Library Liaison
Image Databases
- ArtstorA digital library of more than two million images. Artstor includes items in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. It also provides a suite of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching. *Images in Artstor are rights-cleared for educational use.*
Museum Digital Collections
Many museums are now making works from their collections available on their website. Use rights vary depending on the art work and its copyright status, but much of the older art is now open access. Some museum also provide descriptive and analytical information about the arts works. Check these museums for examples of online art collection:
New York. Museum of Modern Art. Click on the Art and Artists link to search for specific arts or works.
New York. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Click on Art and then The Met Collection to search for images of specific artists and works.
Paris. The Louvre. Click on Explore and then Collections to search their database of online images.
Minneapolis. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Click on Art+Artists and then look for the search box under Explore the Art.
Most large museum, and many smaller museums, are not providing this broad access to their collections. Once you know which museum owns the art work(s) you are studying, check their website for images and information.