State of the Art Sources: Visual Arts Encyclopedias

The recent announcement that Macmillan (London) is planning to publish an art counterpart to its New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians creates an excuse to consider what is already available in general encyclopedic reference works in the fields of art history and architectural history. Obviously, a new art encyclopedia, like the massive, authoritative New Grove Dictionary, would change the picture completely; but what are art and general reference librarians using currently to satisfy patrons with short‐range information needs in the visual arts? This survey will attempt to answer this by examining available references in some detail. Because of space limitations, works containing only biographical information on artists or only definitions of term, will not be considered.