General Art Research Tools  

Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon: die Bildenden Kunstler aller Zeiten und Volker. [AKL] (OBIS)

Meissner, Gunter and K.G. Saur Verlag.
München: K.G. Saur,  1992.
Art Library Reference: N 40 .A64 1992

This ambitious publication updates and expands Thieme-Becker (Art Ref. N 40 .T4), and will eventually take its place as the most comprehensive and scholarly biographical artist dictionary available., Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon (AKL), like its predecessor, covers painters, sculptors, architects, engravers, and some decorative artists of all nationalities and times.  Locations of selected works are also given.  It is important to check the abbreviations list for German terms and abbreviations used in the entries.  Entries are longer and more comprehensive than Thieme-Becker.  Entries up to 2002 are also available on a CD-ROM (Art CD-ROMs N 40 .A645 2002)

[BQP 27Aug07; MJR 08/29/02]

Artist Biographies Master Index. (OBIS)

Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., c1986.
Art Library Reference, N 40 .A78 1986

A time-saver, this index compiles entries from approximately 80 artist biographical dictionaries into a single alphabetical list.  Under each artist’s name is one or more codes for dictionaries with biographies for that artist.  (The codes and the dictionaries they stand for are listed in the front.)  This is also a good place to check for spellings of difficult names and lesser-known artists.  The dictionaries indexed cover painters, sculptors, illustrators, designers, graphic artists, craftsmen, architects, and photographers.  NOTE: Citations in the Artist Biographies Master Index are included in the Biography and Genealogy Master Index (online); search OBIS for the title biography and gen

 [BQP 31Aug06]

 Dictionary of Artists (a.k.a. Bénézit) (OBIS)

Paris: Grund, 2006.  14 vol.
 Art Library Reference: N 40 .D5213 2006

The most comprehensive artist biographical dictionary available in English "Benezit" covers thousands of painters, sculptors, designers and graphic artists from 5 B.C. to the present. Entries vary from a few lines to several paragraphs. This first English translation extensively revises and enlarges the previous edition (1999). Longer entries list prizes won by the artist and museums where their works can be found. "Prices" for select works are included as well; volume 1 has a historical currency conversion chart. Many entries include facsimiles of signatures; monograms are listed at the end of each letter of the alphabet. There is also an author index and list of works cited.

 [31Aug06 BQP; 29Aug02 MJR]

The Union List of Artist Names Browser (ULAN) (OBIS) ▲

Getty Vocabulary Program and Getty Research Institute.
[Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Vocabulary Program, 1998?]-.

The Union List of Artist Names contains almost 300,000 names and other information about artists from Antiquity to the present, from all over the world. The scope of the ULAN includes any identified individual or "corporate body" (i.e., a group of people working together) involved in the design or creation of art and architecture.  Each record is focused on the artist and linked to each record are names, relationships (including student-teacher relationships), locations and important dates (for birth, death, and activity), notes, and sources for the data. Names for any artist may include the vernacular, English, other languages, natural order, inverted order, nicknames, and pseudonyms. Among these names, one is flagged as the preferred name, or "descriptor."--modified from 'About the ULAN, scope and structure.'  Use ULAN to determine if multiple names refer to the same person or for brief biographical information, especially for lesser known artists.

 [BQP 27Aug07; MJR 08/30/02]

Index to Artistic Biography. (OBIS)

Havlice, Patricia Pate.
Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1973.  1^st Suppl. 1981; 2^nd Suppl. 2002, 2 v.
Art Library Reference:  N 40 .H38

The Index to Artistic Biography (1st ed. 1973; 1st Supplement 1981; 2nd Supplement 2002) gives very little actual biographical information for the artists included; instead Havlice indicates where in information can be found in 265 biographical dictionaries (published between 1902 and the early 2000’s). Together the 1973 ed. and two supplements Index to Artistic Biography cover over 200,000 artists. Variant spellings and alternate names are given in parentheses following the artist's name.  This work is one of the first places to check for artist biographies especially when looking for more obscure artists. 
 

Note: The 1973 edition of Havlice excludes artists covered in the 1960-66 edition of Bénézit (Art N 40 .B47) and in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (Art Ref. N 40 .B94 1903a) as well as in Thieme-Becker (Art Ref. N 40 .T4) and Vollmer (Art Ref. N 40 .T412).

[BQP 30Aug06]

Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart; unter Mitwirkung von 300 Fachgelehrten des in- und Auslandes hrsg. von dr. Ulrich Thieme und dr. Felix Becker (OBIS)

Thieme, Ulrich 1865-1922 and others.
Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1907-1950. 37 v.
Library Reference:  N 40 .T412

Called "Thieme/Becker," this work has long been known as the most complete and scholarly biographical dictionary for artists.  The signed articles cover painters, sculptors, architects, engravers, and some decorative artists of all nationalities and eras.  Locations of some of their works are also listed.   Includes indispensable bibliographical information on older publications.  A good source for minor artists, but does not include many from 20th century (for artists born after 1870 and the first part of the 20^th century use Hans Vollmer’s Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts.  Leipzig, E. A. Seemann, 1953-62 N 40 .T412, 6 vol.).  The last volume contains entries on anonymous artists known by monograms or nicknames.

Note: “I” and “J” are alphabetized together; umlauted words are spelled with the vowel plus an e.  True name, not anglicized version, of the artist must be used.  For a new publication, which is updating Thieme/Becker and including artists covered by Vollmer, see Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon (N 40 .A64 1992).  As there are many unexplained abbreviations, Meyer's brief Index of the Most Common German Abbreviations Used in Thieme-Becker's Kunstler-Lexikon (1971) is essential (N 40 .T4 suppl.).

[BQP 8/18/03]