Art Appreciation: Images on the Web

Google Art Project  Part of Google's Cultural Institute, the Art Project contains more than 40,000 high-resolution images of art works contributed by museums from over 40 countries. You can explore intereriors of landmarks such as the Palace of Versailles, and you can build you own virtual art gallery.

The Getty Open Content Program makes available, without charge, all available digital images to which the Getty holds the rights or that are in the public domain to be used for any purpose. The Getty adopted the Open Content Program so that anyone can have access to images of works of art for their studies and projects.

A list of museums with extensive image collections.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met)

  The Met is one of the largest art museums in the world. Met Museum Open Access provides access to over 400,000 high-quality digital images of artworks from their gigantic collection. The physical collection is located in New York City. 

• The Whitney
  The Whitney museum in New York City has digitized over 26,000 objects. The Whitney collection centers on contemporary art with a special focus on living artists.

• The National Gallery, London
  The National Gallery's Collection offers access to over 25,000 images of artworks from their collection. 

• The British Museum

  The British Museum's Collection Online provides access to over 4.5 million objects and images. The museum is located in London, England.

• The Philadelphia Museum of Art
  The Philadelphia Museum of Art has made available over 150,000 images of works in their collection, spanning Van Gogh to Grace Kelly's wedding dress.

• The National Gallery of Art

  The National Gallery of Art has digitized over 50,000 images and objects. The NGA is located in Washington, D.C.

• The Rijksmuseum

  Rijksmuseum's Rijkstudio offers high-resolution images of artworks from their collection, there are over 700,000 images! The Rijksmuseum is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

• The Smithsonian Institution

  The Smithsonian Open Access Initiative provides access to millions of digital assets from the Smithsonian's museums. The Smithsonian is located in Washington, D.C.

• The Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA)

  LACMA's Collections Online has made available 80,000 high-resolution images of artworks from their collection.

• The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

  MoMA's Collection Online offers access to over 85,000 images of artworks from their collection. They contain paintings, sculptures, prints, and more. The MoMA is located in New York City.

• The Art Institute of Chicago

  The Art Institute of Chicago's Collection offers access to over 52,000 images of artworks including paintings, sculptures, prints, and decorative arts.

For more collections of open-access images, visit Open Images Collections.