Introductions and anthologies for theory
The sources below can augment your understanding of theory and how it is used by art historians to discuss artworks of all kinds.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Art Online includes the peer-reviewed, regularly updated Grove Art Online, The Benezit Dictionary of Artists, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, providing access to thousands of articles spanning ancient to contemporary art and architecture, as well as images of works of art, structures, plans, and artist signatures.
Access limited to 3 users at a time.
Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 by Call Number: N66 .T49 2012ISBN: 9781444338577Publication Date: 2012A collection of scholarly essays, artists' statements, and art reproductions that illustrate the application of a range of critical theories to contemporary art.
Critical Terms for Art History by Call Number: N34 .C75 2003ISBN: 9780226571669Publication Date: 2003Each of the 31 chapters in this book examines the history and use of a critical term. The authors discuss individual works of art, illustrating current debates and methods in an instructive combination of theory and practice.
Art Since 1900 by Call Number: NX456 .A78 2011, v. 1ISBN: 9780500289525Publication Date: 2011The four introductions (pages 14-48) to this 2-volume resource are a crash course in the application of critical theory to modern art. Important concepts and authors are discussed and applied to individual works of art from the 20th century.
The Art of Art History - A Critical Anthology by Call Number: N5300 .A76 1998, or onlineISBN: 9780192842428Publication Date: 1998An anthology of some influential primary texts from the field of art history. Some useful texts for students in this class include Baxandall's "Patterns of Intention," Bal & Bryson's "Semiotics and Art History," Foucault's "What is an Author?", Jones on Postfeminism, and Mitchell on Orientalism.
Seeing Differently by Call Number: NX650.I35 J66 2012ISBN: 9780415543828Publication Date: 2012Jones traces a history and theory of ideas about identity in the visual arts from early modern beliefs about individual expression through the rise of identity politics. In doing so, she offers a "queer feminist durational" theory of experiencing art and visual culture.
Derrida Reframed: Interpreting Key Thinkers for the Arts by Call Number: B2430.D484 R52 2008ISBN: 9781845115463Publication Date: 2008
Librarian
Citation
“All forms of knowledge in art are intrinsically ‘theoretical,’ no matter how self-evident and commonsensical they may appear. Art is never divorced from the theorization of its meanings…As the contexts of art continue to shift and art approaches develop, as international exhibitions continue to be organized, as the role of art continues to be measured against political, economic, and technological transformations in society, so theoretical discourses continue to illuminate and ground the thinking of art.”
-- Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, p. 3.
Acknowledgements
The author is indebted to Dr. Sara Witty for her help and feedback on this guide.