Artwork citation generator
Cite a painting, sculpture, photograph or installation from a museum or gallery, in any citation style.
or fill in the details below
How to cite an artwork
An artwork citation takes three steps. Search by title or artist, or paste the museum’s page for the work.
Step 1
Find the artwork
Search by title or artist and pick the work from the images, or paste the link to the museum’s page. We fill in the artist, date, medium and museum.
Step 2
Check the details
Approximate dates like c. 1665 and works made over several years are both covered. An untitled work gets a short description instead.
Step 3
Copy your citation and caption
Add the reference entry to your list, and use the figure caption if you show the artwork in your paper.
How to cite a painting in APA
An APA artwork citation gives the artist, the year, the title in italics, the medium in square brackets, the museum and its city, and the URL.
Format
Artist, A. (Year). Title of artwork [Medium]. Museum, City, State, Country. URL
Example
van Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Oil on canvas]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (van Gogh, 1889)
Narrative: van Gogh (1889)
An approximate date
Dou, G. (ca. 1665). Self-portrait [Oil on wood]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436210
How to cite an artwork in MLA
An MLA artwork citation gives the artist, the title in italics, the year the work was made, and the museum or the website where you saw it.
Format
Artist. Title of Artwork. Year, Museum, City.
Seen on the museum’s website
van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night. 1889. The Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/79802. Accessed 26 Sept. 2026.
An approximate date
Dou, Gerrit. Self-Portrait. c. 1665. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436210. Accessed 26 Sept. 2026.
MLA writes c. for circa.
How to cite an artwork in Chicago
Chicago usually credits an artwork in a caption or a note. It includes the medium and, when you give them, the dimensions.
Bibliography
Dou, Gerrit. Self-Portrait. ca. 1665. Oil on wood, 19 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. (48.9 x 39.1 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436210.
Note or caption
Gerrit Dou, Self-Portrait, ca. 1665, oil on wood, 19 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. (48.9 x 39.1 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436210.
How to cite art you saw in a museum vs. online vs. in a book
Where you saw the work changes what the citation ends with.
In a museum
Give the museum and its city. Leave out the URL.
On the museum’s website
Add the URL of the page for the work. MLA also adds the date you accessed it when the page has no date.
In a book
Cite the book you saw it in, and credit the artwork in your figure caption. Use the book citation generator.
An image of it online
If you found a photo of the artwork on a site that isn’t the museum’s, use the image citation generator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cite a painting in APA?
Give the artist, the year, the title in italics, the medium in square brackets, such as [Oil on canvas], the museum and its city, and the URL if you saw it online. In the text, cite the artist and year.
How do I cite a painting in MLA?
Give the artist, the title in italics, the year it was made, and the museum and city, or the website and URL if you saw it online.
What if the date is approximate?
Tick Approximate under the year. APA writes ca. 1665 and MLA writes c. 1665. A work made over several years gets the years it was made, like 1885 to 1886.
What if the artwork has no title or the artist is unknown?
Describe an untitled work in a few words instead of a title. Leave the artist blank if unknown; for a workshop, like Workshop of Rembrandt, add it as an organization.
Do I need a figure caption?
If you show the artwork in your paper, yes. The generator writes the caption for APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard next to the citation.
Is this artwork citation generator free?
Yes. It’s free with no signup, and the artworks you cite here go into the same list as the main Citation Generator.