This collection of ten books ranges from themes of nature and caricatures to alphabetical and numerical characters and fashion, spanning over a century of art history. Not only are the themes varied, but the media showcased includes woodcut, architecture, cartooning, painting, and gardening. Some of the sources include only the art with very little text or context about the work, such as the Peking Art Series and Hawaii. Others include text surrounding the works providing history and perspective.

One final item of note is the Catalogue featuring art for sale on the secondary market in 1876. As much of the art market is driven by the secondary market, this source tells what pieces were for sale, their condition, and starting price at a particular sale. While not featuring the art specifically, this provides insight into the market 150 years ago.

Research Questions
Four sources show depictions of different locations (Nash, Davison, Patterson, and Zumbrun). How are the different traits of each location highlighted by different media? How would the viewers’ understanding of a place be different if shown in another way?

Examine one source which uses lesser-known media (Holme: Caricature, Payne: décor and pattern, Patterson: woodcut). What makes this format distinct in the art world? Who are important names to know and what works define the genre?

Some would say today’s cameras are the best in history. How are today’s photographs comparable to the photography seen in Zumbrun’s Peking series or the sketches from Nash’s “Mansions” and Davison’s “Port Sunlight?” Do some media approach a scene capture in ways that modern photography cannot?

Three sources highlight design outside of traditional art: Hulme’s “Plants,” Hardin’s “Costumes,” and Shaw’s “Alphabets.” Using aesthetic language from philosophers and other scholars, make the case that one of these collections is art and that it contributes to the field.

Much of today’s art market is through a secondary market instead of the primary market (benefiting the artist). Using Pillet’s “Catalogue,” how has this changed in 150 years, and how is it the same?

Activity: Using Dead Time
In preparation for class, have students read “The Performance and Practice of Research in A Cabinet of Curiosity” an article about an art installation that investigates how the “materiality of information shapes the making of meaning.” The authors, who are also the artists, aimed to make visible the “dead time” or hidden labor that underlies the production of knowledge. Also have students complete a series of questions asking them to reflect on their research interests and practices (sample questions: “How do themes from the reading appear in your own work?”). The class session began in the classroom with a conversation about the assigned reading. Through this discussion, generate a list of twenty keywords associated with the subjects, themes, and questions defined. Next, guide students in a mind-mapping exercise. Based on the keywords students generated, use large sheets of paper and colorful writing implements to map out the links and connections among their findings. After the maps are complete, students switch mind maps with a partner and re-draw these associative webs for one other. The goal is to show students the social, collaborative dimensions of the research process. Finally, starting with the keywords from their mind maps, apply these concepts to one particular source within the portal. To continue to foster a collaborative research environment and emphasize the social nature of knowledge creation, maintain the mind-mapping partnerships. As the students explore resources, have them apply themes and concepts of the “dead time” to each source’s creation, including “what other research went into creating this work?,” “how is research reflected in the collection?,” and “how could this source act as research for your own work?”

Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms
Covers painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and the decorative, applied, and graphic arts from all periods throughout the world up to the present day.

Grove Art Online
Grove Art Online is available through Oxford Art Online, along with The Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Arts Terms.

ArtStor
Searchable database of more than 500,000 digital images and associated catalog data. Users can search, view, and download images.

Lumen Learning – Boundless Art History
Online open textbook covering prehistoric to 20th-century art across the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline
The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History pairs essays and works of art with chronologies, telling the story of art and global culture through the Museum’s collection.

Art Resource
Searchable fine art stock photo archive with more than 1,000,000 searchable fine art images from the world’s leading sources.