How do I refer to an artwork in the text of my paper?

Give the artist's name and italicize the title* of the work. No additional information in parenthesis is required:

Blackwood's Leaving for the Labrador
Anne Meredith Barry's Passing Parade

*Exceptions: MLA recommends not italicizing buildings, earthworks, and ancient artworks (e.g. Empire State Building, Great Wall of China, Venus de Milo).

Original Drawing / Painting / Sculpture / Photo / Etc.
If artist is unknown, begin with the title. You can leave out the city, if it is part of the museum or collection name. Optional: At the end of the entry you may include the format (e.g. Marble sculpture, Photograph, Oil on canvas, etc.).

Artist. Title. Year, Museum or Collection, City.

Pratt, Christopher. Young Girl with Seashells. 1965,

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Collection, Corner Brook. Oil on masonite,

For untitled artworks, provide a generic description. Do not italicize or capitalize each word:

Westwood, Vivian. Lime green, faux crocodile

platform shoes. 1993, Bata Shoe Museum,

Toronto.

Image in a Library Database (e.g. Artstor)
Include database name and a DOI (preferred) proceeded by “https://doi.org/” or a URL.

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum, or Collection,

City. Name of Database, DOI or URL.

Landing of Atlantic Cable in Newfoundland, 1866.

1900, George Eastman House, Rochester.

Artstor, library.artstor.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/

library/iv2.html?parent=true.

Reproduction in a Book
For a book with more than 3 authors/editors, start with the 1st author listed followed by “et al.” For edited or translated books, add the descriptive label "editor" or “editors" or “translator”. In the publisher's name leave out words like Company (Co.), Corporation, Inc., or Ltd. Abbreviate Press (“P”) and University (“U”). For books published before 1900, use city in place of publisher, otherwise only add city when it may help locate a book published in an unexpected place or by an unfamiliar publisher outside North America. For multiple publishers, separate publisher names with a /

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum or Collection,

City. Title of Book, Author/s or Editor/s,

Publisher/s, Year of publication,

p. page/figure/plate #.

Jacque, Herbie. Labrador Black Duck. 2009,

Lawrence O'Brien Auditorium, Goose Bay.

Uncommon Clay: The Labradoria Mural,

by Dorrie Brown, Creative Publishers,

2010. p. 18.

Graphic Novel/Comic
A graphic novel with a single creator (i.e. same person wrote and illustrated it) can be cited similar to a print book. For multiple contributors, the names of any contributors “who are important to your discussion” can be included after the title with a description of their role (p. 150).

Title of Issue. Title of Series, Contributors, no.

or vol. #, Publisher/s, year.

Season of Mists. The Sandman, by Neil

Gaiman, pencilled by Kelly Jones,

coloured by Steve Oliff and Danny

Vozzo, vol. 4, Vertigo, 2011.

Reproduction in a Print Journal

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum or Collection,

City. Author/s. "Title of Article." Name of

Journal, vol. #, no. #, day Mon. year, p. #.

Carr, Emily. Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky.

1935, Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust,

Vancouver. Udall, Sharyn R. "Georgia O'Keeffe

and Emily Carr: Health, Nature and the Creative

Process." Women's Art Journal, vol. 27, no. 1,

2006, p. 23.

Reproduction in an Online Journal
Include database name and a DOI (preferred) proceeded by “https://doi.org/” or a URL. For URLs you can omit “http://”. If you downloaded the PDF version where other versions are available, include “PDF download” at the end of the entry.

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum or Collection,

City. Author/s. "Title of Article."Name of

Journal, vol. #, no. #, day Mon. year, p. #.

Database Name, DOI or URL.

Sherman, Cindy. Untitled Film Still #56. 1980.

Collection of Mary Harron. Townsend,

Christopher. “Art as Commodity as Art.”

Art Monthly, vol. 368, July/Aug. 2013, p. 2.

Art Index, web.a.ebscohost.com.qe2a-

proxy.mun.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

sid=029dadbf cfc9-4324-86a9-

558d13419658%40sessionmgr4006

&vid=1&hid=4204.

Reproduction on a Website
For URLs you can omit “http://”. If the website title and the publisher are essentially the same, you can leave out the publisher. If there is no date of publication for the website, use the date you accessed it instead. Date of access goes at the end of the entry.

Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum or Collection,

City. Name of Website, Website Publisher/s,

day Mon. year, URL.    

Shepherd, Helen Parsons. Sunday Morning. 1962,

Collection of Memorial University of

Newfoundland, St. John’s. The Rooms,

www.exhibits.therooms.ca/artgallery/

shepherds.asp. Accessed 20 Sept. 2016.