CMS Citation (N+B)

Visual Arts Basics in CMS’s Notes and Bibliography

Notes and bibliography citations in Chicago-Style can be applied to all forms of visual art (paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc.). At minimum, the title, artist/creator, and date must be cited when they are available. Other required information that is expected when citing visual arts objects in Chicago Style includes the medium, dimensions, and physical location.

Footnotes:

1. Firstname Lastname, Title, date, medium, height × width × depth (unit conversion), repository, location.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date. Medium, height × width × depth (unit conversion). Repository, location.

If images of the work are available online, provide a URL at the end of your citation.

Footnotes:

1. Firstname Lastname, Title, date, medium, height × width × depth (unit conversion), repository, location, date accessed, website URL.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Date. Medium, height × width × depth (unit conversion). Repository, location. Date Accessed. Website URL.

Citing Images

Images, Maps, Charts, Diagram, Graphs, Illustrations

CMS 14.165, 8.193

To cite the image, follow the style for the source in which the image was found (book, article, website, etc.); however, the following changes to those citation styles must be made:

• If there is a photographer or illustrator, use their name in place of the author.​
• If there is a caption, use it to replace the title of an article, or add the caption title in quotation marks with proper capitalization.
• Add a page number where the image is found.
• If a numbered figure is given, add it after the page number.

See specific examples below for images found in articles and on the web.

Image from an Article

Footnote:

1. Firstname Lastname, “Title of Article,” Title of Journal issue, number (date): page, figure number.

Ex.: 1. David Talbot, “Saving Holland,” Technology Review 110, no. 4 (2007): 52, figure 3.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal issue, number (date): page, figure number.

Ex.: Talbot, David. “Saving Holland.” Technology Review 110, no. 4 (2007): 52, figure 3.

Online Image

If citing an image found using Google images, cite the original source – not Google.

Footnote:

1. Firstname Lastname, “Title of the Article,” Title of Journal, date, date accessed, Website URL.

Ex.: 1. James Estrin, “A Worshiper at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,” New York Times, November 27, 2011, accessed October 9, 2019. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/nyregion/for-catholics-the-word-was-a-bit-different-amen.html?ref=us.&_r=0.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal. Date. Date Accessed. Website URL.

Ex.: Estrin, James. “A Worshiper at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.” New York Times. November 27, 2011. Accessed October 9, 2019. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2011/11/28/nyregion/for-catholics-the-word-was-a-bit-different-amen.html?ref=us.&_r=0.

Image or Photograph from a Book

Footnote:

1. Firstname Lastname, “Title of Image or Photograph,” in Book Title, by Firstname Lastname (Location: Publisher, Date), color plate/figure number.

Ex.: 1. Bob Gruen, “Madison Square Garden, July 1972,” in Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010), color plate 12.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Image or Photograph.” In Book Title, by Firstname Lastname, color plate/figure number. Location: Publisher, Date.

Ex.: Gruen, Bob. “Madison Square Garden, July 1972.” In Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox, color plate 12. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010.

Citing a Physical Work

If you have viewed this work in person, cite as below.

Footnote:

1. Firstname Lastname, Title of Work, date(s), medium, height × width × depth (unit conversion), repository, location.

Ex.: 1. Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Slave, 1513-15, marble, 2.09 m., The Louvre, Paris.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. Title, date(s). Medium, height x width x depth (unit conversion). Repository, Location.

Ex.: Dior, Christian. May, 1953. Silk, 5.75 in x 45.5 in (14.75 cm x 115.5) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Citing a Cartoon

CMS 8.194

Cite cartoons appropriately depending upon where the cartoon is published (magazine, newspaper, book, website).

Footnote:

1. Firstname Lastname, “Title of Cartoon,” Newspaper, date, page(s).

Ex.: 1. Roz Chast, “Scenes from a Vacation,” New Yorker, October 31, 2011, 66-67.

Bibliography:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Cartoon.” Website. Accessed date. Website URL.

Ex.: Weiner, Zach. “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.” Smbc-comics.com. Accessed November 18, 2011. http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2434.

Captions in CMS

CMS 3.3, 3.7, 3.21, 3.29

Captions are the explanatory materials that appear below images and illustrations. They can be written in complete or incomplete sentences, several sentences, or they can be composed of a word or two. A caption should should always be labeled as a figure (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.) followed by the number from the order in which it appears in your paper or presentation. If known, credit the photographer of the image.

Images and Illustrations

Citations should appear at the end of a caption, sometimes in parentheses or in different type (or both). Include in your citation who owns the image, if known.

Fig. # Caption (Photograph by Firstname Lastname. In Title of Source. By Firstname Lastname. Location: Publisher, date, page.)

Ex.: Fig. 1 Wartime visit to Australia, winter 1940 (Photograph by Karen Plume. In Australia in Wartime. By Steve Tome. Sydney: Stern and Co., 1992, 12.)

Ex.: Fig. 2 The White Garden, reduced to its bare bones in early spring. The box hedges, which are still cut by hand, have to be carefully kept in scale with the small and complex garden as well as in keeping with the plants inside the “boxes.” (Photograph by John Connelly. In Gardening Through the Seasons. By Nicole Mooney. New York: Bantam Books, 2003, 99.)

Captions for a Physical Work

If you have a personal image of a work you saw in person, include information about the artist and location of the artwork in the caption. Works of art can be cited using this format:

Fig. # Firstname Lastname, Title, date, medium, dimensions, location, repository.

Ex.:  Fig. 2 Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels, 1945, oil and charcoal on canvas, 52 x 40 in. Los Angeles,  Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.

If the image is being reproduced publicly you should consider adding copyright information (who owns the right to an image).

Ex.: Fig. 3 Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels, 1945, oil and charcoal on canvas, 52 x 40 in. Los Angeles,  Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation (artwork © 2011 The Willem de Kooning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Written by, or adapted from, the references listed on the Additional Resources Page (current as of November 2019).