museums. It contains the world's largest "art imagebase," with more than 60,000 images available of works on paper. The images are annotated and searchable by artist, by title, and sometimes by description.

The Union List of Artist Names
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabulari...

The ULAN database is a structured vocabulary of artist names that can be used to increase accessibility for catalogers and researchers. Its scope is global and covers artists from antiquity to present. "For ULAN, artists represent creators who have been involved in the design or production of architecture or visual arts that are of the type collected by art museums." Some entries include biographical articles.

WATCH: Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders
http://tyler.hrc.utexas.edu/

The WATCH File (Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders) is a database of copyright contacts for writers and artists. It can be searched by an individual's name to receive the addresses of copyright holders or their representatives. While the resource was founded to answer copyright questions about manuscripts in the United States and the United Kingdom, it is now one of the largest databases of copyright holders in the world.

World Wide Arts Resources
http://wwar.com/

Offers an excellent resource for finding any piece of art; search feature which looks for art based on medium, color, style, size, price, gallery, theme, or artist. Provides access to various art databases.

Worlds Intertwined: The Etruscan World
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/worlds_intertwined/etruscan/...

Virtual gallery from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The Etruscans were a great pre-Roman civilization in Italy, and the museum has a very fine collection of Etruscan artifacts.

WPA Film Library
http://www.wpafilmlibrary.com/

"The WPA Film Library was founded in 1987 by independent producers, as a repository of archival and stock footage for our own documentary programming. Since becoming a part of the MPI Media Group in 1989, our ties to the production community have become even stronger, and our holdings have grown to more than 50,000 hours of footage. "