Researching Art Works in the David Owsley Museum of Art Collection
For DOMA collection information and images, search the David Owsley Museum of Art Collection page at https://www.bsu.edu/web/museumofart/collection. Email artmuseum@bsu.edu with questions.
The David Owsley Museum of Art exhibition and collection catalogs are available online, e.g. European and American Paintings and Sculpture: Selected Works
See Find Articles or Find Books on the left for further information.
Researching Artists
Online Biographical Resources on Artists
- ULAN (Union List of Artist Names®) - The ULAN is a structured vocabulary containing names and other information about artists, patrons, firms, museums, and others related to the production and collection of art and architecture. Names in ULAN may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time (e.g., married names). Among these names, one is flagged as the preferred name.
- Oxford Art Online - artist biographies and Find It @ BALL STATE buttons in the bibliographies for searching CardCat.
- Oxford Reference Online - several art and biographical resources (different from Oxford Art Online).
- Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists
- A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art by Ian Chilvers
More Bibliographical/Biographical Resources
- AskArt - check the "book references" section for the artist, then search CardCat to see if the University Libraries have the books and exhibition catalogs that the artist appears in. Check the museum websites listed in the "museum references" section for information on the artist.
- Getty Vocabularies - The Getty Vocabularies contain structured terminology for art, architecture, decorative arts, archival materials, visual surrogates, conservation, and bibliographic materials. Compliant with international standards, they provide authoritative information for catalogers, researchers, and data providers.
Search for Books
- Search OneSearch for the artist as a SUBJECT.
- Search WorldCat and use the interlibrary loan links to request a copy of the book.
- If the artwork is owned by a museum, look for books about the museum's collection. Search for the museum both as a SUBJECT and, separately, as an AUTHOR.
Search for Articles
- Art Full Text - for articles published 1984-present.
- Art Index Retrospective - for articles published 1929-1984.
- JSTOR - full text archive of scholarly journals.
- Project MUSE
Sample DOMA Object Research
Researching the David Owsley Museum of Art's Family Group, by Henry Moore
Search: DOMA collection database for Henry Moore (use Search for Specific Objects)
Results: Family Group (right-click on the image to copy it for educational use)
Photo credit: Image from the David Owsley Museum of Art
Researching Art Styles
Reference Resources
- Oxford Art Online has information about many styles and time periods. Use the Find It @ BALL STATE buttons to search for the resources in the bibliographies in CardCat.
Search for Books
Search OneSearch or WorldCat for books on the style or time period. Search tips:
- Search for the style or time period as a SUBJECT.
- Examples of SUBJECTS:
- If the artwork is owned by a museum, look for books about the museum's collection. Search for the museum both as a SUBJECT and, separately, as an AUTHOR.
Museum Web Sites
Museum websites are a great source of information on artworks in their collections.
- Look for "collections" pages on museum sites.
- Consult art dictionaries or books to find out who owns an artwork.
- You may also use the Google image search to discover if a museum owns the artwork.
Once you know if a museum owns the art work, look for books on the museum's collection in OneSearch or WorldCat.