Image Databases
- ARTstor
Over one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching.
All users must register for a personal Artstor account in order to download images. Use the "register" link at the upper right after accessing the database. Licensed for BGSU Main Campus Users only. Note: Artstor is integrating with JSTOR: Access to Artstor will end August 1st, 2024. Visit the JSTOR images page.
- Visual Collections: images of art, history, and culture300,000 images from Cornell, Bucknell, Pratt, and more.
New Media, Digital Media, and Moving Images
Still from the 1940 film "Experiments in the Revival of Organisms,"
available on the Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive.
- Internet Archive: Moving Image ArchiveMoving Image archive from the Internet Archive. Includes the Prelinger Archives: over 2,000 "ephemeral" training, advertising, amateur, educational, industrial films from the Library of Congress collected by Rick Prelinger.
- Moving Image Collections (Library of Congress)Lets you discover, locate, and even (in some cases) view moving images from around the world. From the Library of Congress.
- The Open Video ProjectShared Digital Video Collection; mostly documentary and educational, but the "Ephemeral" Category has quite a bit of advertising, public service, etc: 1955 Chevrolet Screen Ads, About Bananas, Act Your Age, About Fallout.
- Rhizome | ArtBase"Founded in 1999, the Rhizome ArtBase is an online archive of new media art containing some 2110 art works, and growing. The ArtBase encompasses a vast range of projects by artists all over the world that employ materials including software, code, websites, moving images, games and browsers to aesthetics and critical ends."
- Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art: ResourcesExtensive list of new media archives and sites, from the Rose Goldsen Archive at Cornell University Libraries.
- UbuWebHas been called the "Avant-Garde YouTube." Issues of the magazines Dada and Aspen, sound, video, documentaries about artists, etc.
- Art Crimes / graffiti.org - The Writing on the WallWorldwide images of graffitti
Graphic Design and Advertising
"I Defy Anybody to Get Her Wash Cleaner Than I Do."
1965 advertisement for Salvo Detergent. TJS Labs
Gallery of Graphic Design.
- Ad*AccessOver 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955.
- TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic DesignGallery of Graphic Design
- Retrolounge | bringing you the best of bygone eras .+.+.Advertising images from the past. Uses popups, so disable your popup blocker.
- Ad Council : CampaignsArchive of memorable campaigns, including "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk," etc.
- VADS: the online resource for visual arts - CollectionsVADS (the Visual Arts Data Service) is based at the Farnham Campus of The University College for the Creative Arts. Provides an archive of a variety of online UK image collections, including fashion and design archives.
Museum collections online
While most major museums have websites, not all have substantial digital collections. Here is a selection of museums in the United States, Europe and Asia that do.
- Tate Gallery (UK)Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art.
British art is represented by artists chosen for their contribution to its history and development, rather than their nationality alone. The collection continues to expand its holdings of modern and contemporary art from around the world. - Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (Japan)Japanese art from the late 19th century to the present; Western and American art from the first half of the 20th century to the present.
- Tokyo National Museum (Japan)Archaeological artifacts, calligraphy, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts.
- National Palace Museum (Taiwan)Painting, calligraphy, rare books, documents, ceramics, bronzes, jades, curios. Look for their "theme" sites and see the Downloads >> Movies for 3D animated short films on art.
- EuropeanaThe cultural collections of Europe contributed by many museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions.
- Reunion des Musees NationauxSearches 440,000 works from the regional and national museums of France, including the Louvre, Orsay, Centre Pompidou, and the Picasso Museum.
- Google Art CameraHundreds of super-high-resolution reproductions of artwork from 17 important international museums.
Browsing by subject in the book stacks
You can go to these call number ranges in the library and browse for these general subjects. TIP: Oversized books and books in the reference collection are shelved separately, but at the same call numbers. Don't forget to browse these areas too.
N Visual Arts
N400-4042 Art museums, galleries, etc.
N4390-5098 Exhibitions
N5198-5299 Private collections and collectors
N5300-7418 History of art
N7429.7-7433 Technique, composition, style, etc.
