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Art & Design

A guide for finding art resources and information

Search the Library Collection for Art Books

You can search the NNU catalog at any time by using the search box below. 

Search Riley Library

Hint: to find a book by its title, put the title in quotes and include the author's last name (e.g. "story of god" and lodahl)

I only want to find ebooks

Featured Books in the Main Collection

Feminism and art history

Feminism and art history

Call number: N72.F45F44 1982​

A long-needed corrective and alternative view of Western art history, these seventeen essays by respected scholars are arranged chronologically and cover every major period from the ancient Egyptian to the present.

Read scripture illustrated summaries of Biblical books

Read scripture : illustrated summaries of Biblical books

Call number: NC825.B52 M33 2017

This book is a visual introduction to the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments that make up the Protestant Christian Bible. It's a companion volume to a series of videos called READ SCRIPTURE, produced by The Bible Project and available for free online (thebibleproject.com)

Four Holy Gospels

The Four Holy Gospels

Call number: ND3359.F85 2011

The Four Holy Gospels stands in the historic stream of the beautifully hand-illuminated editions of the Gospels. It is an exquisitely designed edition of the four canonical Gospels in the English Standard Version, published in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the King James version of the Bible. The artist commissioned for the project is Makoto Fujimura, founder of the International Arts Movement. His art is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, as well as a number of art museums in the US.

Graphic design idea book

The graphic design idea book

Call number: NC997.H45 2016

This book covers the fundamental elements of design. Key works by acclaimed designers serve to illustrate technical points and encourage readers to try out new ideas. Themes covered include narrative, color, illusion, ornament, simplicity, and wit and humor.

How to use graphic design to sell things

How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and (every once in a while) change the world

Call number: NC999.4.B44 A2 2015

A career retrospective that showcases more than thirty-five of Michael Bierut's most noteworthy projects, specially chosen to illustrate the breadth and reach of graphic design today.

Logo modernism

Logo modernism

Call number: NC1002.L63 M655 2015

Examine Modernism's distillation in graphic design with this vast collection of approximately 6,000 logos from 1940-1980. Ranging from media outfits to retail giant, airlines to art galleries, these clean, clear logo concepts may be seen as the visual birth of corporate identity.

Secret knowledge

Secret knowledge : rediscovering the lost techniques of the old masters

Call number: ND1471 .H63 2006

Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney's extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces. Secret Knowledge will open your eyes to how we perceive the world and how we choose to represent it.

Iconic photographs

The iconic photographs

Call number: TR655.M39345 2012

American photographer Steve McCurry is universally recognized as one of today's finest image-makers and has won many of photography's top awards. This is the only major retrospective book to bring together the most memorable and beautiful of his images.

Work for money, design for love

Work for money, design for love

Call number: NK1173.A39 2013

This refreshing, straight-talking advice guide from Logo Design Love author and designer David Airey answers the questions all designers have about launching and running their own design businesses. In fact, the book was inspired by the many questions David receives from the more than 600,000 designers who visit his three blogs -- Logo Design Love, Identity Designed, and DavidAirey.com -- each month.

Most of our art books are located in the N section. Some are in the T section.

If you would like to browse the collection you might find these call number sections helpful.

Library of Congress Subject Headings in Art, Architecture & Applied Arts

  • N      Fine Arts - General
  • NA   Architecture
  • NB   Sculpture
  • NC   Drawing, Design & Illustration
  • ND   Painting
  • NE   Photography (see also: TT)
  • TR    Photography (see also: NE)
  • TT    Handicrafts, Arts & Crafts

See also

  • BH   Aesthetics
  • QM   Human Anatomy