Schauffler Library: Visual Arts: Getting Started: Primary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources

The definition of a primary source depends upon the discipline and on how one is using the source.

Usually, a primary source is a direct, first-hand account of an event. It is usually something that was created at the time of an event, or shortly thereafter. Examples include:

Photographs
Works of Art
Diaries
Letters
Speeches
Interviews
Newspaper articles
Maps
Video and audio recordings
First-hand narratives or stories

A secondary source would be something that interprets, analyzes, or remarks upon a primary source. Examples include:

Scholarly journal articles
Newspaper and magazine articles
Essays
Theses and dissertations
Stories or films produced about an artist or arts movement

A tertiary source is further removed from a primary source. It leads the researcher to a secondary source, rather than to the primary source.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Textbooks
Biographies

Recommended Primary Source Databases

Artstor
Image database including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture. More than 2 million images from top museums, archives, scholars, and artists — all rights-cleared for education and research.

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | URL in citation is stable
America's Historical Newspapers: 1690-2000
Searchable full-text and images of newspapers from across the country including early newspapers (1690-1922), African American Newspapers (1827-1998); Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection (1799-1971), and Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980).

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | Add the article title to the citation if it is missing | URL in citation is stable
JSTOR
JSTOR provides access to the highest-quality academic scholarly journals, books, images, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

To cite in NoodleTools: From source page choose "Cite," export to "NoodleTools," and import the citation into your NoodleTools project | URL in citation is stable

Recommended Primary Source Websites

Art and Artist Files - Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives' Art and Artist Files are an exceptionally valuable resource for art historical research. There are over 150,000 files that contain ephemera such as exhibition announcements, newspaper and magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations to gallery shows, illustrations, résumés, artists' statements, small catalogs, and/or reproductions.
Life Magazine Photo Archive
Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
Dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing access to primary sources that document the history of the visual arts in America. Holdings include, among other things, more than 20 million letters, diaries and scrapbooks of artists, dealers, and collectors; and the largest collection of oral histories anywhere on the subject of art.
Women Artists Archives National Directory
This website directs users to archival repositories in the U.S. with collections of primary source material about women visual artists active in the U.S. after 1945. In addition to individual women artists (both U.S. and foreign born), WAAND directs users to primary source material about the organizations, collectives, publications, alternative spaces, and artists' communities where these visual artists worked or continue to work.

Remember to search for museums and museum archives to find more great resources.