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Research Guide for Art and Art History

How to Find Images

Images are available for a variety of educational uses. Please see CU's policy on copyright for specifics.

Images for use in the classroom:

The Department of Art and Art History's Visual Resources Collection* - See the website for circulation information and limitations.

The College of Architecture and Planning's Visual Resources Center* - See the website for circulation information and limitations.

DIal - UCB Libraries collection of digital assets

Databases*

ARTstor
Searchable database of more than 300,000 digital images and associated catalog data. ARTstor covers many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Users can search, view, and download images.

Online Image Resources

Google Image Search

The Google Image Search is the fastest way to locate an image. Put the artist or work of art/architecture in "quotes" for best results.

Art Images for College Teaching

This collection of images is a personal, non-profit project of its author, art historian and visual resources curator Allan T. Kohl . AICT is intended primarily to disseminate images of art and architectural works in the public domain on a free-access, free-use basis to all levels of the educational community, as well as to the public at large. The images displayed on this site have been photographed on location by the author, who consents to their use in any application that is both educational and non-commercial in nature.

Web Gallery of Art

The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 14,500 reproductions. Commentaries on pictures, biographies of artists are available.

WebMuseum Paris

WebMuseum is an online collection of images ranging from European Gothic to Twentieth Century to Japanese art and architecture. The site was created to showcase art and architecture and to provide an online resource to items available in art museums around the world. Anyone is able to contribute to the collection of online images therefore it is necessary to be careful about the nature of the information provided.

University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections

Many academic institutions have created digital libraries consisting of images that are free to use and accessible to anyone. The collection from the University of Washington offers several unique collections of images. Many are focused on the state of Washington but some offer unique glimpses in American history through photography collections such as the 19th century Actors Photographs.

*Limited to the CU community

CU = Resources marked with this symbol are available on campus and to students, staff, and faculty from an off-campus location. Use of these resources is subject to copyright laws and license limitations.