Type the word “art” or “painting” into an Internet search engine and you could get thousands, if not millions, of matches. So where do you start if you want to learn more about visual art? Here are a few suggestions:

• Artcyclopedia is a massive database of links to web pages where you can read about painters or see samples of their works online. The site is searchable and/or browsable by artist’s name, title of work, style, and subject matter. It includes these entries for styles featured in Looking at Painting:
        Realism
        Expressionism
        Abstract Expressionism
• Mark Harden’s Artchive has galleries, links to other resources, and an eclectic collection of art criticism.
• The WebMuseum has feature articles and exhibits that change frequently, plus an extensive permanent collection of famous paintings.
• AskArt is a database of facts and figures about thousands of American artists, dealers, and museums. Fans of a particular artist can even sign up to be e-mailed whenever new information is posted about that artist.
• World Wide Art Resources is an even larger database—it covers all forms of art, around the world.
• Yahoo’s list of art museums, galleries, and centers gives you access to more than 1,000 sites, including 400+ virtual galleries.
• ArtLex is a dictionary of thousands of terms used in visual art.
• Painting from About.com is geared toward those looking for “how-to” information. It includes the article Path to Abstraction: Color and Composition, which offers advice on getting started painting abstracts.