Find a Database
- NYPL has a robust list of over 800 databases that we subscribe to.
- Below you can find a list of some art databases (left tab) and some multidisciplinary databases (right tab) that may come in handy when researching art.
- Our list is updated periodically so please check the Articles and Databases page for updates.
Looking for Journals or Magazines
Use the catalog's Journal Title search function to find magazines, journals, and newspapers that are held in our research library.
Get Help
For further assistance in using any of these resources you can contact the Art & Architecture staff by visiting us in Room 300 of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building or through email at art@nypl.org.
Electronic Resources
- Art Full TextIndexes and abstracts articles from an international selection of periodicals including French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and English-language journals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- ARTbibliographies Modern This link opens in a new window
Provides full abstracts of journal articles, books, exhibition catalogs, dissertations, and reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art. Dates of Coverage: 1974-present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon (AKL)
Allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon Online (Artists of the World Online) is biographical reference guide to artists. It contains up-to-date, authoritative information on over one million artists.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online offers users the ability to access the vast content of Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms all in one interface. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Avery Index to Architectural PeriodicalsIndexes articles on architecture in its broadest sense, including archaeology, decorative arts, interior design, furniture, landscape architecture, and city planning from 1930s to present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Artifex This link opens in a new window
Artifex Press is a publisher of digital catalogues raisonnés and is now a part of Cahiers d’Art Institute. A catalogue raisonné is the definitive, comprehensive, and annotated compilation of all the known works of an artist. Artifex Press combines art-historical research with the flexibility of digital publishing, creating digital archives for various artists, including: Chuck Close, Jim Dine and Tim Hawkinson. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Berg Fashion LibraryComprehensive coverage of world fashion from reference titles, journal articles, ebooks, and images. Select "Resource Area" to access lesson plans, thematic reading lists, and biographies. Please note that Fairchild Books and Fashion Photography Archive content is not included in the Library's subscription. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Art Index Retrospective
Indexes articles in periodicals, yearbooks, and museum publications, 1929-1984.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Artnet
Contains fine arts auction records -- many with images --from international and national auction sales. Database is updated daily with records from 1989 to present, searchable by artist's name.
Available only in Room 300, the Art & Architecture Collection. Please speak to a staff member for access. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.** - ARTstor
ARTstor is a nonprofit resource that provides access to more than one million images in the arts, architecture, and other fields in the humanities and sciences.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Design and Applied Arts Index
International index to design and craft journals. Dates of Coverage: 1973-present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Invaluable
Provides access to more than 4 million auction records -- some with images -- covering the fine and decorative arts such as sculpture, painting, prints, photographs, collectibles and jewelry. This database was formerly Artfact. Effective on November 21, 2013 Artfact transitioned to Invaluable.
Available only in Room 300, the Art & Architecture Collection. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.** - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A searchable, digitized archive -- from the first date of publication to the last three to five years -- of major scholarly journals in many academic fields. Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of JSTOR. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Nineteenth Century Art WorldwideA scholarly e-journal devoted to the study of nineteenth-century painting, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, architecture, and decorative arts. Dates of Coverage:
1780-1920. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.** - Vogue Archive
The entire run of Vogue Magazine, in full text and full color, from 1892-present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Vogue Italia Archive
The complete run of Vogue Italia fashion arts magazine from its launch in 1964 to the present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
The Women's Magazine Archive provides digital access to decades of women's-interest magazines in high-resolution color and in full-text from cover to cover. This collection covers magazines from the 19th and 20th centuries. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Women's Wear Daily Archive (WWD)
Full color, fully searchable, full text version of Women's Wear Daily, from 1910-2015. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Academic OneFile
This article database includes full-text and abstracts of scholarly, trade, and general-interest periodicals covering topics in the areas of current events, general sciences and technology, social sciences, arts, and humanities. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Academic Search Premier
A multi-disciplinary database of more than 4,600 magazines and journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. In addition to the full-text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for 8,470 journals. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Ancestry Library Edition
Access billions of names in thousands of genealogical databases including Census and Vital Records, birth, marriage and death notices, the Social Security Death Index, Passenger lists and naturalizations, Military and Holocaust Records, City Directories, New York Emigrant Savings Bank records, and African American and Native American Records. Library version of Ancestry.com.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Indexes biographical listings in print dictionaries and encyclopedias covering millions individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world. A good resource for researching those who are less well-known or famous. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical information on 650,000+ people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines. For more in-depth biographies of figures from American history, consult American National Biography. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Brill Online Books and Journals
Provides full-text access to scholarly journals and book-length scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Credo Reference
Provides full-text online access to hundreds of multidisciplinary reference book collections, including art, history, law, medicine, psychology, technology, bilingual dictionaries and encyclopedias. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- EBSCOHost
Provides access to over 30 databases with citations, abstracts and selected full-text. Includes Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete and other subject-specific resources. Specific databases available through EBSCOhost are listed at the EBSCOhost site and in this directory. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Flipster
Access over 100 popular magazines, including Bon Appetit, Sports Illustrated, Time, and People, through this digital platform. Send issues to the app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play) for offline reading. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- General OneFile
This general periodical database contains over 12,000 periodicals, newspapers, reference books and multimedia sources, over half of which are full text. The backfile extends nearly 30 years. Subjects include humanities, education, environmental issues, technology, health care, politics, and more. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Historical Abstracts
Abstracts of journal articles on world history since 1450, excluding U.S. and Canadian history, which is covered by America: History and Life. Dates of Coverage: 1954-present. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Humanities International CompleteThis database includes all data from Humanities International Index (more than 2,200 journals and 2.8 million records) plus unique full-text content, much of which is not found in other databases. The database includes full text for nearly 1,200 journals.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- MasterFILE Premier
Contains full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals covering general reference, business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Newspapers.com This link opens in a new window
Newspapers.com is the largest online newspaper archive consisting of 300+ million pages of historical newspapers from 11,100+ newspapers from around the United States and beyond, with a special focus on full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles in addition to small local newspapers. The collection includes a broad range of dates, mostly covering the 19th and 20th centuries. Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of ProQuest and its partner Newspapers.com. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- PressReader
Provides access to current newspapers from around the world in full-color, full-page format. Includes over 2,000 U.S. and international titles. Formerly called PressDisplay. Registering as a user with the site is optional and allows for personalized, saved settings. Patrons should consult PressReader's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before registering. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to over 500 peer-reviewed scholarly journals and top quality book-length scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
- ProQuest Research Library
Provides articles from periodicals covering arts, business, children, education, health, humanities, law, multicultural studies, sciences, social sciences, and general interest. Full text is available for nearly two-thirds of its titles. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**