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Provide the artist's name, the title of the artwork in italics, and the date of composition. Finally, provide the name of the institution that houses the artwork followed by the location of the institution (if the location is not listed in the name of the institution, e.g. The Art Institute of Chicago).
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
If the medium and/or materials (e.g., oil on canvas) are important to the reference, you can include this information at the end of the entry. However, it is not required.
For photographic reproductions of artwork (e.g. images of artwork in a book), treat the book or website as a container. Remember that for a second container, the title is listed first, before the contributors. Cite the bibliographic information as above followed by the information for the source in which the photograph appears, including page or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Gardener's Art Through the Ages, 10th ed., by Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner, Harcourt Brace, p. 939.
If you viewed the artwork on the museum's website, treat the name of the website as the container (i.e., the "book"), and include the website's publisher and the URL at the end of the citation. Omit publisher information if it is the same as the name of the website. Note the period after the date below, rather than the comma: this is because the date refers to the painting's orginal creation, rather than to its publication on the website. Thus, MLA format considers it an "optional element."
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo del Prado, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74.
Note: The APA Manual (6th ed.) does not give specific examples of artwork. This guide is based on section 7.10 which covers "nontext materials" and on examples for other types of sources.
Original Drawing / Painting / Sculpture / Photo / Etc.
If artist is unknown, begin with the title. If year is unknown, use (n.d.) for "no date."
Artist. (Year). Title [Description of material]. Institution, Museum, or Collection,
City, abbreviated Province/State.
Pratt, C. (1965). Young girl with seashells [Oil on board]. Memorial University
Art Gallery Permanent Collection, Corner Brook, NL.
Image in an Art Database (e.g. ARTstor)
As APA generally advises not to include direct URLs in Article Indexes and databases to avoid nonworking URLs, we recommend providing the name of the database, or the URL of the database's homepage.
Artist. (Year). Title [Description]. Institution, Museum, or Collection, Location.
Available from Database Name OR Retrieved from URL
Landing of atlantic cable in Newfoundland, 1866 [Transparency, collodion on
glass]. (1900). George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. ARTstor.
Reproduction in a Book
Artist. (Year of book's publication). Title of Artwork [Description]. Institution,
Museum, or Collection, Location. In Author/Editor's name, Book Title
(p. #). City, abbreviated Province/State of publication: Publisher.
(Original work year).
Jacque, H. (2010). Labrador black duck [Clay tile]. Lawrence O'Brien
Auditorium, Goose Bay, NL. In D. Brown, Uncommon clay: The
labradoria mural (p. 18). St. John's, NL: Creative Publishing.
(Original work 2009).
Reproduction in a Print Journal
Artist. (Year). Title [Description]. Institution, Museum, or Collection, Location.
In Author. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume #(issue #), page
#.
Carr, E. (1935). Scorned as timber, beloved of the sky [Oil on canvas].
Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust, Vancouver, BC. In S. R. Udall.
Georgia O'Keeffe and Emily Carr: Health, nature and the creative
process. Women's Art Journal, 27(1), 23.
Reproduction in an Online Journal
Provide the doi number (Digital Object Identifier). Provide URL of journal's homepage only if doi is not available. Do not include Article Index information.
Artist. (Year). Title [Description]. Institution, Museum, or Collection, Location.
In Author. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume #(issue #),
page #. Retrieved from: journal homepage URL
Sherman, C. (1980, July/August). Untitled film still #56 [Photograph].
Collection of M. Harron. In C. Townsend. Art as commodity as art.
Art Monthly (368), 2. Retrieved from: http://www.artmonthly.co.uk
Reproduction on a Website
If no date is available for the website, use (n.d.) for "no date". If no author is available, just include the title followed by the date.
Artist. (Year). Title [Description]. Institution, Museum, or Collection, Location.
Webpage/document Author. (Year, Month day). Title of web page/
document. Retrieved from: http://URL
Shepherd, H. P. (1962). Sunday morning [Oil]. Collection of Memorial
University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL. The rooms. (n.d.).
Retrieved from: http://www.therooms.ca/artgallery/shepherds.asp
