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Finding Images

This guide provides information about digital image collections and other image resources of interest to artists, architects, art historians, and others studying visual culture at Washington University in Saint Louis.

Print Images - Search Tips

​KEYWORD - use a keyword search adding words like pictorial or catalog* or exhibit*
Truncate with an asterisk * to search all forms of the root word

pictorial = pictorial works (primarily visual content)
example: ocean & pictorial

catalog* = catalog(s), catalogue(s)
example: catalog* & whiteread

exhibit* = exhibit(s), exhibition(s), exhibited
example: human figure & exhibit*

For complete works of an artist, use the artist's name + the following keywords:

complet* = complete works, obra completa, opera completa, oeuvre complete
example: michelangelo & complet*

raisonne = catalogue raisonne
example: ed ruscha & raisonne

To find exhibition catalogs, use the phrase catalog of an exhibition along with a distinctive keyword, an artist's name, a gallery or museum name

example: catalog of an exhibition and hayward gallery
example: catalog of an exhibition and joseph beuys

In further pursuit of exhibition catalogs:

Art Exhibition Catalog Collection, University of California, Santa Barbara
This collection contains over 95,000 exhibition and collection catalogs and is one of the largest of its kind.

1) Search the PEGASUS catalog (keyword search = individual artist's name, words as phrase) to locate catalogs of group exhibitions in which an artist has participated

2) Search the WU catalog and MOBIUS for the catalog by title. Request the catalog through ILLiad, if it is not available at WU or in MOBIUS.

To find famous works of art, try keyword searching the title of the artwork:

example: virgin of the rocks
example: figures at the base of a crucifixion
 

SUBJECT - by finding the exact subject term and then adding in art or pictorial to the subject, you will find a list of works cataloged by that heading
examples:
human figure in art
women in art
war in art
birds in art
maps - pictorial

Limit the Search
To limit the search to books in the Art & Architecture Library,
choose the Modify Search button on the top of the screen after an initial catalog search.
In the drop down menu for Location,
choose Art & Architecture Library

Other limit options include Date range, Format, Language and List Sorting.

example: human figure & exhibit* includes all WU Libraries
human figure & exhibit*, limited to Art & Architecture Library holdings.

AUTHOR - an artist is considered the author of his or her work
Search by author to find books devoted to an artist's or architect's work (last name first)

example: author = rist pipilotti
example: author = hadid zaha

To find books published by a gallery or museum,
search the gallery's name as author

example: author = P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
example: author = Wexner Center for the Visual Arts
example: author = Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
example: author = Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.). Gallery of Art

The following sources identify works of art by some combination of title, date, artist, subject, location, and/or collection. They may also cite books which include a reproduction of the image. The indexes do not contain images themselves.

1) Locate an image in an art journal or monograph
2) Use the Library's scanner to save the scan to a USB device or zip disc, or
3) Email the saved scan to yourself

Note: Copyright applies to images in all formats

Scanning in the Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library:

Scanning Stations: Five self-service scanners are provided for the scanning of library materials. There is one KIC Bookeye 4 scanner in the copy room. One scanner is next to the VHS/DVD player, one scanner is in the stacks by the bound periodicals and two scanners are in the copy room. Scans may be saved to a USB storage device or saved and emailed. Storage media is not provided by the Library but may be purchased at the campus bookstore. Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro is available on the computers attached to the scanners in the copy room. Image editing must be done on computers outside the library; Photoshop is not available on any art library computers.