Find Books
Books and articles will make up the core of your research. These textual sources contain the research of established scholars, and they can help you interpret the works of art you are studying. On this page, learn how to use OneSearch to find books, read about how books are organized on library shelves, and view recommended books you might consider for your research.
Finding Books in OneSearch
Use OneSearch to find books and other items held by Ball State University Libraries. OneSearch can be found at the front page of the Libraries website and operates like Google, Bing, and other search engines. Enter keywords to begin your search and then use the filters on the left side of the page to narrow down your results. Select the filter "Library Catalog" to limit your results to items owned by the Libraries, in either print or digital formats, and to eliminate web results.
To find books, select the filter "Book/eBook" under Content Type. Scrolling through results, most books will show as available either at Bracken Library or as an eBook with Full Text Online. Click on the title or location of the book to see its full record, including its Summary and Contents. For print books, make note of its call number so that you can find it on the shelves. You might choose to keep a list of books either by their authors, titles, or call numbers.
For more information about OneSearch, see the research guide https://bsu.libguides.com/onesearch, or feel free to ask any Libraries staff member for help.
A call number is an item's address in a library. Just like you have a unique mailing address, each library item has its own unique call number. Also like the components of a mailing address (i.e., street name, zip code, etc.), each part of a call number means something. The first letter or two letters is called a subclass. Within Fine Arts (Class N), there are eight subclasses divided by medium as described below. The digits which follow indicate the specific topic of the book within each subclass such as biographies of U.S. painters.
Typically two alphanumeric signifiers called cutters follow the subclass. Cutters often correspond to the artist or author's last name, or they derive from the subject or title of the book. The numbers which follow the letter then offer clues as to the next letters of that name or title. Books about Mary Cassatt, for example, might be cuttered as C3. This provides an alphabetical ordering for each topic. The final number in a call number, for example 2022, is typically the date of publication. You can practice your knowledge of call numbers with this tutorial.
The easiest way to find items in OneSearch is through a basic keyword search as described on the Getting Started tab. You might, however, choose to run an advanced search, if you are not finding your desired results through other means. Open advanced search by clicking "Advanced" either below the OneSearch dialog box or next to the magnifying glass. The main advantage of advanced search is the ability to separate terms and select fields. Use the dropdown to select field types like "Author," "Title," "Call Number," and "ISBN." Then use operators like "AND," "OR," and "NOT" to specify how your first term relates to your second. Use the plus sign to the right of the window to add fields.
In using advanced search, you unfortunately run the risk of eliminating some results before you have the chance to see them. This is especially true if you apply filters too early in your search process. For this reason, it is recommended that you wait to apply filters until after hitting search. Generally, it is better to start with too many results and then narrow them down through filters and stronger keywords, than to start with too few.
A keyword search is when you enter text of your choice into a search box, whether as a basic or advanced search. A subject search, however, uses standardized terms which are assigned to an item by librarians. These subjects are linked from record to record, so that every item with the same subject appears when you search that subject. On OneSearch, these subjects appear as red hyperlinked text and are typically found in the Details section of an item record. When you click on this text, OneSearch runs a subject search on this term to find every other record also assigned this subject.
Subject searching is useful when you wish to search comprehensively on a known term: you already found it in one record and now want to find it in others. It is also useful if your keyword fails to yield as many results as you had imagined, and it can help you determine the term more commonly used by scholars and librarians. You can also use hyperlinked text to search for every item held by a particular artist or author. Notice how subjects are structured and you will be able to modify subject searches to meet your specific needs.
How Books are Organized
Ball State University Libraries uses Library of Congress Classification, or LCC, for organizing print books on the shelves. Used in libraries worldwide, this system groups items by topic and assigns each a unique alphanumeric call number. Most books about the visual arts will be in Class N -- Fine Arts, located on Bracken Library's Third Floor East. Books listed as "Oversize" are shelved on 4 West. For more about locations, see the page Book Locations and Floorplans at the Libraries website.
Call Numbers for Fine Arts (Class N):
Subclass N Visual arts
N1-58 General
N81-390 Study and teaching. Research
N400-3990 Art museums, galleries, etc.
N5300-7418 History
N8350-8356 Art as a profession. Artists
N8510-8553 Art studios, materials, etc.
N8600-8675 Economics of art
N8700-9165 Art and the state. Public art
Subclass NA Architecture (most books are shelved at the Architecture Library)
Subclass NB Sculpture
Subclass NC Drawing. Design. Illustration
NC845-915 Graphic art materials
NC997-1003 Commercial art. Advertising art
Subclass ND Painting
ND1288-1460 Special subjects (portraits, landscapes, still life, etc.)
