Research Guides: AAAS/FA-75B : History of African American Art: Finding background information

Lisa Zeidenberg

she/her/hers

Contact:

lzeidenb@brandeis.edu

781-736-4697

Subjects: Art, Architecture and Photography, Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies, Film Studies, Music, Theater and Dance

Librarian for African and African American Studies

Laura Hibbler

she/her/hers

Contact:

lhibbler@brandeis.edu

781-736-4656

Subjects: African and African American Studies, Asian Studies and Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, History

E-book reference

The Routledge Companion to African American Art History (print copy on reserve for class) by Eddie Chambers (Editor)
Publication Date: 2019-12-10
"This Companion authoritatively points to the main areas of enquiry within the subject of African American art history. The first section examines how African American art has been constructed over the course of a century of published scholarship. The second section studies how African American art is and has been taught and researched in academia. The third part focuses on how African American art has been reflected in art galleries and museums. The final section opens up understandings of what we mean when we speak of African American art."
Encyclopedia of African American Artists by dele jegede
Publication Date: 2009-03-20
Contains chapters on Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Faith Ringgold, Bettye Saar, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Kara Walker, and Carrie Mae Weems, among many others. Each artist entry includes detailed biographical information, a list of collections that hold the artist's work, and an extensive bibliography.

Online art & architecture reference

Cross-search several resources in a single search across these groups of dictionaries and encyclopedias on art and art history.

Grove Art Online (Oxford Art Online) This link opens in a new window
Online access to definitive reference works encompassing all aspects of visual culture; includes biographical and subject entries with bibliographies for further research and searchable images made available through Oxford's partnerships with museums, galleries, and other arts organizations.
Oxford Reference: Art & Architecture This link opens in a new window
Search facts and definitions found in dictionary and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Includes overviews and descriptions of key events. Choose an artist from the list of Artist/Makers in the bottom yellow strip; note essays and related keywords. Note also the suggested bibliography ("Further reading") listed under each essay -- these books and articles may help you with your research.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive source of artists’ biographies in the English language, long a standard reference work in France. Particularly known for its coverage of nineteenth-century and East Asian artists, historic auction prices, and images of artists’ signatures and monograms.

African and African American Studies reference

Companion to African American History
A Companion to African American History is a collection of original and authoritative essays arranged thematically and topically, covering a wide range of subjects from the seventeenth century to the present day.
Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 - Present
Traces the transition from the Reconstruction Era to the age of Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and the ascendant influence of African Americans on the American cultural landscape. With coverage up to and including the 2008 election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, the Encyclopedia contains approximately 1,200 fully cross-referenced entries all signed by leading scholars and experts, offering the most reliable and extensive treatment to be found on African American history in this era.
Encyclopedia of African American History 1619-1895: From the Colonial Age to the Age of Frederick Douglass
In nearly seven hundred entries, the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 documents the full range of the African American experience during that period—from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass—and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans.
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History
A five-volume set and supplement covering all aspects of the African-American experience from 1619 to the present day. Using biographies, historical essays, and thematic pieces, many written by foremost scholars, it addresses a wide array of subjects in over 2,300 articles to define in one source the cultural roots, participation in American life, and current condition of the African-American community.
Encyclopedia of Black Studies
The Encyclopedia of Black Studies is the leading reference source for dynamic and innovative research on the Black experience. The concept for the encyclopedia was developed from the successful Journal of Black Studies (SAGE) and contains a full analysis of the economic, political, sociological, historical, literary, and philosophical issues related to Americans of African descent.
Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia - Junius Rodriguez
A comprehensive, contextual presentation of all aspects—social, political, and economic—of slavery in the United States, from the first colonization through Reconstruction.
African American Studies, Oxford Bibliographies
Start your research by gaining an overview of important movements, influential figures, and key sources across a wide variety of subject areas.

General biographical reference

Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Biographical information on people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Many of the entries contain bibliographies and further reading lists.