ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) provides full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art, with approximately 12-13,000 new entries being added each year. Entries date back as far as the late 1960s. 

ABM is the premier source of information on modern and contemporary arts dating from the late 19th century onwards, and including photography since its invention. It includes abstracts of English and foreign-language material on famous and lesser-known artists, movements, and trends. The coverage of ABM is wide-ranging and includes performance art and installation works, video art, computer and electronic art, body art, graffiti, artists' books, theatre arts, conservation, crafts, ceramic and glass art, ethnic arts, graphic and museum design, fashion, and calligraphy, as well as traditional media including illustration, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing. 

Subject Coverage

Major areas of coverage include: 

• Art history 
• Art theory 
• Body art 
• Cartoons and caricatures 
• Computer art 
• Conservation and restoration 
• Costume 
• Crafts 
• Design 
• Ethnic and tribal art 
• Fibre arts 
• Folk art 
• Forgeries 
• Graffiti 
• Iconography 
• Interior decoration 
• Illustration 
• Jewellery 
• Museums and galleries 
• Music and art 
• Performance art 
• Philosophy and art 
• Photography 
• Pottery 
• Religion and art 
• Sculpture 
• Society and art 
• Symbolism 
• Textiles 
• Typography 
• Woodwork

 

Dates of Coverage

1974 - current 

Size
Over 264,500 records as of May 2001 

Sample Record

 

TI:	Title  The New York pre-school
AU:	Author  Vetrocq, Marcia E.
SO:	Source  Art in America (U.S.A.), vol. 85, no. 6, June 1997, pp. 82-7, 8 illus. (6 colour) bibliog
AB:	Abstract  Considers the status of Dada in New York, with reference to the exhibition Making Mischief: Dada Invades New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (21 Nov. 1996-23 Feb. 1997). The author traces the development of New York Dada from Duchamp's self-imposed exile in the city from June 1915 and his patronage by Walter Conrad and Louise Arensberg, assesses the importance of Duchamp's Fountain (1917), and cites the comments of the exhibition's curator Francis Naumann, who asserts that humour forms the basis of Dada in New York. She discusses the limitations of this assertion, compares the art of Duchamp and Man Ray, with reference to their appropriation of ready-mades, and examines the differences between the manifestation of Dada in Europe and in the U.S.A.
PY:	Publication Year  1997
PT:	Publication Type Journal article
DE:	Descriptors  Dada; Duchamp, Marcel; Patronage of Art; Man Ray; ready-mades
AN:	Accession Number  29:01384

Field Codes

The following field codes are found in the records of this database. Here they are listed in alphabetical order by two-letter code. 

AB = Abstract	OG = Organizer
AN = Accession Number	PB = Publisher
AU = Author	PT = Publication Type
DE = Descriptors	PY = Publication Year
GA = Gallery	SL = Summary Language
IB = ISBN	SO = Source
IS = ISSN	SP = Sponsor
LA = Language	TI = Title
NT = Notes	UD = Update

Publication Type, PT=

Identifies the general type of document. The publication types are as follows: 

 

Journal article 

Book 

Dissertation 

Catalog 

Essay

Exhibition review 
 

To search publication type, enter the unique word(s), e.g.: 

pt=(journal article)
pt=catalog and ga=(south african national gallery)