Art Research Guide

The following information is needed to cite images in Chicago Manual of Style:

• Artist's name
• Title of the work
• Date it was created
• Repository, museum, or owner (in other words, where it is now located)
• City or country of origin
• Dimensions of the work
• Material or medium (oil on canvas, marble, found objects, etc.)

If the image is in a book, you will also need the author, title, publisher information, date, page, and figure or plate number of the reproduction.

If the image is online, you will also need an access date, website address, and in some cases an image ID number.

Citations are provided in footnotes or endnotes along with the bibliography.  Images can be cited using captions or in a bibliography.  Check with your instructor for the correct manner.

Bibliographic entry – general

Gogh, Vincent van.  The Starry Night.  1889. Oil on canvas.  29 in. x 36 ¼ in.  Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Footnote/endnote – general

¹⁸Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 in. x 36 ¼ in., Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Caption – general

*note: captions can be done as figure, fig., illustration, or ill.

Fig. 1: Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 in. x 36 ¼ in., Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Bibliographic entry – online (websites or databases)

Duveneck, Frank.  Whistling Boy, 1872.  Oil on canvas, 28 in. x 21 ½ in.  Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati. <http://cincinnatiartmuseum.stores.yahoo.net/frduwhboy.html>, accessed 12 Aug. 2007.

Footnote/endnote – online (websites or databases)

⁴Henri Matisse, The Woman with the Hat, 1905, oil on canvas, 81.3 cm x 60.3 cm, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.

Caption – online (websites or databases)

Ill. 1: Frank Duveneck, Whistling Boy, 1872, oil on canvas, 28 in. x 21 ½ in.  Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, <http://cincinnatiartmuseum.stores.yahoo.net/frduwhboy.html>

Bibliographic entry – slide in the library

Gris, Juan.  Newspaper and Fruit Dish, 1916. Oil on canvas. 18 1/8 in. x 14 7/8 in.  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.  University of Cincinnati, OH: Visual Resources Center, 2005, slides.

Footnote/endnote – slide in the library

Juan Gris, Newspaper and Fruit Dish, 1916, oil on canvas, 18 1/8 in. x 14 7/8 in., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. University of Cincinnati, OH: Visual Resources Center, 2005, slides.

Caption – slide in the library

Illustration 1: Juan Gris, Newspaper and Fruit Dish, 1916, oil on canvas, 18 1/8 in. x 14 7/8 in.  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.  University of Cincinnati, OH: Visual Resources Center, 2005, slides.

Credit lines

Images with copyright restrictions

Reproduced with permission from Jan Newstrom Thompson, Duveneck: Last Paintings Found  (Santa Clara, CA: Triton Museum of Art, 1987), 55, © 1987 by Triton Museum of Art.

Images without copyright restrictions

Man and boy fishing in Ohio River, September 14, 1929.  Courtesy of Rosemary Bart. Photograph courtesy of Cincinnati Art Museum.

For more information, see The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

Use these tools to format your reference list citations in APA, Chicago, or MLA styles. Check the accuracy of these citations (e.g. capitalization, indentation, etc.) using a citation guide.