Artworks/ images
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Text references to artworks
These examples show you how to reference artworks that you refer to in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
In text
Works of art discussed in the text should be properly identified. In the text it is sufficient to write something like:
…Sheep are an important theme in nineteenth-century Australian painting. For example, in Tom Robert's Shearing the Rams,33 there are several rams...
The title of a work of art is set off using italics. Be careful to distinguish this from the subject, which is not italicised. Thus:
…the myth of Diana and Actaeon is represented in Titian's Actaeon Discovering Diana Bathing34 in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Footnotes
In the footnote, here note 33, give full details of the work:
33. Tom Roberts, Shearing the Rams. Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, inv. no. 98.892.
It is often appropriate to give a reference as well to enable the reader to locate the key literature, such as a collection catalogue or catalogue raisonné, hence:
33. Tom Roberts, Shearing the Rams. Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, inv. no. 98.892. Hoff 1995, cat. 66.
Often it is appropriate to include details of date, medium and dimensions. Separate the unit of artist, title and date from medium and dimensions by a full stop, and similarly from the location:
33. Tom Roberts, Shearing the Rams, 1889. 193 x 265 cm, oil on canvas. Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, inv. no. 98.892. Hoff 1995, cat. 66.
These examples show you how to reference artworks that you refer to in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
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Including images in your work
Where practicable, include photocopies of all works of art or other visual material referred to in the essay. Passing references need not be illustrated, but at any point where you are examining the visual evidence closely it is important that you supply illustrations - good quality black and white photocopies - and give clear references to them.
- For undergraduate essays: photocopies of pages from books with your figure number clearly indicated.
- For theses: (if colour is important to your argument) it is a good idea to illustrate key works with high-quality colour copies, but generally this is not required.
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Referencing an image from a book
These examples show you how to reference images that you include in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
Images should have a caption, and a full citation in a list of illustrations. Give each image a figure number. You may abbreviate figure as (fig.)
Caption
Artist, Title, year.
You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
For example - caption
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953.
In text
Refer to illustrations as (fig. 3) etc. in the text. Note that figure references come after the work title, before any punctuation, which in turn comes before any footnote numbers.
For example - in text
…in Edward Hopper's Office in a Small City (fig. 3).22 This painting…
Entry in List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Artist (given name surname), Title of Image, Year created. Dimensions, medium. City, Repository/ Gallery/ Museum. (Author date of publication, page number.)
For example - List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953. 71.1×101.6 cm, oil on canvas. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Levin 1980, p. 254.)
Style Notes
- The minimum information to include in a caption for artworks is artist, title, year
- Titles of artworks are italicised and in headline style.
- You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
- Include a List of Illustrations, using bibliography format.
- In the List of Illustrations, include the source of the illustration in brackets.
- If date is approximate, use ca.
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Referencing an image from an online database
These examples show you how to reference images that you include in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
Images should have a caption, and a full citation in a list of illustrations. Give each image a figure number. You may abbreviate figure as (fig.)
Caption
Artist, Title, year.
You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
For example - caption
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953.
In text
Refer to illustrations as (fig. 3) etc. in the text. Note that figure references come after the work title, before any punctuation, which in turn comes before any footnote numbers.
For example - in text
…in Edward Hopper's Office in a Small City (fig. 3).22 This painting…
Entry in List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Artist (given name surname), Title of Image, Year created. Dimensions, medium. City, Repository/ Gallery/ Museum. (Access date. Database name/ URL.)
For example - List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953. 71.1×101.6 cm, oil on canvas. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Accessed August 5, 2018. www.artstor.org.)
Style Notes
- The minimum information to include in a caption for artworks is artist, title, year
- Titles of artworks are italicised and in headline style.
- You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
- Include a List of Illustrations, using bibliography format.
- In the List of Illustrations, the access date and the URL of the source of the illustration are given in brackets.
- If date is approximate, use ca.
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Referencing an image from a website
These examples show you how to reference images that you include in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
Images should have a caption, and a full citation in a list of illustrations. Give each image a figure number. You may abbreviate figure as (fig.)
Caption
Artist, Title, year.
You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
For example - caption
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953.
In text
Refer to illustrations as (fig. 3) etc. in the text. Note that figure references come after the work title, before any punctuation, which in turn comes before any footnote numbers.
For example - in text
…in Edward Hopper's Office in a Small City (fig. 3).22 This painting…
Entry in List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Artist (given name surname), Title of Image, Year created. Dimensions, medium. City, Repository/ Gallery/ Museum. (Access date. URL.)
For example - List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953. 71.1×101.6 cm, oil on canvas. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Accessed August 5, 2018. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/53.183/.)
Style Notes
- The minimum information to include in a caption for artworks is artist, title, year
- Titles of artworks are italicised and in headline style.
- You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
- Include a List of Illustrations, using bibliography format.
- In the List of Illustrations, the access date and the URL of the source of the illustration are given in brackets.
- If date is approximate, use ca.
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Referencing an image from a gallery or collection
These examples show you how to reference images that you include in your work. Please consult your lecturer or supervisor for specific requirements.
Images should have a caption, and a full citation in a list of illustrations. Give each image a figure number. You may abbreviate figure as (fig.)
Caption
Artist, Title, year.
You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
For example - caption
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953.
In text
Refer to illustrations as (fig. 3) etc. in the text. Note that figure references come after the work title, before any punctuation, which in turn comes before any footnote numbers.
