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Art 355 - Advanced Photography: How to Cite Images

How to find resources for photography

How to cite an image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph) -- MLA Style

Include the artist's name. Give the title of the artwork in italics. Provide the date of composition. If the date of composition is unknown, place the abbreviation n.d. in place of the date. Name the medium of the piece, and finally, provide the name of the institution that houses the artwork followed by the location of the institution.

  • Example: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Oil on canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

For photographic reproductions of artwork (e.g. images of artwork in a book), cite the bibliographic information as above followed by the information for the source in which the photograph appears, including page or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).

  • Example: Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Gardener's Art Through the Ages. 10th ed. By Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace. 939. Print.

If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, the medium of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.

  • Example: brandychloe. "Great Horned Owl Family." Photograph. Webshots. American Greetings, 22 May 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009.

How to cite images - APA

If the image is titled:

Author Last Name, First Initial. (Image date). Image title [Medium]. Retrieved from location.

  • Example of Database: Rousseau, H. (1896). The ship in the storm [Painting]. Retrieved from Oxford Art Online database.
  • Example of freely available onlineRousseau, H. (1896). The ship in the storm [Painting]. Retrieved from http://www.uwm.edu/~wash/rousseau.jpg
  • Example of a print sourceRousseau, H. (1896). The ship in the storm [Painting]. Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris. By Claire Fresches et al. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. 232.
    • The plate/image number (or, if this number is not available, the page number on which the image is printed) should follow the name of the publisher as shown.

If the image has no title, create a brief description for the image, in brackets.

  • ExampleMuybridge, E. [Photograph of a horse running]. (1887). Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

How to cite art works - Chicago Style

Works of art reproduced in a printed source (treat as book chapter)

Artist’s last name, first name. "Title of art work," medium, date of art work (Institution where art work is housed (if known),
          city where housed if not already named). In Title of printed source italicized, by Author of printed source, page or
          plate/figure/slide number. Place of publication: publisher, date.

example: 

Cassatt, Mary. "Mother and Child," oil on canvas, c.1890 (Wichita Art Museum). In American Painting: 1560-1913, by John 
           Pearce, slide 22. New York: McGraw, 1964.

 Works of art reproduced in electronic source

Artist’s last name, first name. Title of art work,  medium, date of art work (Institution where art work is housed (if known), city
          where housed if not already named). URL. 

example: 

Monet, Claude. Meadow with Haystacks at Giverny, oil on canvas, 1885 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
          http://www.artstor.org.