Research Guides: Art History: Find Images

Searching for Images Online

Finding images for art history research might require you to search in library databases, open access museum collections, or in library collections. Below are library and openly accessible resources for finding images of art works. Need more information about finding other images or information about images in general? Check out our guides on finding copyright-free and creative commons images or finding primary source images.

Library Databases for Art Images

JSTOR
JSTOR is an archive of full-text scholarship, digital collections, and digital images. As of August 2024, all Artstor content has been moved to JSTOR. JSTOR includes content from disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences.
Oxford Art Online
Formerly Grove Art Online, it includes the entire 34 volumes of The Dictionary of Art, with articles as well as links to images on gallery and museum web pages around the world. Includes biographies of artists and searchable images.

Museum Image Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)
Met Museum Open Access provides access to over 400,000 high-resolution digital images of artworks from their collection.
The Getty Museum
The Getty Open Content Program offers access to over 100,000 digital images of artworks from their collection, including paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, and more.
The British Museum
The British Museum's Collection Online provides access to over 4.5 million objects, including images, with a focus on world history and culture.
The National Gallery of Art
NGA Images offers more than 51,000 open access digital images of artworks from the National Gallery of Art's collection.
The Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum's Rijkstudio offers high-resolution images of artworks from their collection, with over 700,000 artworks available for free download and creative use.
The Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Open Access Initiative provides access to millions of digital assets from the Smithsonian's museums, including images, 3D models, and data.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
LACMA's Collections Online provides access to over 80,000 high-resolution images of artworks from their collection.
The Museum of Modern Art
MoMA's Collection Online offers access to over 85,000 images of artworks from their collection, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, and more.
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.

University Library

Art History

Searching for Images Online

Library Databases for Art Images

Museum Image Collections