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Visual Literacy: MLA Citation

This guide will help you to find, read, cite, edit and present images.

MLA (Modern Language Association) Citation Rules

The examples below are organized by WEB, PRINT, PRINT/WEB and Other.

WEB: Reproductions of Works of Visual Art on the Web cited with print publication data (articles found in databases, newspaper articles online, etc.)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work.Year. Medium. Institution housing work: Location of Institution. Print publication information. Database name. Web. Date of retrieval.

Example citations:

Dali, Salvador. Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubicus). 1954. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitain Museum of Art, New York. "The Grand Master of Surrealism Salvador Dalí." USA Today Magazine 25 May 2005: 34-41. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.

Giraud, Jean. Arzach. 2000. Ink on paper. Private collection. Riou, Frédéric. "Miyazaki & Mœbius: univers croisés." Cimaise 52 2005: 30-1. Art Full Text. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.

WEB: Reproductions of works of visual art on the Web without print publication data (image databases, etc.)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work. Year. Medium. Institution housing work: Location of Institution. Website name. Website sponsor. Web. Date of retrieval.

Example citations:

Blake, William. The Ghost of a Flea. 1918. Tempera heightened with gold on mahogany. Tate Britain, London. Art Project. Google. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Mondrian, Piet. Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow. 1930. Oil on canvas. Private collection. Go Geometry. Blogger. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

WEB: Works of Visual Art only on the Web (works created specifically for the Web)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Work.” Year of completion. Website. Website Sponsor. Date of last update. Web. Date of retrieval.

Example citations:

Carbajo, Víctor. “Cellule 50b dendrited.” 2010. Carbajo’s deviantART gallery. deviantART. 2010.Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Jevbratt, Lisa. Migrations. 2005. Migration (a map of the Internet). N.p. Jan. 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

WEB: Works of Visual Art on Wikipedia

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work. Year of completion. Medium. Institution housing work: Location of Institution. “Article title.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation  Date of last update. Web. Date of retrieval.

Example citations:

Burne-Jones, Edward. David’s Charge to Solomon. 1882. Stained glass.  Trinity Church, Boston. “Edward Burne-Jones.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Klee, Paul. Tale à la Hoffmann. 1921. Watercolor, ink, and pencil on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “Paul Klee.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.

PRINT: Reproductions of Works of Visual Art in Print

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work.Year. Medium. Institution housing work: Location of Institution. Print publication information.

Example citations:

Eakins, Thomas. Spinning. 1881. Private collection. Thomas Eakins. Ed. Darrel Sewell. Philadelphia Museum of Art in assn. with Yale UP, 2001. Plate 91. Print.

Moholy-Nagy, László. Photogram. N.d. Museum of Mod. Art, New York. The Contest of Meaning: Critical Histories of Photography. Ed. Richard Bolton. Cambridge: MIT P, 1989. 94. Print.

PRINT: Illustrated Book (illustrated editions of literary texts, etc.)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work. Other contributors. City of publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

Example citations:

Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Introd. Regina Barreca. Illus. W. W. Denslow. New York: Signet-Penguin, 2006. Print.

Denslow, W. W., illus. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Introd. Regina Barreca. By L. Frank Baum. Introd. Regina Barreca. New York: Signet-Penguin, 2006. Print.

PRINT: Graphic Narrative

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname, role. Title of work. Other contributors. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

Example citations:

O’Neill, Kevin, illus. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Vol. 1, 1898. Alan Moore, writer. La Jolla: America’s Best Comics, 2000. Print.

Pekar, Harvey, writer. The Quitter. Art by Dean Haspiel. Gray tones by Lee Loughridge. Letters by Pat Brosseau. New York: Vertigo-DC Comics, 2005. Print.

PRINT / WEB: Online Video Recording (YouTube, etc.)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of video.” Title of Website. Website sponsor. Date of publication. Web. Date of retrieval.

Example citations:

Carell, Steve, and Stephen Colbert, perfs. “Daily Show: Carell – Colbert – Even Stevphen – Death Tax.” The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. 19 June 2002. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.

Hungrybear9562. “Yosemitebear Moubtain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10.” YouTube. YouTube. 8 Jan. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.

Tate. “Google Films: Philippa Simpson on the Ghost of a Flea.” Art Project. Google. 10 Aug. 2010. Web. Feb. 20 2011.

PRINT / WEB: Cartoon or Comic Strip

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. “Name of comic.” Comic Strip. Source of Comic. Date comic published. Print.

Example citations:

Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. New Yorker14 Arp. 2008: 49. Print.

Krahulik, Mike and Jerry Holkins. “Penny Arcade.” Web Comic. Penny-arcade.com 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Trudeau, Garry. “Doonesbury.” Comic Strip. Star-Ledger [Newark] 4 May 2002: 26. Print.

PRINT / WEB: Maps and Charts

Elements of citation:

Title of Map. Map. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

Example citations:

Japanese Fundamentals. Chart. Hauppauge: Barron, 1992. Print.

Michigan. Map. Chicago: Rand, 2000. Print.

“Maplewood, New Jersey.” Map. Google Maps. Google, 15 May 2008. Web. 15 May 2008.

“Western Boundaries of Brazil, 1600, 1780, and the Present.” Map. Brazillian Narrative Traditions in a Comparative Context. By Earl E. Fitz. New YorkL MLA, 2005. 43. Print.

Works of Visual Art (the actual work itself)

Elements of citation:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Work.Year. Medium. Institution housing work: Location of Institution.

Example citations:

Michelangelo. Moses. 1515. Marble. San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. Aristotle with a Bust of Homer. 1653. Oil on canvas. Metropolitain Museum of Art, New York.

Seurat, Georges. Man Leaning on a Fence. 1880-81? Graphite on paper. Collection of Andre Bromberg, n.p.

Performance (play, concert, dance, etc.)

Elements of citation:

Title of Work. Contributors and performing company. Venue of performance, City of venue. Date of performance. Performance.

Example citations:

Heartbreak House. By George Bernard Shaw. Dir. Robin Lefevre. Perf. Phillip Bosco and Swoosie Kurtz. Roundabout Theatre Company. Amer. Airlines Theatre, New York. 1 Oct. 2006. Performance.

South African Suite. Chor. Arthur Mitchell, Augustus Van Heerder, and Laveen Naidu. Dance Theatre of Harlem. Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago. 1 June 2002. Performance.

Culkin, Kieran, perf. Suburbia. By Eric Bogosian. Second Stage Theatre, New York. 16 Sept. 2006. Performance.

Film or Video Recording

Elements of citation:

Title of Work. Contributors. Production Studio, Year. Film.

Example citations:

Chaplin, Charles, dir. Modern Times. Perf. Chaplain and Paulette Goddard. United Artists, 1936. Film.

Like Water for Chocolate [como agua para chocolate]. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel. Dir. Alfonso Arau. Perf. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi, and Regina Torne. Miramax, 1993. Film.

Mifune, Toshiro, perf. Rashomon. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Daiei, 1950. Film.

Television or Radio Broadcast

Elements of citation:

“Title of Segment.” Contributors. Television program. Name of Network. Call letters of local station. Date of broadcast. Television.

Example citations:

“The Phantom Corleone.” Narr. Steve Kroft. Sixty Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New York, 10 Dec. 2006. Television.

Wells, Orson, dir. “The War of the Worlds.” By H. G. Wells. Adapt., Howard Koch. Mercury Theatre on the Air. CBS Radio. WCBS, New York, 30 Oct. 1938. Radio.