Jim Dan Hill Library: Visual Arts: Resources

Searching for Resources

Browsing the Search@UW Catalog

Think about which search terms might be the most helpful and how you can eliminate results that you don't need. For example, Visual Arts can be a broad concept, if you use terms within the subject you may end up with a more manageable list to look through. Terms you could use include: Design, Drawing, Painting, Graphic Art, Animation, Museum, Art History, you can use your textbook and course readings to find terms to narrow down your search.

Also, because terminology changes over time and variations of subject terms you may find older language or unfamiliar language. Use these terms to search the library catalog and look at "Subject" terms used within the record, these terms will also help narrow your search.

Browsing Physical Resources

Our resources using Library of Congress (LOC) classifications and call numbers. While most items related to Visual Arts will be under the classification N (this encompasses all areas of Fine Art), it is possible to find other related materials in different areas. Please see Classification Codes for Browsing for more information about subject classification ranges.

Call number ranges to focus on when browsing the stacks on the Garden level:

Fine Arts N:

N: Visual Arts
- N1 - 58: General
- N61 - 72: Theory. Philosophy. Aesthetics of the visual arts
- N81 - 390: Study and teaching. Research
- N400 - 3990: Art museums, galleries, etc.
- N4390 - 5098: Exhibitions
- N5198 - 5299: Private collections and collectors
- N4300 - 7418: History
- N7420 - 7525.8: General works
- N7560 - 8266: Special subjects of art
- N8350 - 8356: Art as a profession. Artists
- N8510 - 8553: Art studios, materials, etc.
- N8554 - 8585: Examination and conservation of works of art
- N8600 - 8675: Economics of art
- N8700 - 9165: Art and the state. Public art
NA: Architecture
NB: Sculpture
NC: Drawing. Design. Illustration
ND: Painting
NE: Print Media
NK: Decorative Arts
NX: Arts in general
- NX1 - 260: General
- NX280 - 410: Study and teaching. Research
- NX411 - 415: Competitions
- NX420 - 430: Exhibitions
- NX440 - 632: History of the arts
- NX650 - 694: Special subjects, characters, person, religious arts, etc.
- NX700 - 750: Patronage of the arts
- NX760 - 770: Administration of the arts
- NX775 - 777: Voluntarism in the arts
- NX798 - 820: Arts centers and facilities

Featured Books

The Art of Print: Three Hundred Years of Printmaking by Elizabeth Jacklin
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; NE400 .J33 2021

ISBN: 9781849767637

Publication Date: 2022-01-18

Prints have played a unique and important role in the history of art and image. This engaging book explores the numerous ways artists have embraced printmaking over the course of three centuries. Each of the works illustrated has been selected to reflect the broad spectrum of techniques and purposes, which are explained in clear and concise terms.
A Century of Color in Design: 250 Innovative Objects and the Stories Behind Them by David Harrison
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; NK1548 .H37 2021

ISBN: 9781760761288

Publication Date: 2021-05-11

Color has the power to transform our relationship to an object. The last hundred years have yielded a wealth of new designs celebrating color, and new technologies to make them possible.
Craft: An American History by Glenn Adamson
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; TT23 .A33 2021

ISBN: 9781635574586

Publication Date: 2021-01-19

A groundbreaking and endlessly surprising history of how artisans created America, from the nation's origins to the present day.
Designing Type by Karen Cheng
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; Z250 .C44 2020

ISBN: 9780300249927

Publication Date: 2020-10-20

Explains the processes behind creating and designing type, one of the most important tools of graphic design. Cheng addresses issues of structure, optical compensation, and legibility, with special emphasis given to the often-overlooked relationships between letters and shapes in font design.
Fine Artists: A Practical Career Guide by Marcia Santore
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; N8350 .S265 2020

ISBN: 9781538134320

Publication Date: 2019-11-27

Includes interviews with professionals in the field, covers the following areas of this field that have proven to be stable, lucrative, and growing professions. · Art Media · Conceptual Art · Fiber Art · Illustration · Installation · Mixed Media · Murals · New Media · Painting · Performance Art · Photography · Printmaking · Sculpture.
Introduction to Three-Dimensional Design by Kimberly Elam
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; NK1510 .E415 2020

ISBN: 9781616899219

Publication Date: 2020-10-06

Introduction to Three-Dimensional Design is the first book to teach graphic design students the fundamentals of three-dimensional design through hands-on drawing and model projects. The book combines key concepts with carefully crafted exercises so students can apply three-dimensional design principles in practice.
Monumental Cares: Sites of History and Contemporary Art by Mechtild Widrich
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; NA9345 .W54 2023

ISBN: 9781526168085

Publication Date: 2023-01-31

Monumental cares rethinks monument debates, site specificity and art activism in light of problems that strike us as monumental or overwhelming, such as war, migration and the climate crisis. The book shows how artists address these issues, from Chicago and Berlin to Oslo, Bucharest and Hong Kong, in media ranging from marble and glass to postcards, graffiti and re-enactment. A multidirectional theory of site does justice to specific places but also to how far-away audiences see them. What emerges is a new ethics of care in public art, combined with a passionate engagement with reality harking back to the realist aesthetics of the nineteenth century.