N7475-7483 Art criticism
N7575-7624.5 Portraits
N7790-8199 Religious art
N8554-8585 Examination and conservation of works of art
N8600-8675 Economics of art
N8700-9165 Art and the state. Public art
NA Architecture
NA 190-1614 History. Historical monuments
NA
2695-2793 Architectural design and drawing
NA
2835-4050 Architectural details, motives, decoration, etc.
NA
4100-8480 Special classes of buildings
NA
9000-9428 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and
beautification
NB Sculpture
NB1-1952 Sculpture
NB1-50 General
NB60-1115 History, Including collective biography
NB1120-1133 Study and teaching
NB1134-1134.4 Competitions
NB1135-1150 General works
NB1160-1195 Designs and technique
NB1199-1200 Restoration of sculptures
NB1203-1270 Special materials
NB1272-1291 Mobiles, color, sculpture gardens, etc.
NB1293-1895 Special forms
NB1293-1310 Portrait sculpture
NB1312-1313 Equestrian statues
NB1330-1685 Sculptural monuments
NB1750-1793 Religious monuments and shrines
NB1800-1880 Sepulchral monuments
NB1910-1952 Special subjects
NC Drawing. Design. Illustration.
NC1-1940 Drawing. Design. Illustration
NC1-45 General Including collective biography
NC50-266 History of drawing
NC390-670 Study and teaching
NC673-677 Competitions
NC703-725 General works
NC730-758 Technique
NC760-825 Special subjects
NC845-915 Graphic art materials
NC930 Conservation and restoration of drawings
NC950-(996) Illustration
NC997-1003 Commercial art. Advertising art
NC1280-1284 Printed ephemera. Imagerie populaire
NC1300-1766 Pictorial humor, caricature, etc.
NC1800-1850 Posters
NC1860-1896 Greeting cards, postcards, invitations, book jackets, etc.
NC1920-1940 Copying, enlarging, and reduction of drawings
ND Painting
ND25-3416 Painting
ND25-(48) General
ND49-813 History
ND1115-1120 Study and teaching
ND1130-1156 General works
ND1288-1460 Special subjects
ND1290-1293 Human figure
ND1300-1337 Portraits
ND1340-1367 Landscape painting
ND1370-1375 Marine painting
ND1380-1383 Animals. Birds
ND1385-1388 Sports. Hunting, fishing, etc.
ND1390-1393 Still life
ND1400-1403 Flowers. Fruit. Trees
ND1410-1460 Other subjects
ND1470-1625 Technique and materials
ND1630-1662 Examination and conservation of paintings
ND1700-2495 Watercolor painting
ND2550-2733 Mural painting
ND2889-3416 Illuminating of manuscripts and books
NE Print media
NE1-3002 Print media
NE1-978 Printmaking and engraving
NE1-90 General
NE218-(330) Engraved portraits. Self-portraits
NE380 Conservation and restoration of prints
NE390-395 Collected works
NE400-773 History of printmaking
NE830-898 General works
NE951-962 Special subjects
NE965-965.3 Tradesmen's cards
NE970-973 Study and teaching
NE975-975.4 Competitions
NE977-978 Equipment
NE1000-1352 Wood engraving
NE1000-1027 General
NE1030-1196.3 History
NE1220-1233 General works
NE1310-1326.5 Japanese prints
NE1330-1336 Linoleum block prints
NE1340 Fish prints
NE1344-1345 Potato prints
NE1350-1352 Other materials used in relief printing
NE1400-1879 Metal engraving
NE1400-1422 General
NE1620-1630 General works
NE1634-1749 History
NE1750-1775 Copper engraving
NE1850-1879 Color prints
NE1940-2232.5 Etching and aquatint
NE1940-1975 General
NE1980-2055.5 History
NE2120-2140 General works
NE2141-2149 Special subjects
NE2220-2225 Dry point
NE2236-2240.6 Serigraphy
NE2242-2246 Monotype (Printmaking)
NE2250-2570 Lithography
NE2685-2685.8 Lumiprints
NE2690 Engraving on glass
NE2800-2880 Printing of engravings
NE3000-3002 Copying art. Copying machine art
NK Decorative arts. Applied arts. Decoration and ornament.
