How the Art World Stayed Informed: ArtNews, Art in America, and ArtForum

Within the art world, certain publications are read widely by scholars, practitioners, collectors, dealers, curators, and others who want to stay abreast of broad trends and current events. Prior to the advent of the internet, these publications were particularly important for anyone who needed regular updates on artistic and institutional happenings. For researchers studying art exhibitions, reception, and criticism, these publications are especially important for tracing the trajectories of the art world over time and for understanding them in the context that they were most broadly communicated to audiences.    

Three such publications, Art in America, ArtNews, and ArtForum, are now available to the Penn community as online, full color searchable image databases. Art in America and Art News are available through the Ebsco Art Magazine Collection Archive. Founded in New York City in the early 20th century, these two journals are highly significant for their scope, popularity, and the length of their runs. ArtForum was established in California in 1962, in part as an alternative to the influential East Coast mainstays.  

Together, these digitized journals provide a huge advantage to students, scholars, and practitioners researching a wide range of popular, institutional, and critical perspectives into art and design during the 20th and early 21st centuries.