AMD 420: Contemporary Artists (Sanchez)

"Contemporary Art Centre" by throgers is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; image resized from original.

Researching a work of art

Where is it located?

If you know where the work is located, look at the institution’s website for more details about the piece. Museums and galleries will usually have the most updated information on items in their collections. Museums also sometimes have collection-specific guides to support researchers.

Who is the artist?

Researching the artist is often the best way to learn about the art work you have chosen.

• Look for facts about their life, education, experience, and world events that shaped their thinking.
• Track down discussions of the medium (why they choose the materials hey do and their choice of methods).
• Can you find discussion by the artist on their collaborations with, or inspiration by, others?
• How do they react/incorporate the environment they find themselves in?

Sometimes this information comes from the artist themself through writings, lectures, interviews, and exhibition notes. See the "Biographical Research" page for more.

If you do not know the artist of your artwork, research the characteristics of the work.

Where was is created? When was it made? What style is it? How can you tell? What materials are used? What are some similar works? This will help you learn the context of your object and make informed conclusions about the work. Use other works/artists that are similar as examples to support your ideas.

Types of sources

• Start with what you know: Don't be afraid to start with an internet search. Explore museum collections (find out where the piece lives, use Wikipedia or Artsy) and artists’ websites.
• Use the library! If it’s a famous piece by a well-known artist, there are probably monographs (books focused on one subject) written about them and their art, so search in the library catalog. Even if you don’t find books with information about the specific piece, you may be able to use historical and biographical information for context. 
• Visual arts periodicals databases will search a mix of scholarly (peer-reviewed) and non-scholarly sources. There are many important sources of art criticism that are considered non-scholarly: Aperture, Art in America, ArtForum, Flash Art International are some examples. Using a database like Art Full Text or JSTOR will include articles published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as well as reviews and criticism published in arts periodicals. 
• An important note about the ambiguity of arts research: If you can’t find the information you were hoping to find about an image, what information can you find about the historical period, the country or culture, the social standing and intersectional identities, the art historical importance, materials and processes used, the artistic legacy, of the person/s or group/s who made it? Think broadly about your image and the information you do have about it. In what other discipline would you find more contextual information? What social issues is the piece addressing? What historical moment? Example: Guerrilla Girls → Women’s and Gender/Feminist Studies, art and activism, third wave feminism.
• What do you do when you absolutely can’t find anything about your image? Ask yourself why you were drawn to it. What does it evoke for you, what does it remind you of? Use your own instincts to respond to the image and let your inquiry be guided by these questions.