The Grove Dictionary of Art (
1996-Awards:*Archibald Prize - Wendy Sharpe, Self Portrait as Diana of Erskineville*Wynne Prize - William Robinson, Creation landscape – earth and sea*Turner Prize - Douglas Gordon...
) is a 34-volume
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
of
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
. Written by 6,700 experts from around the world, its 32,600-pages cover over 45,000 topics about art, artists,
art criticAn art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
s, art collectors, or anything else connected to the world of art. According to the
The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The New York Times has published a book review section...
it is the "most ambitious art-publishing venture of the late 20th century". Almost half the content covers non-Western subjects, and contributors hail from 120 countries.
The Grove Dictionary of Art (
1996-Awards:*Archibald Prize - Wendy Sharpe, Self Portrait as Diana of Erskineville*Wynne Prize - William Robinson, Creation landscape – earth and sea*Turner Prize - Douglas Gordon...
) is a 34-volume
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
of
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
. Written by 6,700 experts from around the world, its 32,600-pages cover over 45,000 topics about art, artists,
art criticAn art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
s, art collectors, or anything else connected to the world of art. According to the
The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The New York Times has published a book review section...
it is the "most ambitious art-publishing venture of the late 20th century". Almost half the content covers non-Western subjects, and contributors hail from 120 countries. Topics range from
Julia Margaret CameronJulia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for Arthurian and similar legendary themed pictures....
to
Shoji Hamadawas a Japanese potter. He was a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the mingei folk-art movement, establishing the town of Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre....
,
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
to
TimbuktuTimbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. It was made prosperous by Mansa Musa, tenth mansa of the Mali Empire...
, the
EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment, or simply The Enlightenment, is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority....
to
MarxismMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
, and Yoruba masks to
Abstract ExpressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post-World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris....
. Entries include bibliographies and a vast number of images. The dictionary is available either in a standard hardcover edition or a 216-pound leather-bound version.
The
Grove Dictionary of Art is published by
Oxford University PressOxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
, who acquired it from
Macmillan PublishersMacmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately-held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others....
in 2003. It is notable for retailing at close to nine thousand dollars, or about two-hundred and sixty dollars per volume, making it one of the most expensive reference works and inaccessible to anyone but special patrons or institutions such as libraries.
The online version, which is continually updated, is available to use free of charge to many UK and International Library members from the Grove website at http://www.groveart.com using your Library membership number to login. OUP has however offered occasional sales, as in 2006 when, to mark its tenth anniversary, the dictionary was available for one thousand dollars.
The Grove Dictionary of Art was first offered online through the
Grove Art Online web site in 1998. The site was expanded and renamed as
Oxford Art Online.
Many UK residents can obtain free online access at home by arranging to obtain a PIN from their local public library.
External links