ND1700-2495 Watercolor painting
Subclass NE Print media
Subclass NK Decorative arts
NK2775-2898 Rugs and carpets
NK4700-4890 Costume
Subclass NX Arts in general
Please note that additional books about photography, ceramics, and glass as well as artists working in these fields can be found within Class T -- Technology on 4 West. Photography is shelved in Subclass TR while ceramics and glass are in TP785-869. Also see the dedicated Photography page for more resources on this art form.
Recommended Books
The recommended books below represent a wide sampling of topics in art research and include biographies, stylistic analyses, and investigations into different social and aesthetic issues. Perhaps one or more of these topics will inspire your next research project. Books are sorted by their call numbers for ease of browsing. Click on the info icon to see a description.
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What Is "Islamic" Art?
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Revealing what is "Islamic" in Islamic art, Shaw explores the perception of arts, including painting, music, and geometry through the discursive sphere of historical Islam including the Qur'an, Hadith, Sufism, ancient philosophy, and poetry. Emphasis on the experience of reception over the context of production enables a new approach, not only to Islam and its arts, but also as a decolonizing model for global approaches to art history. Shaw combines a concise introduction to Islamic intellectual history with a critique of the modern, secular, and European premises of disciplinary art history. Her meticulous interpretations of intertextual themes span antique philosophies, core religious and theological texts, and prominent prose and poetry in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu that circulated across regions of Islamic hegemony from the eleventh century to the colonial and post-colonial contexts of the modern Middle East.
Call Number: N6260 .S56 2019Publication Date: 2019 -
Persevere and Resist: The Strong Black Women of Elizabeth Catlett
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A richly illustrated exploration of the work of artist Elizabeth Catlett. This book presents exciting new scholarship on the work of Mexican and American artist Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012). Accompanying an exhibition at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Persevere and Resist reconsiders Catlett's works through the lens of contemporary psychology and sociology. Catlett was one of the most important visual chroniclers of the African American experience in the twentieth century. In addition to her print and drawing practice, Catlett was also an accomplished sculptor working in stone, wood, and clay in her lengthy career, which spanned six decades. The book offers reproductions of nearly three dozen prints and sculptures, along with an essay by noted Catlett expert Melanie Herzog that explores the artist's life through the lens of today's social concerns.
Call Number: N6537.C37 A4 2021Publication Date: 2021 -
Warhol after Warhol: Secrets, Lies, and Corruption in the Art World
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Long-time art critic Richard Dorment reveals the corruption and lies of the art world and its mystifying authentication process. From rock icons and film stars; art dealers and art forgers; to a murdered Russian oligarch and a lawyer for the mob; from courtrooms to auction houses: all took part in a bitter struggle debating the authenticity of a series of paintings by the most famous American artist of the twentieth century. Part detective story, part art history, part memoir, and part courtroom drama, Warhol After Warhol is a spellbinding account of the dark connection between money, power, and art.
Call Number: N6537.W28 D67 2023Publication Date: 2023 -
The Presence of the Past in French Art, 1870-1905: Modernity and Continuity
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This innovative book introduces a vivid new reading of French art and society at a crucial period of history. The study of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French art tends to focus on a search for the modern. Richard Thomson presents an innovative approach to a popular period of art history, instead investigating how art in early Third Republic France adapted styles from the past. The author considers artists of very different character and type--from Degas to Henner, Cézanne to Besnard, Roty to Seurat, Dalou to Maillol--as well as a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, medals and celebrity photographs, to open up new vistas of interpretation in this fascinating field.
Call Number: N6847 .T46 2021Publication Date: 2021 -
Women Artists in Expressionism: From Empire to Emancipation (Print and eBook)
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Women Artists in Expressionism explores how women negotiated the competitive world of modern art during the late Wilhelmine and early Weimar periods in Germany. Their stories challenge predominantly male-oriented narratives of Expressionism and shed light on the divergent artistic responses of women to the dramatic events of the early twentieth century. Richly illustrated, Women Artists in Expressionism is a women-centered history that reveals the importance of emancipative ideals to the shaping of modernity and the avant-garde.
Call Number: N6868.5.E9 B445 2022 and JSTOR eBooksPublication Date: 2022 -
London and the Emergence of a European Art Market, 1780-1820
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London and the Emergence of a European Art Market, 1780-1820 explores the commercial milieu of art sales and collecting at this turning point. In this collection of essays, twenty-two scholars employ methods ranging from traditional art historical and provenance studies to statistical and economic analysis; they provide overviews, case studies, and empirical reevaluations of artists, collectors, patrons, agents and dealers, institutions, sales, and practices. Drawing from pioneering digital resources-- notably the Getty Provenance Index--as well as archival materials such as trade directories, correspondence, stock books and inventories, auction catalogs, and exhibition reviews, these scholars identify broad trends, reevaluate previous misunderstandings, and consider overlooked commercial contexts.
