Current Bibliography
- AATA Online: Abstracts of International Conservation LiteratureA database of hundreds of thousands of abstracts of technical literature related to the preservation and conservation of art and other material culture. More than 470 journals and additional collections of essays are included (about 100 of these journals are currently indexed.) Most indexing began in 1955 but some publications were indexed back to 1932. No full texts. Items of interest should be searched in LionSearch for access.
. - Conservation OnLine - CoOL Search.Offers a unified search through a variety of mostly-born-digital sources, beginning with informal communications among conservators in the late 1980s and accumulating an assortment of project reports, datafiles, and other gray literature. More recently published materials have been added including full texts from several journals.
. - British Library. Shared Research Repository.A digital repository where a consortium of British museums, post journal articles, research reports, conference papers, books and book chapters, datasets, images, exhibition texts and blog posts” It is strong on technical work and includes the articles in the British Museum Technical Research Bulletin (published 2007 to 2015.)
- WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new windowSince Penn State’s Libraries have never focused on technical art history, checking this database (the largest listing of books on earth) should turn up some good items for interlibrary loan. Here you might best make use the SUBJECT HEADINGS recommended below.
Subject Headings
Library of Congress Subject Headings are used for books in most libraries and can be helpful in LionSearch, the Library Catalog, or WorldCat. One good way to identify them is to locate a full catalog record for a book that you know to be of interest and try the subject headings that were assigned to it. Generally these headings follow the formula of first naming a form or medium, then specifying one or more standard subdivisions for process and time period. For example:
Artists materials – Analysis
Painting – Technique
Art – Technique – Early works to 1800
Painting – Technique – History
[medium] – [period] – Technique
Reference Sources
For quick answers to specific questions:
- Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO)"...a database that compiles, defines, and disseminates technical information on the distinct collection of terms, materials, and techniques used in the fields of art conservation and historic preservation. First developed as a materials database in 1997 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, it has expanded with the cooperation of multiple institutions to include several reference collections." Note also the directory of 234 organizations (cultural, educational, professional, industrial) related to cultural heritage and conservation.
. - Jongh, Ingeborg de, et al. Technical Art History: A Handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art, 2019.Lists “the 50 most commonly used scientific techniques” for authenticating art and cultural artifacts. Compiled by scientists for non-scientists. Signed entries rigorously include a definition, a description, applications, limitations, complimentary techniques, technical considerations, history of the technique, and selected bibliography of the technique and its applications. Published by the Authentication in Art Foundation. Finally, a clear explanation of matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry! Although intended as a reference, browsing through the 50 brief “applications” sections is not a bad introduction to this field.
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An important manual for key pigments from the history of painting. In 4 volumes produced over many years, so a bit awkward in its organization. Consult the complete table of contents in WorldCat to determine which volume you need. Volumes 1 through 3 are freely downloadable from the National Gallery.
Museums and Institutes
The conservation and scientific departments of the world's largest museums usually post information about their current conservation and experimental work. Finding these portions of museum web sites requires persistence, but the Met, the Smithsonian, Britain's National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum, Berlin's Staatliche Museen, and many others offer substantial information. Institutes may be associated with a museum, but usually provide services for other institutions as well.
- National Gallery of Art (U. S.). Conservation.The outstanding conservation department at the National Gallery posts a variety of useful information: ranging from basic advice for art owners to full-text downloads of published research. Good glossaries. Current conservation practices are emphasized, but with doses of the history of materials and techniques.
. - Getty Conservation Institute.Here may be found current projects, publications (so many that they have their own search engine) and an exceptionally extensive collection of learning materials for all educational levels.
. - RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis. RKDtechnical.Among it’s many art historical pursuits, the RKD produces this database of technical studies – mostly documents from conservation departments of their museum and others in the Netherlands.
. - Rochester Institute of Technology. Image Permanence Institute.Lots of technical analysis of the many types of photographs past and present.
. - International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.An international professional society for the conservation sciences with a web site rich in members-only information, but also an impressive attempt at listing repositories for dissertations and other student papers in conservation topics.
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It is possible, though not without lots of clicking, to read unpublished summaries of the technical analysis of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of art works being examined by this important Italian conservation network. Similar, but separate, information is available from the Ministry’s Opificio Pietre Dure.
Journals and Book Series
Systematic access to relevant articles in journals is provided by the databases in the CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHY section, above. Here are simply a few journal titles that one might browse to keep up to date. Also some monographic series.
- Material Intelligence(Informal scholarship in thematic issues, so far Copper, Rubber, Linen, Oak...)
- Studies in Art & Materiality(A peer-reviewed book series about the relation between art, materials, and making.)
- Art In the Making(An introductory-level series of books and videos from the National Gallery, London. Each on a major artist or movement, but always with an emphasis on technique.)
Books published by the Getty Conservation Institute are numerous and Penn State’s libraries hold most.