The Core Elements

Art citations typically include the artist's name, the title of the work (in italics), the date of creation, the medium (oil on canvas, bronze, photograph, etc.), dimensions (optional but common in art history), and the current location (museum/collection and city).

Viewing Context Matters

How you accessed the artwork affects your citation:

Viewed in person at a museum or gallery—cite the artwork itself.

Viewed in a book or exhibition catalog—cite the reproduction in that publication.

Viewed online at a museum website or database—cite the online source.

For serious art historical analysis, viewing the original is often expected. Always indicate how you encountered the work.

Quick Reference by Major Style

MLA (9th Edition) is common for art history:

Artist Last Name, First Name. Title of Artwork. Year, Medium. Museum, City.

Example:

Monet, Claude. Water Lilies. 1906, oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Chicago (Notes-Bibliography):

Note:

Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906, oil on canvas, 89.9 × 94.1 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Bibliography:

Monet, Claude. Water Lilies. 1906. Oil on canvas, 89.9 × 94.1 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

APA (7th Edition):

Artist, A. A. (Year). Title of artwork [Description of medium]. Museum, City, Country. URL

Example:

Monet, C. (1906). Water lilies [Oil on canvas]. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.

Artworks in Books or Catalogs

When you accessed the image in a publication:

MLA:

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year. Museum, City. Title of Book, by/edited by Author, Publisher, Year, p. page.

Chicago:

Artist, Title of Artwork, Year, Medium, in Author, Title of Book (Place: Publisher, Year), plate/figure number.

Always include the original artwork information plus the publication where you found it.

Online Museum Collections

Many museums have online collections with stable URLs:

Monet, Claude. Water Lilies. 1906, oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16568

If the museum provides a recommended citation format, use it.

Unknown Artist or Untitled Works

Unknown artist:

Unknown artist. Title or [Description]. Date. Medium. Location.

Or:

Title. Date. Medium. Location. (Note in text that artist is unknown.)

Untitled works:

Artist. [Description of work]. Date. Medium. Location.

Or if "Untitled" is the actual title:

Artist. Untitled. Date. Medium. Location.

Multiple Works by Same Artist

When discussing several works, cite each individually or describe your approach in your text:

Monet's water lily series (1897-1926), held in collections worldwide, demonstrates his evolving treatment of light.

For formal art historical papers, each work discussed usually gets its own citation.

Sculptures and Three-Dimensional Work

Same format as paintings, but medium matters more:

Rodin, Auguste. The Thinker. 1880, bronze. Musée Rodin, Paris.

Note if you're citing a specific cast (bronze sculptures often exist in multiple authorized copies):

Rodin, Auguste. The Thinker. 1880 (cast 1904), bronze. Musée Rodin, Paris.

Photographs as Art

Photographs cite similarly:

Lange, Dorothea. Migrant Mother. 1936, gelatin silver print. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

For contemporary photography, note if it's a limited edition and which print number if relevant.

Performance Art and Installations

For ephemeral or site-specific works:

Abramović, Marina. The Artist Is Present. 2010, performance. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Note the medium as "performance," "installation," "video installation," etc.

Figures and Illustrations in Your Paper

When including artwork as a figure in your paper, the caption includes citation information:

Fig. 1. Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906, oil on canvas, 89.9 × 94.1 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Check your style guide for specific figure caption requirements.

The exact formatting for art citations depends on your required citation style. Check the specific guide for your discipline below.