Call Number: N8600 .L66 2019Publication Date: 2019 -
Graphic Design: A New History
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Now in its third edition, this acclaimed survey explores the evolution of graphic design from the nineteenth century to the present day. Following an exploration of design's prehistory in ancient civilizations through the Industrial Revolution, author Stephen J. Eskilson argues that modern design as we know it grew out of the influence of Victorian-age reformers. He traces the emergence of modernist design styles in the early twentieth century, examining the wartime politicization of regional styles. Richly contextualized chapters chronicle the history of the Bauhaus and the rise of the International Style in the 1950s and '60s, and the postmodern movement of the 1970s and '80s.
Call Number: NC998 .E85 2019Publication Date: 2019 -
Vincent Van Gogh: a Life in Letters
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Vincent van Gogh's letters have long been prized as some of the most valuable documents in the world of art. Not only do they throw light on Van Gogh's own complex and intriguing character, they enlighten the whole creative process as seen through his eyes. Here we can observe Van Gogh's thoughts and opinions at first hand, as well as his close ties with his brother Theo, his sometimes troubled relationships with friends and fellow artists, his personal doubts and fears, and above all his overriding passion for his art. This is not only an immense treasure trove of biographical and art-historical information, it provides a lasting pleasure as a personal written testimony to a life consecrated to art. Vincent van Gogh: A Life in Letters belongs on the shelves of every reader in search of self-revelatory documents of one of the greatest creative minds.
Call Number: ND653.G7 A3 2020Publication Date: 2020 -
Glorious Qing: Decorative Arts in China, 1644-1911
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With over 250 color illustrations, this volume covers an array of superbly crafted objects of art produced during China's last dynasty. It features ceramics, metalwork, textiles, lacquer, glass, jade, and works of bamboo selected from collections in North America, Europe, China, and Taiwan. Art historian Brown probes the materials, motivations, technologies, and skills of Qing period artists, along with trends in art patronage and collecting. She considers objects of private patronage, including snuff bottles and instruments for the scholar's desk, alongside imperial commissions, palace furnishings, and pieces made for export in the flourishing East-West trade market. Moving chronologically from one emperor's reign to the next, Glorious Qing offers a comprehensive survey of Qing decorative arts that will delight experts and novices alike, from collectors to students of art history.
Call Number: NK1068 .B68 2024Publication Date: 2024 -
Chihuly and Architecture
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Forty years of Dale Chihuly's spectacular site-specific glass installations are captured in this large-format publication examining architectural commissions, temporary art installations, and museum exhibitions around the world. Chihuly's installations on walls, windows, ceilings, stairways, courtyards, and fountains are closely examined. Chihuly and Architecture explores entire rooms and galleries, glasshouses and castles, and travels from the canals of Venice to the Citadel in the Old City of Jerusalem, providing rare insight into Chihuly's inspiration and global footprint.
Call Number: NK5198.C43 C453 2021 (Oversize -- Fourth Floor, West)Publication Date: 2021-06-01 -
How Photography Became Contemporary Art: Inside an Artistic Revolution from Pop to the Digital Age
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When Andy Grundberg landed in New York in the early 1970s as a budding writer, photography was at the margins of the contemporary art world. By 1991, when he left his post as critic for the New York Times, photography was at the vital center of artistic debate. Grundberg writes eloquently and authoritatively about photography's "boom years," chronicling the medium's increasing role within the most important art movements of the time, from Earth Art and Conceptual Art to performance and video. He also traces photography's embrace by museums and galleries, as well as its politicization in the culture wars of the 1980s and '90s.
Call Number: TR642 .G72 2021Publication Date: 2021 -
Happy Clouds, Happy Trees: The Bob Ross Phenomenon (eBook)
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In Happy Clouds, Happy Trees, the authors thoughtfully explore how the Bob Ross phenomenon grew into a juggernaut. Although his sincerity in embracing democracy, gift economies, conservation, and self-help may have left him previously denigrated as a subject of rigorous scholarship, this book uses contemporary art theory to explore the sophistication of Bob Ross's vision as an artist. It traces the ways in which his many fans have worshiped, emulated, and parodied him and his work.
Call Number: JSTOR eBooksPublication Date: 2014
Interlibrary Loan
Users are encouraged to search for items beyond University Libraries' catalog via Art Full Text and WorldCat. Materials not available in print or online may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Please allow up to seven days for electronic delivery and up to fourteen days for delivery of physical items.