(Including antiques in general)
NK1135-1149 Arts and crafts movement
NK
1700-3505 Interior decoration. House decoration
NK
3600-9955 Other arts and art industries
NK
3700-4695 Ceramics. Pottery. Porcelain
NK
4700-4890 Costume and its accessories
NK
4997-6060 Enamel. Glass. Glyptic arts (including gems,
jade, ivory, bone)
NK
6400-8459 Metalwork (including armor, jewelry, plate, brasses, pewter
NK
8800-9505 Textile arts and art needlework
NK
9600-9955 Woodwork (including carvings, fretwork, inlaying)
NX Arts in general--including works dealing with two or more of the
fine arts media,
i.e. literature, performing arts, and the visual arts.
NX1-260 General
NX280-410 Study and teaching. Research
NX411-415 Competitions
NX420-430 Exhibitions
NX440-632 History of the arts
NX650-694 Special subjects, characters, persons, religious arts, etc.
NX700-750 Patronage of the arts
NX760-770 Administration of the arts
NX775-777 Voluntarism in the arts
NX798-820 Arts centers and facilities
TR Photography
T 1-999 Arts and Crafts, Handicrafts
TT 180-200 Woodworking, Furniture Making, Upholstering
TT 300-382.8 Painting, Industrial Painting, Wood Finishing
TT 387-410 Soft Home Furnishings
TT 490-695 Clothing Manufacture, Dressmaking, Tailoring
TT 697-927 Home Arts, Home Crafts (including sewing, embroidery, decorative crafts)
Source imagery
Potential sources for your own projects. Most should be freely available, but please check the exact licensing restrictions carefully.
- Flickr: Creative CommonsTo search Flickr for photos with a Creative Commons license, use the advanced search and check the box at the bottom. This video will show you how. Licenses differ, so always check the license before using a photo.
- Wikimedia Commons"Wikimedia Commons is a media repository that is created and maintained... by volunteers....it provides a central repository for freely licensed photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, media of all sorts."
- Creative Commons Content DirectoryA CC directory of content licensed under the Creative Commons licenses. Includes Image, Video, Audio, and Text. Always check the exact terms of the license!
- MorguefileFree high resolution digital stock photography for corporate or public use. "The purpose of this site is to provide free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits." There are licensing restrictions - check them!
- Internet Archive: Audio ArchiveFree audio to use, including Grateful Dead concerts, radio shows, etc.
- Creative Commons SearchAll types of works, not just images, but you can search by creative commons license for "works I can use for commercial purposes" or "works I can modify, adapt, or build upon."
- Library of CongressMany Digital Collections, Exhibits, and links to cooperative Digital Collections. You can also view LoC digital images on Flickr.
Other Image Databases on the Internet
These are image databases, not necessarily art databases, but may be useful for studio artists. Remember that the images you find may be under copyright with other restrictions.
- UW Libraries Digital CollectionsUniversity of Washington Digital Library. Includes an Urban Archives database -- "items focus on communication in public spaces through graffiti, public art, advertising, signage, and architectural design"
- New York Public Library Digital CollectionsIllustrations, cigarette cards, photographs, maps, dust jackets from books, decorative and fashion illustrations, and more. Very nice browse features.
- World ImagesCalifornia State Unversity's World Image database project
Special collections
Don't forget our Special Collections!
You may not be able to take all of these materials out of the library, but you can usually photograph, copy or scan them.
The Browne Popular Culture Library, on the 4th floor, has a wealth of visual materials, including graphic novels, zines, comic books, posters, postcards, magazines and more.
The Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives, on the 3rd floor, has album art, posters, and zines as well as music.
The Curriculum Resource Center, on the 2nd floor, has puppets, games, picture files, illustrated children's books, pop-up books, K-12 teaching aids, and the Ellison Machine, which will punch out an amazing variety of shapes from paper or cloth.