Benezit Dictionary of Artists

Library Journal

Used by art dealers, museums, and libraries as a guide to artists and their works, this classic reference work has been around since the early 1900s; the latest edition was published in French in 1999. The dictionary here appears in English for the first time, updated and expanded by a team of 150 editors, art historians, and translators. The more than 170,000 entries-some consisting of a mere line or two-vary in length according to the number of extant works and the amount of information available but together comprise 20,000-plus pages in 14 volumes (this reviewer saw only the first volume). The coverage spans artists of all nationalities and in a variety of visual media (e.g., American painter/illustrator Gertrude Partington Albright, Italian painter Duilio Barnab , Swedish engraver Fredrik Aprel), and standard entries include brief artist profiles, career summaries, sample signatures where available, locations of existing works in museums, auction records, and bibliographies of written works on the artist. Bottom Line This authoritative and useful work is the standard biographical listing of artists, outdoing similar resources in both size and scope. As such, it belongs in all major American libraries.-Denise Johnson, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.