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Image Citing Tips
"Africa: Talking Drums" painting by Betty LaDuke
Fig. 5. Three tall figures with drums and one small figure in the foreground from: LaDuke, Betty. Africa: Talking Drums. 1992, library.artstor.org/asset/SS35458_35458_22481398.
  • No matter what, be consistent with your caption display choices throughout your paper or presentation.
  • If you are still unsure about citing a work of art, it is always good to review guidelines from the Art Bulletin and College Art Association, or see the Additional Resources page.
  • The examples in this tutorial are meant to provide guidelines for citing images for Art History. If the image you want to cite lacks the elements required for a full citation, first check to see if you can find the same image from another informative source. If no alternative is available, then include as much information as you can in your citation and leave blank the information you cannot locate.
  • Cite the original source of images found on Google, rather than google.com.
  • An image my not have a set “Title.”
    • In this case, provide a description of the image in the same place you would place the title in the citation.
  • “Date” can simply be the year a work of art was completed.
    • It could, however, also be as specific as a day, month, or season, or range of years.
    • Possible complications could include analog photography; the date the photo was taken and the date on which it was developed into print could call for different references: “Spring 2000, printed 2019.”
  •  “Location” could include a private collection, a museum housing or displaying the work, or a publication in which the work is reproduced. When possible, cite the original work rather than a reproduction.
  • “Dimensions” will most likely be provided by the museum/institution housing the work.
    • Two-dimensional pieces only require the height and width of the work.
    • Three-dimensional pieces will also need to include the depth of the work.
    • You are encouraged to provide both metric and imperial units (cm and in.).
      • Provide the conversion of the units in parenthesis.
  •  Figure Numbers should be abbreviated to Fig., and every figure should be assigned a number beginning with 1 and increasing sequentially throughout the assignment. (Fig. 1).

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