Terra Foundation Library for American Art


Three people reading and sitting at a long white table. A book shelf filled with books runs the length of the wall behind them.

The Terra Foundation Library for American Art specializes in art from the eighteenth century to the present day, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Terra Foundation Library for American Art in Paris is Europe’s only research library devoted exclusively to the art of the United States. The library specializes in visual art from the eighteenth century to the present day, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is constantly being updated to reflect expanded narratives of American art.

The library’s holdings consist of more than 12,000 books and catalogs, including rare books and digital resources, on painting, sculpture, and graphic arts, as well as photography and decorative arts, all of which are catalogued online. JSTOR, Artstor Digital Library, and ProQuest (American Periodicals Series and International Bibliography of Art), are also available for consultation.

The Terra Foundation Library for American Art is a non-circulating research library open to the public and free of charge.

Access the library’s online catalogue.

A partnership with the Fondation Custodia, home to the Frits Lugt Collection and the first private art history library in France, provides access to a shared reading room and combined holdings of approximately 150,000 volumes of Western art history.

Access the Library for American Art Catalogue

Hours and Contact

The Terra Foundation Library for American Art in Paris, located at 121 rue de Lille, is open from Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. through 6 p.m.

For an appointment outside these hours, please contact Ewa Bobrowska at [email protected]
or +33 1 43 20 82 65.

 

 

 

Due to French and Dutch national holidays, the library is exceptionally closed to the public on the following days in 2024:

  • Monday, April 1
  • Wednesday, May 1
  • Wednesday, May 8–Friday, May 10
  • Monday, May 20
  • Thursday, August 1–Friday, August 30
  • Friday, November 1
  • Monday, November 11
  • Monday, December 23–Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Terra Foundation Publications

The foundation produced titles that resulted from the past work of the foundation’s curatorial and academic program teams. These books include exhibition catalogues in multiple-language editions, scholarly monographs, critical anthologies, and a thematic research series and serve as a resource to scholars, students, and the arts-interested public.

All our titles are available through the University of Chicago Press.

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