- University of Wisconsin-Madison
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- Finding Art Images
- Open Access Images
Finding Art Images : Open Access Images
Images for reuse
Certain sites/organizations specifically facilitate reuse of their images. Read the "terms and conditions" to make sure your reuse is covered.
- Flickr CommonsA number of museums make images from their collections available via Flickr Commons.
- Amsterdam RijksmuseumThe Rijksmuseum has released approximately 100,000 images in its basic collection under a Creative Commons BY 3.0 licence (allowing sharing, remixing and commercial use). Keyword search or browse by ICONCLASS categories. Note that terms are case sensitive
- ArtsyOnly those images displaying a "Download Images" tool are unrestricted.
- Brooklyn MuseumNon-commercial use of text and images in which Brooklyn Museum holds the copyright is permitted, with attribution, under the terms and conditions of a Creative Commons License.
- College Art Association List of Image Sources and Rights ClearanceList compiled by the CAA focusing on sources of images for publication.
- Open F/S (Freer and Sackler Galleries)Smithsonian online collections rich in Asian Art are available for non-commercial use.
- J. Paul Getty MuseumOpen content images are indicated with a download icon.
- Los Angeles County Museum of Artprovides high resolution images of its public domain works free of charge and for use without restriction. Look for the "Public Domain High Resolution Image Available" mark in its collection database.
- Metropolitan Museum of Artmakes a limited collection of images available for free to scholars publishing journal articles, small print-run publications, etc.
- Open CollectionsLists a growing number of cultural institutions allowing open access to their images.
- Victoria & Albert Museummakes images for academic reproduction available free of charge
- Walters Art MuseumThousands of images freely licensed under Creative Commons license.
- Yale Center for British ArtThousands of images of works in the Center’s collections in the Public Domain may be downloaded freely.
Auction houses online
Art auction houses provide online information and illustrations to varying degrees. Some require either free or paid registration and login to access complete information. Major firms include:
- artvalue.com - Guide MayerGuide Mayer (in print through 2005) compiled auction results from many houses. ArtValue.com is the fee-based online successor. Some information is openly available.
- AskART.comThis site provides American art auction sales results for a fee. Some artist information and images are available free.
- Blouin Art Sales IndexArt Sales Index (in print) compiles auction results from many houses. This is their online database. The site offers the ability to create a personal login for free searching for a limited time.
Museums online
Museums may allow you to search some or all of their collections online. Image sizes and extent of description will vary from museum to museum.
Search for museum websites and evaluate to determine if they provide searchable collections online or virtual exhibits. A website that compiles museum links is: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums.html
Below are selected museums with extensive online collections.
- British MuseumUse Search box or Advanced Search options, limit to objects with images online.
- Museum of Modern ArtUse browse and search functions available
- Musée du Louvre, ParisAtlas est une base qui permet de consulter l'ensemble des œuvres exposées dans le musée, soit près de 30000 oeuvres. (Interface is in French.) Try using "Recherche simple" for artist name.
- National Gallery, LondonUse search box or other options available
- National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.Use search boxes to "Search the Collection"
- Tate ModernA high-quality collection of images that have been tagged with descriptive qualities like "hope," "nature," or death." Find an individual artwork and scroll down to EXPLORE at the bottom of the record to find links to other images, concepts or topics.
Image collections online
Following are sites that compile images from various artists/eras/sources. These sites vary widely in content and degree of authority.
- "Life" Photo Archive (hosted by Google)Over 10 million photos, published and unpublished
- Art and Architecture (Courtauld Institute of Art)40,000 images
- Art Genome Project art.sy25,000 works, much contemporary art; images not downloadable
- Art Images for College TeachingPrimarily architecture and sculpture
- Google Art Project30,000 works of art from 150 collections worldwide
- Illustration Archive (British Library)Images from 18th-19th century books
- Internet Archive Book ImagesOver 5 million images sourced from the Internet Archive. Via Flickr.
- National Inventory of Continental European PaintingsPre-1900 continental European paintings in UK public collections
- NY Public Library Digital GalleryImages of posters, prints, photos, maps, etc.
- RKD Images (Netherlands Institute for Art History)195,000 images of Dutch and Flemish works of art from the 14th through the late 19th c.
- VADS: the online resource for visual artsAllows searches of 55 individual collections
- Wellcome ImagesCollection of documentary images reflecting the history and culture of health and medicine, circa. 1890-1930. High-resolution images have Creative Commons licenses.
- World Images (California State University)80,000 images, global coverage, all areas of visual imagery
Image vendors online
Companies that sell or license art reproductions can be good sources for visual browsing of works of art when they provide full scholarly descriptions of the works. Although the images are small, you may discover works you didn't know existed. With the descriptive information telling artist name, title, museum owner, etc., you have a factual start for further research on the object.
- Bildarchivs Foto MarburgFor an English interface, look for the British flag icon
Content based image searches
Reverse image serching allows you to upoad an image and retrieve other similar images. Use this technique to:
- Locate the source of an image
- Find higher resolution versions
- Discover webpages where the image appears
- Track down the content creator
- Get information about an image
Try are many systems that offer this service; here are two good ones.
OAI search
Over 1,000 digital repositories open their metadata for Open Archives Initiative harvesting. Search for images in the union catalog of these digital objects.
- OAIsterIncludes metadata for over 23 million digital objects. In Advanced Search you can limit your search to Format: visual material. Within the retrieved records, look for a URL link to the object itself. Some images are restricted and unavailable for view.
Lists of image-rich websites
Following are portal websites that provide lists of other websites. Browse the lists to identify sites containing art images.
- The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and CriticismIndispensable resource for scholars and students of literary and art theory. The Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of the field's most important figures, schools, and movements.
- Digital Librarian: ImagesBrowse "Art" and "Images" sections
- ipl2 (Internet Public Library + Librarians' Index to the Internet)Search for websites with "pictures" or "images" in their titles
- Mother of All Art and Art History Links PagesSee "Images Collections and Online Art" links
- Voice of the ShuttleBrowse "Art & Art History" section