LibGuides: Visual Arts: Finding Images

Image Databases

Please note that images found in these databases may be under copyright restrictions. Be sure to read the copyright notice before copying, altering, or reposting any media file and review the College Art Association's Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in the Visual Arts.

If you are unsure about how you can legally use a media file, Ask a Librarian for help.

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
More than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. Search for images by keyword, title, creator, geography, classification, collection, and date. Additional information on Design collections in ARTstor.

AIGA Design Archives
Includes more than 20,000 selections from AIGA’s annual juried design competitions dating from 1924 through the present. In addition, this resource features special collections of major American design firms and practitioners whose design accomplishments might otherwise not be preserved online or made available to the public.
Getty Images
Provides search and access to a wide variety of rights-managed (RM) and royalty-free (RF) images, as well as videos and music. In addition to a keyword search, this free database offers several limits to narrow your search, including RM versus RF, specific collection, image orientation, and style
Getty Search Gateway
Search across several of the Getty repositories, including collections databases, library catalogs, collection inventories, and archival finding aids.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Experience the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection via a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history
Google Art Project
Search and access artworks, landmarks and world heritage sites, as well as digital exhibitions, from hundreds of museums, cultural institutions, and archives around the world.
Digital Library of South Dakota
The Digital Library of South Dakota (DLSD) is a collaboration of the libraries of the six Board of Regents colleges and universities, as well as partners in the state of South Dakota, to digitize and provide access to photos and primary documents relevant to the history of South Dakota.
Library of Congress
Search the Library of Congress' print and digital collections.
Rijksmuseum Digital Image Collection
Search, view, and download over 200,000 Dutch works of art from the Rijksmuseum's (Amsterdam, NL) collections.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection Online
Browse, search, view, and download over 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum's collection.
National Museum of Asian Art
Search or browse the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Collections of Asian art, including sculpture, metalwork, jade objects, jewelry, ceremonial objects, and much more. This digitized collection also includes some late nineteenth-century works by Whistler and his American contemporaries.

Visual Arts Librarian

Kristin Echtenkamp

Email Me

Contact:

Briggs Library 123

Phone: 605-688-5958

Subjects: Business Management & Economics, Communication & Journalism, Design

Research Help

Not finding what you need?

Contact your Subject Librarian for Help!

Quick Links

Researching Artists Guide

Visual Arts: Finding Images

Finding Images

Getting Started

Image Databases

Visual Arts Librarian

Research Help

Quick Links