How to Find Out About the Arts. A Guide to Sources of Information

169 Pages·1965·12.247 MB·English

by  Neville Carrick and G. Chandler (Auth.)

HOW TO FIND OUT
ABOUT THE ARTS
A GUIDE TO
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
NEVILLE CARRICK, B.A., F.L.A.
PERGAMON PRESS
Oxford · London · Edinburgh · New York
Paris · Frankfurt
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Copyright © 1965
Pergamon Press Ltd.
First Edition 1965
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-19834
This book is sold subject to the
condition that it shall not, by way
of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out
or otherwise disposed of without
the publisher's consent, in any
form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published.
Set in 11 on 12 pt Bembo and
Printed in Great Britain by
Blackie & Son Ltd., Bishopbriggs, Glasgow
Illustrations
Specimen Entries from Important Sources of Information
PAGE
1 Metropolitan Museum of Art: Library Catalog 7
By kind permission ofG. K. Hall and Co.
2 Art Index 19
By kind permission of The H W. Wilson Co.
3 Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie 21
By kind permission of the Bibliotheque d'Art et d'Archeologie, Universite
de Paris
4 Encyclopaedia of World Art 25
By kind permission of the McGraw-Hill Book Co.
5 Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler (U. Thieme
and F. Becker) 30
By kind permission of VEB E. A. Seemann
6 Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX
Jahrhunderts (H. Vollmer) 32
By kind permission of VEB E. A. Seemann
7 Dictionnaire Critique et Documentaire des Peintres, Sculp-
teurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs (E. Benezit) 34
By kind permission ofLibrairie Grund
8 Who's Who in Art 37
By kind permission of The Art Trade Press
9 Who's Who in American Art 38
By kind permission of the R. R. Bowker Co.
10 Index to Reproductions of European Paintings (I. S. and K.
M. Monro) 41
By kind permission of The H. W. Wilson Co.
X ILLUSTRATIONS
11 A.L.A. Portrait Index 43
Published by the Library of Congress for the American Library Association
12 Iconographie de l'Art Chretien (L. Reau) 51
By kind permission of Presses Universitaires de France
13 Internationales Kunst-Adressbuch: International Directory
of Arts: Annuaire International des Beaux-Arts 63
By kind permission of Deutsche Zentral-Druckerei
14 Art Prices Current 67
By kind permission of The Art Trade Press
15 Les Marques de Collections de Dessins et d'Estampes:
Supplement (F. Lugt) 76
By kind permission of the author
16 The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in
America, 1564-1860 91
By kind permission of Yale University Press
17 R.I.B.A. Library Bulletin 105
By kind permission of the Royal Institute of British Architects
18 Costume Index 132
By kind permission of The H. W. Wilson Co.
19 A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the Most Eminent
Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century (C. Hofstede de
Groot) 143
By kind permission of Macmillan and Co.
20 Photographic Literature: An International Bibliographic
Guide (A. Boni) 152
By kind permission of Morgan and Morgan, Inc.
21 Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo 156
Published by Case Editrice le Maschere
22 Theatre and Allied Arts (B. M. Baker) 159
By kind permission of The H. W. Wilson Co.
Preface
THE aim of this work is to describe the main sources of information,
printed or otherwise, in the field of the arts. It is hoped that it will
serve some of the needs of the student of art, the experienced artist,
and indeed all of those with an intelligent interest in the arts. In
particular, it should help those in libraries, colleges and other educa­
tional institutions whose task it is to guide others to the right sources.
Since the war, there has been in many countries a greatly increased
interest in the arts. It is now realized that a country's artistic heritage
is not solely the preserve of the few, but it is there to be enjoyed by
every intelligent person. But enjoyment, to be discriminating, must
be based on knowledge. This knowledge can be gained, partly by
the examination and comparison of works of art, and also by a study
of the authoritative sources of information. As in other subjects,
however, guidance is needed to pick out the important sources from
those which are secondary or of little value, and it is hoped that this
work will help to do this.
It has been decided to arrange this work, like others in the series, by
the Dewey Decimal Classification, because this system has been widely
adopted in many countries. An explanation of its outlines will be
found in Chapter 2. The system, like all other classification schemes, is
imperfect, but the reader will find that works are dealt with here in
roughly the same order in which they will appear on the shelves of
those libraries using the Dewey system.
I am very grateful to G. Chandler, Esq., M.A., Ph.D., F.L.A., the
editor of this series, and A. C. Symons Esq., B.A., F.L.A., for a
number of valuable suggestions and for reading the manuscript with
care. I also wish to thank my wife for all the help she has given me in
the preparation of this work.
xi
Chapter One
Art: Education and Careers
THE main purpose of this book is to show the reader where he can
find information on different aspects of art, so that in this chapter the
aim will be to show where information on art careers can be found
rather than to provide detailed accounts.
The first source of information on careers in art in Britain is a
booklet in the Ministry of Labour's Choice of Careers series, No. 103,
Art and Design. This is a useful introduction in a valuable series. Then
there are two introductions published commercially in the last two
years. Firstly, Art as a Career, by Reginald Brill, published in London,
1962, outlines the different art careers in Britain and the training
available for them. John Mills's Careers through Art, London, 1961,
provides similar information together with an appendix listing art
schools, professional organizations and societies in this country.
For the U.S.A. the most up-to-date guide is Donald Holden's
Art Career Guide: A Guidance Handbook for Art Students, Teachers,
Vocational Counsellors, and Job Hunters, published in New York, 1961.
EDUCATION FOR ART
Before one can pursue a career in art, as in any other calling, it is
necessary to acquire the appropriate training. Generally speaking, this
is nowadays obtained at an art school; the older system of apprentice­
ship or training in the workshop of a master is not often followed now
except in some of the crafts. Thus it is essential for the would-be artist
to comply with the entrance requirements of the art school he wishes
to attend.
There are now in Britain few private art schools (there is a list in
the appendix to Careers through Art) so that attention must be paid
to the requirements of the public art colleges and schools which
are supervised by the Minister of Education. To aid him in this,
