Citing and referencing: Artworks

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Artwork

Artwork in a gallery

Format Last Name, First Name. Title of Artwork. Year of creation, Place viewed, Location.
Example

Williams, Fred. Red Landscape. 1981, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Waterhouse, John William. Circe Invidiosa. 1892, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Clarke, Maree. Thung-Ung Coorang (Kangaroo Teeth Necklace). 2013, Monash U Collection, Melbourne.
Explanation

A physical object, such as a painting or sculpture, which you experienced in person. Give the name of the place, such as a gallery or museum, and the city of location. Leave out the city if it is included in the name of the place, such as with the Melbourne Museum.

 

Wall text accompanying artwork

Format

Wall text for Title of Artwork, by First Name Last Name. Place viewed, Location.

OR

Wall text for Title of Artwork, by First Name Last Name. Exhibit Title, Exhibit date, Place viewed, Location.
Example

Wall text for Red Landscape, by Fred Williams. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

Sainty, Aunty Theresa. Wall text for Kelp Necklace, by Vicki West. Monash U Collection, Melbourne.

Wall text for Symmetry Breakfast, by Michael Zee. FOOD: Bigger than the Plate, 18 May-20 Oct. 2019, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Explanation

If the artwork was part of an exhibit, include the exhibit's name and opening and closing dates as well as the museum name and location.

 

Reproduction of artwork on a website

Format

Last Name, First Name. Title of artwork. Year of creation. Title of webpage, URL.
Example

Uccello, Paolo. The Hunt in the Forest. 1470. Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, www.ashmolean.org/hunt-forest.

Sisley, Alfred. Orchard in Spring. 1881. Classic Art Blog, classicartblog.blogspot.com.
Explanation

Title of the webpage is usually the museum that holds the artwork.

 

Reproduction of artwork in a book

Format

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

OR

Last name, First Name. Title of artwork. Year of creation. Place held, Location. Title of book, by First name Last name, Publisher, Year of Publication, page.
Example

Tucker, Paul Hayes. Claude Monet: Life and Art. Yale UP, 1995.

OR

Redon, Odilon. The Smiling Spider. 1881. Musée de Louvre, Paris. Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams, 1840-1916, by Douglas W. Druick, et al., Art Institute of Chicago / Harry N. Abrams, 1994, p. 150.
Explanation

You can simply reference the book as a whole, or if your discussion centres on the artwork itself, you can choose to reference it directly (see second example).