Digital image collections guide

610 cartes-de-visite studio portraits of entertainers, actors, and actresses who performed on the American stage in the mid- to late 1800s.

Commercial UK image service featuring mostly paid, but several free images of performing arts.

Photographs of live bunraku theater performances from the second half of the 20th century.

Thousands of poster, costume, and set images from the Federal Theatre Project (a division of the Works Progress Administration).

Includes authoritative, detailed, multilingual descriptions of digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world, plus information about related pieces, productions, performers, and creators.

9,856 images collected by drama critic and theater promoter J. Willis Sayre; autographed portraits of actors, vaudeville performers, movie stills, singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and acrobats.

Provides access to images highlighting several collections held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LCMA).

Historical circus photo images from clowns to parades, including Ringling Bros.

Visual chronicle of the artistic productions of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the years 1977-1994. The collection presents 1,800 images documenting 195 performances during 17 seasons.

Several dance, theatre and film collections.

Explore music, theater, and dance at the Library of Congress. Includes images from several genres of performing arts including music, theater, and dance.

230 photographs and ephemera relating to the career of Pat Prior and Effie Norris documenting their life on the road while performing on the American vaudeville circuits around the turn of the century, 1886-1915.

The scenery collection in the University of Minnesota's Performing Arts Archives is composed of three parts: the Twin City Scenic Company collection (PA43), the Great Western Stage Equipment Company Collection(PA44), and the Holak collection(PA49).

Over 13,000 images of items, including stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters, and scripts for productions.

7,949 publicity brochures, promotional advertisements and talent circulars for some 4,546 performers who were part of the Chautauqua circuit (Library of Congress American Memories Project).

Commercial UK image service featuring mostly paid, but several free images of performing arts.

The British Museum, one of the oldest, largest and most famous museums in the world, holds objects and artworks dating from the 7th millennium BC to the present day, and covers all major world cultures. Images are licensed and may be purchased.

Hundreds of images from the Cia Fornaroli Collection at The New York Public Library illustrate the rich history of Italian dance.

From The New York Public Library. Thousands of photographs of Indonesian costumes, theatrical performances, and dance movements in the 1930s and later.

It is hoped that this work may be of some use illustrating the costume, position and accessories of the dance in various periods.

Collections of historical dance photographs feature specific dancers from late 19th and early 20th centuries. Photos range from publicity stills to professional photographers' vintage prints. Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Irene and Vernon Castle & more.

Includes thousands of Flickr images related to a search for dance images.

Browse Library of Congress collections of historical texts, images and videos related to dance, or search collections by names or topic words.

Search collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art for images of dance and dancers depicted in drawings, paintings and photographs.

Provides access to over 275,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

610 cartes-de-visite studio portraits of entertainers, actors, and actresses who performed on the American stage in the mid- to late 1800s.

Online gallery of virtual books and online exhibitions with objects from the British Library Collections.

This site provides an opportunity to delve into catalogues from a number of different stores, both English and French, from the 1880s to the 1970s.

Covers, photos, and illustrations from Vanity Fair, GQ, House & Garden, Vogue Mademoiselle, and other Conde Nast magazines.

Over 1,000 links about costume and costuming-related links.

The Costumer's Manifesto - www.costumes.org by Tara Maginnis, Ph.D. Site for Costume Information & Images

Personal costume design web page with links to other styles.

Includes costume and scene designs from more than fifty productions by British designer Daphne Dare (1929-2000).

Illustrations from the leading French, British, American, and other continental fashion journals of the 19th century and early 20th century. These images reflect the metamorphosis of women's fashion from the 1920s through the 1970s from the Gimbel Art and Design Library

Editorial pages on world news, sport, entertainment, and archival images.

Includes authoritative, detailed, multilingual descriptions of digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world, plus information about related pieces, productions, performers, and creators.

9,856 images collected by drama critic and theater promoter J. Willis Sayre; autographed portraits of actors, vaudeville performers, movie stills, singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and acrobats.

Searchable collection of photos from LIFE and Getty Images, two of the most recognized names in photography.

Over 30,000 images of costumes on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

A rare collection of materials on costume and set designs, housed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Rare Book and Manuscript Library, that contains over 5000 items including sketches, notes, photographs, storyboards, lists of props, and fabric swatches. It is almost entirely digitized, open access, and supported by a searchable index.

Contains images of objects from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

Provides access to over 275,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

Photos and graphics from the New York Times.

230 photographs and ephemera relating to the career of Pat Prior and Effie Norris documenting their life on the road while performing on the American vaudeville circuits around the turn of the century, 1886-1915.

Cabinet cards, postcards and photographs of 19th century American and British actors and actresses.

Search over 6.4 million records with 536,000 images, video and sound files, electronic journals and other resources from the Smithsonian's museums, archives & libraries.

Images by well-known photojournalists documenting past and present political and cultural events, as well as celebrities and the American experience. Also includes commercial and archival footage.

Costume designs for stage and screen by B.J. Simmons & Co., 1889-1959

Digital images of drawings, illuminated manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, prints, rare illustrated books, as well as audio and video recordings materials related to Los Angeles and the Southern California and the Pacific Rim.

Visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images from institutional sources contributed for use in learning, teaching and research. Includes art, design, architecture, decorative art, fashion. UK-based.

Search the Collections is a working database that we are building continuously. You can search over a million records. Some records have minimal information; others are very detailed. Some have high quality photographs; some have more basic images; others have yet to be photographed.

accessCeramics is a growing collection of images of contemporary ceramics by recognized artists. It is designed for use by artists, arts educators, scholars and the general public, and is intended to fill a void in contemporary ceramics digital image collections on the web.