For example - in text
…in Edward Hopper's Office in a Small City (fig. 3).22 This painting…
Entry in List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Artist (given name surname), Title of Image, Year created. Dimensions, medium. City, Repository/ Gallery/ Museum.
For example - List of Illustrations
Fig. 3. Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953. 71.1×101.6 cm, oil on canvas. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Style Notes
- The minimum information to include in a caption for artworks is artist, title, year
- Titles of artworks are italicised and in headline style.
- You may include information about the medium, dimensions and so forth.
- Include a List of Illustrations, using bibliography format.
- If date is approximate, use ca.
This guide is sourced from the Style Guide for Art History Essays and Theses by Dr David R. Marshall of the School of Culture and Communication.
The style given here is based on those commonly used for exhibition catalogues. The essential feature is that every footnote reference, including the first, takes the short form (Smith 2000), and that this short form is used as a label in the bibliography. The formatting is a variant of the Cambridge style.
EndNote
Download the EndNote style file Exhibition Catalogue Style (for Art History)
You must enter footnote information in the Label field of the EndNote reference template:
- Enter author and date in the following manner: Wittkower 1961
- If there is more than one author, enter the names in one line separated by a comma.
- Do not use the Label field of the EndNote reference template for other comments.
Footnotes
Footnote numbers should be placed without brackets slightly above the line20 (superscript) at the end of the phrase or sentence or paragraph to which they refer. If for some reason you are unable to produce superscript numbers, it is an acceptable alternative to place footnote numbers in brackets on the line (20) at the end of the phrase or sentence or paragraph to which they refer.
Footnotes are to be numbered consecutively throughout the thesis, and placed at the foot of the page to which they refer:
20. Wittkower, 1961, pp. 160-63.
- Footnote number: 20.
- Label - comma between author and date: Wittkower, 1961,
(For all references, including the first , use the label) - Page numbers - 'p.' for a single page reference, or 'pp.' for a multiple one: pp. 160-63.
Successive references
Do not use ibid., loc. cit. etc.
If there two successive references are to the same publication, simply repeat the label:
21. Wittkower, 1997, pp. 8-10.
22. Wittkower, 1997, p. 11.
Referring to a footnote
If you are referring to a footnote, set out with both page number where the footnote appears and the footnote number:
23. Wittkower, 1997, p. 462 note 67.
Catalogue entries
In referring to catalogue entries, give both page number and catalogue number:
24. Wittkower, 1997, p. 462, cat. 33.
Bibliography
Your Bibliography (at the end of the essay or thesis) must include all the sources to which you refer in your text.
Fields of a book in a bibliography
Wittkower, 1961: Rudolf Wittkower, Bernini. The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, London: Phaidon, 1961.
Wittkower, 1961:
This is the label field , of the kind employed in exhibition catalogues. This is set in bold for easy recognisability. Note that a colon is the separator. Because exhibition catalogues often have huge numbers of references, in a great diversity of items (essays, catalogue entries, etc.) all these items use short citations (labels) followed by page numbers and so forth, with the full bibliographic details in a general bibliography at the end of the book. The label can be added to an EndNote reference by filling out the field called 'Label'. This is done manually. In principle, you can label the item any way you like, though normally it is the author, or authors (to a maximum of 3), followed by a comma and the date. You can use labels for archival sites.
Rudolf Wittkower,
This is the author field , with first name first. Note that the separators between all fields except label and author, and place and publisher, is a comma.
Bernini. The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque,
This is the title field , and is in italics. If the title is in two parts, as here ('Bernini' is the first part 'The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque' is the second) the separator should be either a full stop, as here, or a colon.
London: Phaidon,
These are the place and publisher fields . Note that the separator between place and publisher is a colon. As a rule, include the publisher, but sometimes this is not practicable. Try to be as consistent as possible.
1961.
This is the year field . It is normally the last item in a bibliography reference, and so ends with a full stop.
Note that page numbers are not used for full book references in a bibliography, only for book sections or journal articles. (They are always used in footnotes, however.)
Additional fields of a journal article in a bibliography
Turner, 1979: James Turner, 'The Structure of Henry Hoare's Stourhead', Art Bulletin, 21, no. 1, 1979, pp. 68-77.
'The Structure of Henry Hoare's Stourhead',
This is the article title field . It is always enclosed in inverted commas, not italics. Do not confuse this with the journal title.
Art Bulletin,
This is the journal title field , and is always in italics.
21,
This is the journal volume field . Do not prefix it with 'vol.' or anything else. Use Arabic numerals, not Roman.
no. 1,
This is the issue field . It may be 'January' or something similar as well. Normally it is sufficient to omit this and simply use the journal volume field, although for newspapers and other periodicals not normally consulted in bound sets it should be included.
pp. 68-77.
This is the pages field . Use 'p.' for a single page and 'pp.' for a range. Do not use 'pg.' or, in this style, omit the 'p.' Note these conventions for abbreviating number ranges:
- pp. 68-77.
- pp. 168-77. i.e. repeat only the last two numbers, but
- pp. 107-9. i.e. do not have a loose '0' for numbers under 10.
Ordering the bibliography
- The bibliography is organised alphabetically. If, on the advice of your supervisor, your topic requires a bibliography organised by subject, please discuss the most appropriate methods of citation with your supervisor.
- The bibliography includes every item in the footnotes. Archival sources, interviews etc., should be included within the alphabetical listing of the bibliography.
- N.B. The bibliography need not be annotated for theses.
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