Dissertation and theses are useful for finding information about contemporary artists and quote unquote lost artists since graduate students are often interested in exploring artists who have not been covered extensively in the scholarly literature. Dissertations are also valuable for their comprehensive bibliographies and are great ways to identify primary sources and archival resources.
To identify dissertations written at other universities use one of the following databases. Once you have identified those dissertations you need, submit an interlibrary loan request to get a copy if it is not available online. You can also buy copies of many dissertations via ProQuest's Dissertations & Theses Global.