Art and Architecture Collection > Art History: A Research Guide

Exhibition Records

Important information about artists and art movements can be found in the exhibition records of museums, galleries, and art institutions. These exhibition records can relate history about the institution in question, and document artists who participated in group exhibitions. Museum permanent collection catalogs are another critical resource with information on artistic holdings. The following titles are representative of many other publications that record exhibition information useful in tracking an artist’s career:

The Annual & Biennial Exhibition Record of the Whitney Museum of Art, 1918-1989. Edited by Peter Hastings Falk. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1991. Incorporates serial exhibitions of the Whitney Studio Club, 1918-1928; the Whitney Studio Club galleries 1928-1930; and the Whitney Museum 1932-1989.

The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888-1950. Edited by Peter Hastings Falk. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1990.
Includes the records of three annual exhibition series.

Cowdrey, Mary B. American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art-Union, 1816-1852. 2 vol. New York: New-York Historical Society, 1953. 2 vol.
Includes an institutional history and an exhibition record.

Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their Works from its Foundation in 1769 to 1904. New York: Burt Franklin, 1972 (reprint of 1905-6 ed.) 4 vol.
An exhibition record for this time, with a later record for periods in the 20th century.

Marlor, Clark S. The Society of Independent Artists: The Exhibition Record 1917-1944. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press, 1984.Documents exhibitions and participants for this New York-based group.

Monneret, Jean. Catalogue Raisonné du Salon des Indépendants, 1884-2000. Paris: Salon des Indépendants, 2000.
Well illustrated with bibliographic references and society history.