The Benezit Dictionary of Artists (in French, Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs) is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers created primarily for art museums, auction houses, historians and dealers. It was published by Éditions Gründ in Paris but had been sold to Oxford University Press.
First published in the French language in three volumes between 1911 and 1923, the dictionary was put together by Emmanuel Bénézit (1854-1920) and a team of international specialists. The next edition was an eight-volume set published between 1948 and 1955, followed by a ten-volume set in 1976 and a 14-volume set in 1999. In 2006, an English language edition was published for the first time. A 14-volume set, it has more than 20,000 pages, with over 170,000 entries.
The 2006 English edition of the Benezit, plus emendations and new articles will be made available online in fall 2011 via the Oxford Art Online portal. Sitting alongside Grove Art Online, the Benezit will take its place among the select electronic resources that are at that heart of the serious art research community.