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About the Library

As one of the major art reference libraries in the United States, we house materials dating from the 1400s to the present.

The approximately 285,000 auction catalogs, books, e-books, ephemera, periodicals, and online database subscriptions in the library reflect the museum’s collections, which focus on European, American, and Asian painting and sculpture; furniture and decorative arts; arms and armor; costume and textiles; prints, drawings, and photographs; and modern and contemporary art.

We also provide the public with access to the museum’s images. Contact library@visitpham.org with any image or rights-related requests. 

Access the Library

The Library is a closed-stack (non-browsing), non-circulating collection. It is open to the public by research appointment only in our Reading Room located on the Second Floor of the Perelman Building. Please see the Request an Appointment page for more information about scheduling an appointment. 

Materials are not paged until after a date has been set for the appointment, and as such we cannot facilitate last-minute appointment requests.
The number and/or type of materials requested will affect wait times.

Digital images may be taken with a camera, cell phone, or tablet (without flash). Additionally, an overhead book scanner is available free of charge. Researchers may bring their own portable USB to save scans.