VCU Libraries

Research Guides

Find Art & Design Images

Image Citation Basics

When using images in research projects, you need to cite your image sources just as you cite your text sources.
The information you will need:

  • Artist name
  • Title of the work
  • Date it was created
  • Repository, museum, or owner
  • City or Country of origin
  • Dimensions of the work
  • Material or medium such as oil on canvas, marble, found objects
     

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

If you found the image online you will need an access date, the web site or database address (URL)  and in some cases an image ID number.

Image Citation Styles

APA

Creator's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of creation). Title of image or description of image. [Type of work]. Location or Retrieved from URL/database.

  • Rodin, A. (1902). The thinker [Bronze sculpture]. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art.
  • Wyeth, A. (1948). Christina’s world [Painting]. Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/index

 

Chicago

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

  • Sullivan, Louis H. The Security Bank, 1907. Owatonna, Minnesota. http://www.artstor.org/ (accessed May 12, 2011).

 

Turabian

Cite the artist's name, title in italics, the medium and support, the date, and the institution or individual who owns the work, the city, and, if needed for clarification, the state. If the location is unknown use, “whereabouts unknown” in parentheses. As a general rule cite images only in notes.

  • Frank Duveneck, 1872. Whistling Boy. [database on-line] (ARTstor, accessed 14 June 2011); available www.artstor.org, image ID CARNEGIE_4410001

 

MLA

Cite the artist's name, title, usually underlined, and the institution or individual who owns the work, and the city. If you want to indicate the work's date, include it after the title. For a work of art you viewed online, end your citation with your date of access and the URL.

  • Botticelli, Sandro. Birth of Venus. c. 1482. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. ARTstor. 6 Jun. 2011, <http://www. artstor.org>.

Image Citation Styles
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