Find Background Information - Art - Asian Art and Architecture Research Guide

Reference Sources

Below are links to online reference sources and collections that are most useful for these subjects:

Oxford Art Online
Access to Grove Art Online and other Oxford art reference works covering all forms of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic and decorative arts, and photography from prehistory to the present.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
A chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collections.
Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture

Cambridge Histories
Provides political, economic and social history, philosophy, and literature of selected countries and subjects.
Bibliography of Asian Studies (1973 to present)
Index to articles and books in Asian Studies, including humanities and social sciences.

Historical Dictionary of Tokyo
Chronology, essays, bibliography, and dictionary entries on people, places, events, and other terminology about the city of Tokyo.
Digital Dictionaries of South Asia
The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture
Entries on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe and spans over a thousand years of history.

Index Islamicus (1906 to present)
Covers literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world, including Muslim areas of Asia and Africa.
Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art
Provides information on a wide range of current and historical materials and techniques in both traditional and nontraditional media.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (1934 to present)
Indexes more than 2,000 periodicals on archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation.
Reference Universe
Searchable index of the library's entire reference collection, both print and electronic.

Print Reference Sources

Handbook of Japanese art by Noritake Tsuda
Call Number: N7350 .T73 1936
Japanese Art: Critical and Primary Sources by Morgan Pitelka (Editor)
Call Number: AC Frost Reference N7350 .J345 2018
History of Japanese Art by Penelope E. Mason
Call Number: N7350 .M26 2005
Japanese Calligraphy by Cecil H. Uyehara
Call Number: AC Frost Reference ND1457.J33 U9 1991
Cultural Atlas of Japan by Martin Collcutt; Marius Jansen; Isao Kumakura
Call Number: AC Frost Reference x DS821 .C62 1988
Wa-Ei taishō Nihon bijutsu yōgo jiten = A dictionary of Japanese art terms, bilingual [Japanese & English]
Call Number: AC Frost Reference N34 .N52 1990
A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols by Wolfram Eberhard
Call Number: AC Frost Reference DS721 .E32613 1986
Dictionary of Chinese and Japanese Art by Hugo Münsterberg
Call Number: N7340 .M78 1981

Tip: What are reference sources, and why would I use them?

Reference sources can include encyclopedias, bibliographies, dictionaries, handbooks, and atlases.

They provide overviews of and background information on a topic
They help you identify or refine your topic
They provide quick, reliable facts
They include bibliographies that will lead you to additional sources of information on your topic

You can find the Library's collection of reference books on Floor 1 of Frost. We also have many online databases that include collections of edited scholarly encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sources.