Research Beyond TJC
Southern art is just one element in this nation’s complex and wholly distinct visual narrative. The following references offer overviews, comprehensive commentary, and extensive bibliographies on the United States’ rich cultural heritage.
Image Rights and Reproductions
Works of art held in The Johnson Collection are not available for sale or commercial reproduction.
Authors and publishers seeking to illustrate a specific artwork/s in forthcoming scholarly projects can submit through the “Request an Image” link below.
For questions, please contact TJC Librarian and Registrar Mary Owens Davidson.
Appraisals
The Johnson Collection does not appraise or authenticate works of art. For information about appraisals and appraiser referrals, consider consulting any of the experts listed below.
Research Beyond TJC
Online Resources
TJC staff welcomes research inquiries within the scope of our resources and expertise. For additional research needs, we recommend the following online resources.
Getty Research Institute
The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts. Its research library includes over one million books, periodicals, study photographs, and auction catalogs as well as extensive special collections of rare and unique materials. Focusing on art history, architecture, and related fields, they begin with the archaeology of prehistory and extend to the contemporary moment.
- Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
- Collecting and Provenance Research
- Digital Collections
- Library Catalog
- Photo Archive
- Research Guides and Bibliographies
- Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)
SIRIS: Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
The Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) is an interactive, integrated system applying established national standards to manage, describe, and provide access to research resources held primarily by the Institution’s libraries, archives, and research units in support of the Institution’s mission. SIRIS supports the Smithsonian research community by providing a gateway to and from other Institution information resources and to external information resources.
- Smithsonian American Art Education Resources for Adult Learners
- Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- Smithsonian Art Inventories
- Smithsonian Catalog of American Portraits
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Targeted at students and scholars of art history, the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History offers a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global culture. The resource includes over one thousand essays, paired with objects from the museum’s encyclopedic collection.
Library of Congress
This searchable resource includes seventeen million catalog records for books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images, and electronic resources in the Library of Congress collections, including artist papers and other archival material.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Library
With more than 50,000 volumes pertaining to American art and art history, plus archives containing personal papers and other artist ephemera, Crystal Bridges’ library provides exceptional access to resources and offers auxiliary research services.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The Archives of Women Artists at the National Museum of Women in the Arts serves as a locus of primary-source material for curators, scholars, and students researching women’s contributions to the arts.
Terra Foundation Center for Digital Collections (Smithsonian Archives of American Art)
A virtual repository of a substantial cross-section of the Archives of American Art’s most significant collections. Since 2005, over one hundred archival collections, featuring many major American artists, have been scanned and posted online in their entirety. In addition, nearly 17,000 documents have been individually cataloged and are accessible through a search and browse interface.
Google Arts & Culture
This collaboration between Google and 250 acclaimed international art institutions puts the world’s art at users’ fingertips by exploring a catalogue of 45,000 objects, reproduced at the higest possible resolution. Visitors are invited to take virtual tours of premier museums and to create personalized image galleries to savor and share.
TJC Research Library Request
We welcome research inquiries related to the Collection, library holdings, and our exhibition catalogues—including availability and content. Please submit questions through the form below, and TJC staff will assist with available resources.
TJC Companion Publications
Since 2012, TJC has produced four thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated scholarly investigations of Southern art time periods, artists, and themes.