the Minister is advised by the National Advisory Council for Art
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2 HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE ARTS
Examinations and their reports recommend the general standard of
education necessary for admission to art school, and the rules by
which the national art examinations are conducted.
As a result of the Council's recommendations, the old Diploma in
Design has been replaced by the Diploma in Art and Design as the
main qualification obtained through the art colleges. It is intended
that this new diploma shall be of honours degree standard and so
far 29 art colleges have been recognized as offering suitable courses.
These include the regional art colleges in large centres where training
of an advanced standard and courses for teacher training can be
obtained. A necessary preliminary step before starting on a diploma
course at art college is a one year preparatory course at a local art
school.
Awarding their own highly regarded qualifications are three major
art schools in London: the Royal College of Art, the Slade School of
Fine Art attached to the University of London, and the Royal Academy
Schools. Here again a preliminary course at a local art school is usually
required before entry
Specialized training for a career in art is also provided by some
universities in Britain. Such university institutions as the Courtauld
Institute attached to London University, provide courses with an
emphasis on training and research in the history of art, an expanding
academic discipline as we shall see in Chapter 14.
For art education in the U.S.A., a very useful source of information
is the American Art Directory issued by the American Federation of the
Arts (see p. 64). This contains lists of American and Canadian art
schools and a list of art scholarships and fellowships.
FINE ARTS
The number of practising artists devoted to the fine arts and not
employed in commercial art and industrial design is not large. Never­
theless, there are still many artists with the courage and skill necessary
to preserve their independence. One compromise which is open to
many is to combine their professional practice with part-time teaching
in an art school, for often the talents of the creative artist may be
valued in an art school more than those of the trained art teacher who
may have no impressive creative achievement.
ART: EDUCATION AND CAREERS 3
COMMERCIAL ART
This term can cover a wide variety of subjects including advertising
art, packaging design, fashion drawing and book illustration. There is
scope for a variety of basic skills but it is undoubtedly the case that
the best possible training for commercial art is through an art school.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
There will be great scope in the future for the practice of industrial
design, as manufacturers are now increasingly realizing the importance
of a product's design. Here again basic training in one of the art
schools specializing in industrial design is the best preparation, but
there are organizations connected with this subject which will help
the practising designer. Thus, in Britain, the Society of Industrial
Artists acts as a professional body issuing publications and organizing
meetings, while the Council of Industrial Design, amongst its other
activities, keeps a register of designers.
ART TEACHING
This is one of the most interesting of art careers but only for the
person with a real vocation. The normal preparation for it in Great
Britain is by a course at art college for the National Diploma in
Art and Design, and a further year's course of teacher training.
When the art teacher is trained, there are two societies which will
help him. These are the National Society for Art Education, which
approximates to a professional body, and the Society for Education
through Art, which promotes the development of new methods in
teaching art.
ARCHITECTURE
This is one of the most responsible of the professions and entry
into it is naturally closely regulated. In Britain the Architects' Regis­
tration Council of the United Kingdom requires applicants to have
passed appropriate examinations. This can be done in a number of
ways, but it is becoming increasingly the practice to qualify by taking
a full-time course, usually lasting five years, at one of the recognized
schools of architecture (there is a list of these in Appendix II of Careers
through Art), Another method is to become an articled pupil to a
4 HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE ARTS
practising architect and to study part-time, but this takes longer, often
seven years.
The major professional body in Britain whose examinations are
recognized by the Architects' Registration Council is the Royal
Institute of British Architects, which has issued a pamphlet How to
Become an Architect Another useful source of information is A Career
in Architecture by Michael Pattrick and Michael Tree, published in
London, 1961.
In the United States the main professional organization is the
American Institute of Architects which provides information on
architectural education and issues a pamphlet, So You Want To Be An
Architect; there is also a list of American schools of architecture in the
American Architects Directory, edited by George S. Koyl.
Chapter Two
Tracing Art Information
in Libraries
Dewey Class 700
IN THE arts, as in other subjects, the seeker after knowledge must know
the quickest and most efficient ways of using libraries in order to find
information in printed form. This is not to say that all knowledge of
the arts can be found by this means. Printed information can be no
substitute for personal contact between teacher and pupil, nor should
we prefer a printed reproduction to the examination of the original
work of art. But the accumulated knowledge on the arts embodied in
books and periodicals and made available in libraries, is of first rate
importance to everyone interested in this subject.
Even the most dedicatedly "originär' of artists, who spurns tra­
dition and example, has to turn to books or periodicals for some
information such as formulae for painting materials, or details of art
exhibitions and competitions. For some students of art printed matter
is the most important source of information, and the library their
main work-place.
Moreover, art is a subject for which libraries are particularly
important. The emphasis laid on illustrations in books and periodicals
means that they are necessarily more' expensive than in most other
subjects, and the student and practitioner has to relv on libraries to
provide the greater part of such printed information. To find this
information he must be able to use individual libraries efficiently, and
to discover the most important libraries for his purpose.
THE CATALOGUE
The two keys to the use of any library are the catalogue, which
lists the books in the library, and the classification scheme by which
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