Smarthistory is an art history textbook and online encyclopedia rolled into one!

Hints for Pre-Research

For artists:

• Doublecheck spelling of name.  (Before you say, 'Doh!,'   typos are  a frequent cause of search fails.)
• Is the artist is known by several names?
• Who influenced them?
• Who did they influence?
• What schools or movements where they associated with?
• Search for your artist both as an "author" (works by)  and as a "subject"  (works about).       

For movements and schools:

• Who are the main artists involved?
• Does the movement go by more than one name?  Perhaps in a different language?
• Are there related or overlapping movements?

For special topics:

• Are there special terms or keywords associated with your topic?
• Are there specific artists associated with your topic?
• Might your topic cross over into other disciplines?

Want the  latest buzz in the art world?   

Here's a good place to look!

What's in a name?

• Architect  Charles-Édouard Jeanneret is better known as Le Corbusier
• Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni  is more frequently referred to as Michelangelo Buonarroti, or just Michelangelo
• Doménikos Theotokópoulos is better known as El Greco

You've been schooled

• Baroque vs Rococo
• Futurism vs Vorticism
• Absurdism vs Dada vs Surrealism

Topic Tangents

• Cartoons, Comics, Caricatures, Anime, Graphic Novels, Lampoon
• Mosaics, Intarsia, Marquetry, Pietra dura,  Cosmatesque, Opus Alexandrinium
• Statue, Sculpture, Statuette, Effigy, Bust, Head, Memorial, Commemorative