Books with background information about artists and art history topoics can be found in the reference section of the LaGuardia Library. These are on the shelves to the left of the reference desk. There are also select books on individual artists in this section.
Most of the other art and art history related books are in the general collection. Browse the following sections based on a book's call number:
N Visual arts
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture
NC Drawing; Design; Illustration
ND Painting
NE Print media
NK Decorative arts
NX Arts in general
TP Chemical technology (includes some ceramics/pottery)
TR Photography
TT Handicrafts; Arts and crafts
Art since 1900 by
This is an updated and expanded second edition of the seminal book first published by Thames & Hudson in 2004, featuring 107 new illustrations and over 100 new pages, and completely updated throughout (including all reference sections). It introduces students to the key theoretical approaches to modern and contemporary art, enabling them to understand the many 'voices' of current approaches to the subject. A flexible year-by-year structure and extensive cross-referencing allows teachers and students to pursue a chronological approach, and/or to study the currents of art since 1900 by medium, theme, country or region. It contains more than 120 essays (including fifteen new essays), each focusing on a crucial event in the history of art from 1900 to the present. The new essays cover subjects such as the De Stijl movement, the use of mannequins and the automaton in Dada, and modernist graphic design between the wars, as well as discussions of the global emergence of Chinese artists in recent years, the influence of gaming and social network technologies, and the impact of the market on current art practice. Text boxes provide further information on key figures and issues. A new final chapter is devoted to the first decade of the 21st century. Four introductions set out and explain the different methods of art history at work in the book. There are two roundtable discussions between the authors - one at mid-century, the other at the close of the book. All reference material has been updated.
Art History by
For survey courses in Art History Welcoming, inclusive, engaging, and global Art History brings the history of art to life for a new generation of students. It is global in scope, inclusive in its coverage, and warm and welcoming in tone. The guiding vision of Art History is that the teaching of art history survey courses should be filled with equal delight, enjoyment, and serious learning, while fostering an enthusiastic and educated public for the visual arts. The Sixth Edition has been revised to reflect new discoveries, recent research, and fresh interpretive perspectives, as well as to address the changing needs of both students and educators. Art History, Sixth Edition is also available via Revel(tm), an interactive learning environment that enables students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience.
Critical Terms for Art History by
"Art" has always been contested terrain, whether the object in question is a medieval tapestry or Duchamp's Fountain. But questions about the categories of "art" and "art history" acquired increased urgency during the 1970s, when new developments in critical theory and other intellectual projects dramatically transformed the discipline. The first edition of Critical Terms for Art History both mapped and contributed to those transformations, offering a spirited reassessment of the field's methods and terminology. Art history as a field has kept pace with debates over globalization and other social and political issues in recent years, making a second edition of this book not just timely, but crucial. Like its predecessor, this new edition consists of essays that cover a wide variety of "loaded" terms in the history of art, from sign to meaning, ritual to commodity. Each essay explains and comments on a single term, discussing the issues the term raises and putting the term into practice as an interpretive framework for a specific work of art. For example, Richard Shiff discusses "Originality" in Vija Celmins's To Fix the Image in Memory, a work made of eleven pairs of stones, each consisting of one "original" stone and one painted bronze replica. In addition to the twenty-two original essays, this edition includes nine new ones-performance, style, memory/monument, body, beauty, ugliness, identity, visual culture/visual studies, and social history of art-as well as new introductory material. All help expand the book's scope while retaining its central goal of stimulating discussion of theoretical issues in art history and making that discussion accessible to both beginning students and senior scholars. Contributors: Mark Antliff, Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Stephen Bann, Homi K. Bhabha, Suzanne Preston Blier, Michael Camille, David Carrier, Craig Clunas, Whitney Davis, Jas Elsner, Ivan Gaskell, Ann Gibson, Charles Harrison, James D. Herbert, Amelia Jones, Wolfgang Kemp, Joseph Leo Koerner, Patricia Leighten, Paul Mattick Jr., Richard Meyer, W. J. T. Mitchell, Robert S. Nelson, Margaret Olin, William Pietz, Alex Potts, Donald Preziosi, Lisbet Rausing, Richard Shiff, Terry Smith, Kristine Stiles, David Summers, Paul Wood, James E. Young
The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists by
This extensively illustrated dictionary provides information on over 2,500 artists, paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, schools and movements throughout the world, including entries on contemporary art and artists, techniques, materials, terms, and writers who have influenced artists.
What Was Contemporary Art? by
Contemporary art in the early twenty-first century is often discussed as if the very idea of art that is contemporary is new. Yet all works of art were once contemporary. In What Was Contemporary Art? Richard Meyer reclaims the contemporary from historical amnesia, and gives the contemporary its own art history. By exploring episodes in the study, exhibition, and reception of early twentieth-century art and visual culture, Meyer retrieves moments in the history of once-current art and redefines "the contemporary" as a condition of being alive to and alongside other moments, artists, and objects. A generous selection of images, many in color -- from works of fine art to museum brochures and magazine covers -- support and extend Meyer's narrative. These works were contemporary to their own moment. Now, in Meyer's account, they become contemporary to ours as well.
Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy by
Serving as both an introduction to fifteenth-century Italian painting and as a text on how to interpret social history from the style of pictures in a given historical period, this new edition to Baxandall's pre-eminent scholarly volume examines early Renaissance painting, and explains how the style of painting in any society reflects the visual skills and habits that evolve out of daily life. Renaissance painting, for example, mirrors the experience of such activities as preaching, dancing, and gauging barrels. The volume includes discussions of a wide variety of painters, including Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Masaccio, Luca Signorelli, Boccaccio, and countless others. Baxandall also defines and illustrates sixteen concepts used by a contemporary critic of painting, thereby assembling the basic equipment needed to explore fifteenth-century art. This new second edition includes an appendix that lists the original Latin and Italian texts referred to throughout the book, providing the reader with all the relevant, authentic sources. It also contains an updated bibliography and a new reproduction of a recently restored painting which replaces the original.
A Short Guide to Writing about Art by 
A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art by
This unique and authoritative reference work contains around 2,000 clear and concise entries on all aspects of modern and contemporary art. Its impressive range of terms includes movements, styles, techniques, artists, critics, dealers, schools, and galleries. There are biographical entries for artists worldwide from the beginning of the 20th century through to today's globalized art world, from conservatives and academics to the most controversial of the avant-garde, from household names to a host of lesser known figures. There are indications of public collections and publicly sited works, and in-depth entries for key topics (for example, Cubism, abstract art, and Conceptual art): this dictionary is a fascinating and thorough guide for anyone with an interest in modern and contemporary culture, amateur or professional. Formerly the Dictionary of 20th Century Art, the text has been completely revised and updated for this major new edition. Over 300 entries have been added and it now contains entries on photography in modern art as well as the new media such as installation and Performance which are such a crucial element of the contemporary scene. With emphasis on recent art and artists, for example Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin, and Damien Hirst, it has an exceptionally strong coverage of art from the 1960s onwards, which makes it ideal for contemporary art enthusiasts. Further reading is provided at entry level to assist those wishing to know more about a particular subject. In addition, this edition features recommended web links for many entries, which are accessed and kept up to date via the Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art companion website
Exhibition Catalogs
Artist Monographs
Thematic Monographs