ArtHistoryReference is an art image website. It facilitates the use of artist influences to navigate through time and styles of art. ArtHistoryReference uses thumbnails for links to previous and following artists as well as larger images. It provides pre-structured look-ups for the Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Amazon search engines.

ArtHistoryReference has over 3000 Artist Pages, each of which has up to 16 thumbnail images. See, for example, the Artist Page for Claude Monet. The four images in the left column link to artists who influenced Monet, including Degas and Pissarro. The four images in the right column link to artists who were influenced by Monet, including John Singer Sargent and Renoir.

The eight images in the center represent "major" works by Monet, and more information on each can be accessed by clicking the image. ArtHistoryReference is "computer-generated", in that the determination of influences and selection of major works is carried out by a computer program based on information publically available on the internet.

Influences can be scanned both backwards and forwards in time. For example, starting with the Monet page, and by always clicking the image at the top left, Monet's influences can be traced back through Degas, Pissarro, Millet, Rousseau, Corot, Claude Lorrain, Jacques Callot, Orazio Gentileschi, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Botticelli, van Eyck, Campin, Broederlam, and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, all the way back to Giotto.

The eight thumbnails in the center of each Artist Page (the second and third columns) link to more detailed information about eight Major Works of the artist. For example, look at the Artist Page for James Whistler. The first Major Work is "Arrangement in Black and Gray," better known as "Whistler's Mother." Clicking on the thumbnail brings up a Work Detail page for Whistler's Mother. Then, clicking on the red magnifying glass image (at the bottom right of the work image) brings up a larger image for the work.

Clicking an image in the left or right column accesses a different Artist Page. For example, on the Whistler page, clicking the top left image accesses the Édouard Manet, an artist who influenced Whistler. Clicking the top right image accesses the Maurice Prendergast, an artist who was influenced by Whistler.

Thumbnails are used similarly by several other types of ArtHistoryReference pages. For example, many Major Artists have a More Information page to display data beyond the capabilities of the basic Artist Page. On the Artist Page for Picasso, clicking one of the "More" links to the right of "Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (1881 - 1973)" accesses Picasso's Vollard Suite. Finally, clicking any thumbnail accesses the specified print, which can then be enlarged by the magnifying glass at the lower right.

ArtHistoryReference users can navigate the website as described above and then use pre-defined searches to access information in other parts of the Internet. For example, at the top of each ArtHistoryReference Artist Page the beginning of a biography of the artist appears. For example, the Artist page for Giorgione has the beginning of a biography at the top center beneath the artist's name. Clicking the link more (Google) which follows causes a Google search which returns several biographies which match the search criteria.

General information searching for each artist can be performed by clicking links near the top of each Artist Page. For Giorgione, the links to Google, Yahoo and MSN (Microsoft's search engine) perform this function. Also in the case of Giorgione, the link to Amazon brings up a list of books about the artist.

Similar searches are provided for individual works. For example, if the first work for Giorgione, The Tempest, is selected by clicking its thumbnail image on Giorgione's Artist Page, then search links related to this specific work are provided. In the case of Giorgione's Tempest, these are Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Using a combination of ArtHistoryReference influences, thumbnails and searches, it is possible to get the results of complicated searches like "Tell me about flower paintings by artists who were influenced by Jan van Huysum." To carry out this example, you would first go the the Huysum Artist Page. Then you might click on the link for Jan van Os, and then for Georgius van Os, and then again for the latter artist's work Flowers in Vase on Plinth. Having reached this work similar to that of Huysam's, you might then click the Google search at the top to access Google's suggested Internet links.

To access artists Alphabetically, go to the ArtHistoryReference Home Page (by clicking the logo at the top left of any ArtHistoryReference page) and then choose the first option Artists. This will bring you to the "Artists - A" page where you can choose an artist whose last name begins with "A", or click a link letter at the top to access the lists "Artists - B" through "Artists - Z".

If you are not sure which artists you'd like to view, you can get started with the ArtHistoryReference timeline. Go to the ArtHistoryReference Home Page (by clicking the logo at the top left of any ArtHistoryReference page) and then choose the second option Timeline. This page displays links to artists who worked around 1600 A.D., the middle of ArtHistoryReference's time range. You can choose one of the artists on this page, such as Velazquez or Caravaggio and navigate to that artist's ArtHistoryReference Artist Page.

Alternatively, you could go back in time by repeatedly clicking the left arrow at the left side of the timeline page and go all the way back to such artists from the Thirteenth Century such as Giotto and Duccio. Or you could move forward in time to the present by repeatedly clicking the right arrow at the right side of the timeline page. On the most recent page, you could click on, for example, Ellsworth Kelly, and from his Artist Page move forward to James Rosenquist and then to David Salle or Elizabeth Peyton.

To access the ArtHistoryReference Home Page, click the logo at the top left of any ArtHistoryReference page. Alternatively, you can type "www.ArtHistoryReference.com" into your browser's address text box and press Return. To set up a bookmark for the ArtHistoryReference home page, use "ArtHistoryReference" for the bookmark name and "www.arthistoryreference.com" for the URL.