18th Century European Art

General Reference Sources:

Bibliographies

Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists, by Wolfgang M. Freitag (Garland Publishing, 1997). Art Reference N40 .A75 1997.

Freitag lists the most prominent and useful sources available in multiple languages on prominent artists.

A Bibliography of Salon Criticism in Paris from the Ancient Regime to the Restoration
Z5961.F7 M38 1991

This volume cites all known contemporaneous writing about the Salon and the artworks displayed. Many of the listed sources are periodicals from the time period and may be searched in the UNC online catalog or on WorldCAT. All sources are in French

Women Artists: An Historical, Contemporary and Feminist Bibliography, by Sherry Piland (Scarecrow Press, 1994). Art Reference - N8534 .P533 1994.
For 18th century artists, see pp. 126 - 177.

A lengthy listing of known women artists. Each entry includes a brief discussion of the artists' lives, their work and a basic bibliography of resources available. There were many successful and talented female artists in the 18th century, most notably Rosalba Carriera, Marie-Anne Collot, Angelica Kauffmann and Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.

Documentary Sources

Art In Theory, 1648 - 1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, edited by Charles Harrison, Paul Wood, and Jason Gaiger. (Blackwell, 2000). Art - N6420 .A78 2000.

An excellent resource for primary sources regarding aesthetic theory and artistic practice during the period between Louis XIV's reign and the end of the Napoleonic period. Each excerpt has a summary with background information and pertinent facts about the author.

Collection de pièces sur les beaux-arts (1673-1808)
516 microfiche, Call no. 5-235

Deloynes Collection: Documents on the Fine Arts, 1675-1808. A panorama or art critcism in the Old Regime, the Revolution and the Empire, this collection contains over 2000 items including pamphlets, manuscripts, salon, and exhibition catalogs. For the most part the volumes are organized chronologically. Critiques, lampoons and appreciations accompany each salon catalog. The last volumes of the collection are arranged thematically. In this microfiche edition the first frame of each fiche provides a table of contents for the entire fiche. All the entries are in French.
(Sloane Art Library also holds the 1881 Duplessis catalog in paper; Reference N7435.D865)

Proces-Verbaux de Peinture et Sculpture
N13.A35 P7

These volumes contain the minutes of the Royal Academy from its inception in 1648 until its desbandment in 1793. The records provide valuable information about the awards bestowed by the Academy, members of the Academy, and their activities. These volumes are in French.

General Surveys

Although the focus of this book is nineteenth-century Western art, the first part of this has an excellent discussion of Neo-Classicism and art produced during the time of the French Revolution.

Regional Surveys

Divided into three separate volumes, only the third will be of use in researching 18th century Italian art.

The Netherlands is not particularly known for the art produced during the 18th century so, as would be expected, the discussion is brief. Yet the cross-cultural influence of French art on the Netherlands at this time might be of interest.

Discussion of every major French painter and sculptor of the period and an excellent place to start research on the most prominent artists of the time.

Chapters in this work are dedicated to, amongst others, the famous portraitists: Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds.

Using the Online Catalog:

Several subject headings will help you find many resources available in the libraries. Some of these include:

Art, French -- 18th Century
Painting, Dutch -- 18th Century
Painting, British -- 18th Century
Art, Italian -- 18th Century

Periodicals:

Eighteenth-Century Studies (Volumes 1-28)

Eighteenth-Century Studies (Volume 29 - current)

This is the premier journal of scholarly studies in the field of eighteenth-century studies. Artistic production is not the sole focus of this serial but many issues are dedicated to this theme. In addition to this online version, the periodical is available in print at Davis Library (NX452 .E54).

Art Full Text

Art Index Retrospective

Bibliography of the History of Art

A major database for the history of art.

Images and Websites:

Internet resources can provide useful information in a clear and organized fashion. Many websites provide images of important works free of charge. Databases are also available via the Libraries homepage ("Article Databases & More" section)

Grove Dictionary of Art

This is the most comprehensive full text art historical resource. Artist entries include a short biography, links to images of their art, and a useful bibliography of important works by or about that artist. Also, there is information on geographic regions, countries, artistic movements and the development of various media.

Art History Resources on the Web

This webpage treats art from almost every region and period and includes a comprehensive listing of images by well-known artists. The 18th century page lists major European artists.

ARTFL Project (American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language)

This resource represents the effort to digitize and make available many important French language resources of the 16th through 19th centuries. Resources include search options, the full text of Diderot's Encyclopédie, and indices of French female writers.

ARTstor

ARTstor provides curated collections of art images and associated data for noncommercial and scholarly, non-profit educational use. The ARTstor Charter Collection will initially be comprised of approximately 300,000 digital images and associated catalog data; the tools to make active use of those images; and a restricted environment that seeks to balance the interests and needs of users with those of content providers.

CAMIO

CAMIO - RLG's Catalog of Art Museum Images Online - offers rights-cleared, high-quality art images for class projects, art history and studio art programs, course Web sites, lectures, presentations, and research resources.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online

Includes works published between 1701 and 1800 in England and The Americas.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

This is a collection of 25 reference books and encyclopedias in electronic format. The titles cover a wide range of subjects, from the arts to medicine, and from multicultural studies to social science. You can search one title at a time, up to 10 titles that you select, or by broad grouping such as biography, education, or history.

The Royal Historical Society Bibliography

The Royal Historical Society's online bibliography provides bibliographic data on historical writing dealing with the British Isles, and with the British empire and commonwealth, during all periods for which written documentation is available - from 55BC to the present.

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