Research Guides: Art and Design: A/V Materials

Art DVDs in the Collection

Featured Art DVDs

The library has a DVD collection which includes many art documentaries, collections, and features:

Through A Lens Darkly
Publication Date: 2014

Thomas Allen Harris' documentary Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People examines how images of African-Americans throughout history have affected black people's conception of themselves, and features interviews with a variety of African-American photographers who discuss how they have attempted to directly steer the course of that conversation with their work.
How Art Made the World
Call Number: Floor 1 Desk Video Cassettes & DVDs NX440 .H65 2006 DVD

Reveals how the first big artistic discoveries were made and how they have cascaded down the centuries to define the look of the present day. Encompassing everything from cave paints to ceramics and pyramids to palaces, this film explores the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manage to manipulate people so easily; visions of the afterlife; and why we use imagery at all.
Jean Michel Basquiat in Downtown 81
Call Number: PN1997.J43 2015 DVD

Originally shot in 1980-81, this film, directed by Edo Bertoglio, is a rare real-life snapshot of ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan. Starring renowned artist Jean Michel Basquiat (who died in 1988 at age 27) and featuring such early Village hipsters as Melle Mel, John Lurie, and Lydia Lunch, the film is a bizarre elliptical urban fairytale.
Big Eyes
Publication Date: 2015

The true story of painter Margaret Keane's life in obscurity while her husband gleaned the notoriety for being the face of her work is brought to the screen by Tim Burton. The story opens in the late 1950s, when Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) packs up the car with her daughter and their personal belongings, and leaves her husband to start a new life in San Francisco.
National Gallery
Call Number: N1070.N165 2015 DVD

Frederick Wiseman's National Gallery takes the audience behind the scenes of a London institution, on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The film includes shots of 255 of the Gallery's paintings and portrays the day-to-day work of curators, conservators, art handlers ... National Gallery is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public, and its paintings.

Note: To Find More Art DVDs use the Advanced Search, then select "Books, Media and More" under Search for and select "Video/Film" under the Material Type dropdown.

Streaming Movies with AVON

Use Academic Videos Online (AVON) to find online videos to stream (you can also get to AVON though the library homepage's 'Quick Links').

On the AVON homepage, click on the 3 bars in the top left corner, then click on 'Collections'
There are various collections for different subjects to browse through
To filter through a collection, click on the orange button in the middle of the collection's page (it has an image of a filter funnel on it).
You can filter the collection by subject, publisher, person, content type, language, and release date

Notable collections for art and design:

Art and Architecture in Video

Online Video

Online Art Video

Collections of informational and professional art videos and documentaries.

ArtBabble
Forget YouTube, go to a dedicated spot for high definition art videos
Masterworks
The Masterworks Collection is a rich collection of art history videos. Each short documentary showcases an artist and a key piece, illuminating the context and history of the work. Comprehensively illustrated and compellingly presented (detailed narration accompanies each film), these films provide a deeper insight into master works of painting.