Spence School Library: 2021 Fall Elective: Identities in American Art: PRIMARY SOURCE IMAGES

Image Resources

Databases for images

The databases below offer excellent images for research in art and art history and are especially good for illustrating a research paper or creating a class presentation.

Artstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor is a digital library of more than one million high-quality images in arts and architecture, the social sciences and the humanities. The resource offers tools that can be used to view present and manage images. Register for a free account to get the most out of ARTstor.

There are excellent web resources for art and art history research. Many national museums and libraries have online collections. The resources linked below were chosen specifically for excellent visual content.

Mother of All Art and Art History Links: Online Art
Developed by the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Mother of All is an extensive set of links to research resources, image collections, online digital art, art schools, art departments, and art museums.
Artsy
Beautifully designed, this site has examples of work from over 25,000 artists, including many contemporary artists. Artsy relates artists to movements and styles in the Art Genome Project. There is a commercial element to the site, but it does not detract from the content. Artsy is free but requires login.
Google Art Project
A unique collaboration of over 150 art museums in 40 countries. The search features are clunky and it is recommended to use the Search by Museum category to browse. Create and share your own "collections."
Metropolitan Museum of Art Online Collections
Outstanding online collections from the Met about American Painting & Sculpture.
National Gallery of Art
Search by artist name.
Museum of Art & Design (was American Craft Museum) Online Collections
Fantastic resource for the study of American craft and its international influences, including ceramics, textile arts, jewelry, and domestic arts.
Smithsonian Museum of American Art
Excellent collection of material about art and artists in the US from multiple national collections housed at the Smithsonian Institute.

Other Museums

The list below is only a small selection of links to musums with digital collections. A more complete list can be found on the University of Michigan's "Mother of All Art and Art History Links" website.