Duke University digital archive of advertisements from newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Early ads from major companies in the United States are featured in a presentation called the Emergence of Advertising in America (1850-1920).

Personal collection by Pierre du Prey, Professor & Director of the Architecture in the Classical Tradition project at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

The Artchive is a biographical dictionary, bibliography and image database for over 200 of the most famous artists. It also provides several illustrated essays on such broad topics as abstract expressionism or women artists. Some images are host

Search over 6000 artists to find their works in museum collections or browse by movement, medium, subject, or nationality.

The Artefacts Canada database contains close to 4 million object records and approximately 800,000 images from Canadian museums.

Art and architecture images arranged by time period to parallel art history textbook organization.

Online collections, which offer access to over 45,000 works and basic information about works of art from all areas of our encyclopedic collection.

Collection of primary source documentation on American visual arts.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art. Here, you can travel through 6,000 years of history, trek across seven major regions, and sample the cultures of numerous countries.

Photographs taken at the intersection of European, African, and Asian cultures from 1850 to 1950

The art of ancient Greece and Rome, and its collection and reception since antiquity.

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum's (Ohio State Univ.) primary mission is to develop a comprehensive research collection documenting American printed cartoon art, to organize the materials, and to provide access to these resources. The scope of the collection includes:editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, sports cartoons, magazine cartoons. To search select "Art Database" or "Cartoon Image Database" links.

British Cartoon Archive is a research center and library of British cartooning located in in the Templeman Library at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Its web site features a catalog with images of over 130,000 cartoons published in the British press, as well as information about the archive, announcements of special events, featured cartoons and cartoonists, teaching aids, and other useful material.

The British Museum, one of the oldest, largest and most famous museums in the world, holds objects and artworks dating from the 7th millennium BC to the present day, and covers all major world cultures. Images are licensed and may be purchased.

The Canadian Art Database Project currently holds 54,000+ images and 600+ video and audio clips by 600+ artists and designers; and 2,400+ texts by 200+ writers and curators.

Medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts in the British Library, London.

Learn how to identify the saints in medieval and renaissance art.

Christie's Images is a unique photo archive of fine and decorative art images created by the greatest artists from all cultures and civilisations.

Includes digital images of several of the Corning Museum of Glass collections showcasing more than 3,500 years of glass work.

40,000 high quality digital images of paintings, drawings, architecture and sculpture from the Courtauld Gallery and Conway Library are available for searching, rights clearance and download on this site.

National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography

The Digital Content Library (DCL) consists of around 300,000 items from teaching and research collections across the University of Minnesota. Support is provided for just about any digital file format including images, videos, audio, 3-D objects, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDFs.
Note: This is a licensed resource only available to current UMN students, faculty, and staff.

80,000 images from French manuscript illumination, arranged by subject, and also searchable.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprised of the de Young in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco

Images of objects from the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Editorial pages on world news, sport, entertainment, and archival images.

Contains images of many of the artworks held and displayed by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

The Getty Search Gateway allows users to search across several of the Getty repositories, including collections databases, library catalogs, collection inventories, and archival finding aids.

Google Arts & Culture features content from over 1000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

This online collection contains selected classic works and more recent acquisitions from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Images from various projects of Newton and Helen Harrison, leading pioneers of the echo-art movement.

Provides access to information and images of over 60,000 objects held in the collections of Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Hampshire College Art Gallery, Historic Deerfield, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Smith College Museum of Art and the University Gallery at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

More than 100,000 manuscripts, paintings and artifacts from Dunhaung and other Silk Road sites of the first millennium AD.

The RAAI is a collection of rich historical photographs which provide insight into early European and American views - literal and figurative - of Africa's art. Texts are presented in the original - often erroneous and sometimes racist - language. Foreign texts appear in English translation followed by the original language.

Erich Lessing Culture and Fine Arts Archive is an extensive image library featuring over 40.000 high resolution images from over 500 museums and many other collections. Founded and mostly photographed by Erich Lessing, the collection covers a wide range of subjects: Fine Arts, Religion, History, Music, Archaeology, Mythology, Architecture, Landscapes, Historical Portraits and Reportage.

Prints and photographs from the Library of Congress.

Prints and photographs from the Library of Congress.

Provides access to images highlighting several collections held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LCMA).

Provides access to images held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including highlights from each of the curatorial departments as well as the entire Department of European Paintings and the entire Department of American Painting and Sculpture.

Contains images of objects from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

The department has built a core collection of modern and contemporary art with more than 550 emblematic works in all media, from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, as well as by Latino artists in the United States. These objects complement existing holdings in photography, works on paper, decorative arts, painting, and sculpture, some of which entered the Museum as early as the 1930s. The total number of works of art by Latin Americans and Latinos at the MFAH surpasses 2,000.

Search collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art for images of dance and dancers depicted in drawings, paintings and photographs.

This site provides "links to online collections and exhibits covering a vast array of interests and obsessions." Includes links to museums ("most of these sites will have multiple exhibits"), a "permanent collection" of links to exhibits of particular interest to design and advertising, and links to "an eclectic and ever-changing list of interesting ... collections and galleries." From a design and advertising company.

Digital images of some of the permanent collection. This collection is comprised of more than 3,000 works providing a comprehensive survey of art by women from the 16th century to the present.

Several dance, theatre and film collections.

Collections include primary and secondary sources related to the study of Ancient Greece and Rome, focused on art objects, coins, vases, sites, and buildings. Each catalog entry includes a description of the object and its context; most catalog entries also include an image.

AAA photos, digitized manuscripts, etc from this Smithsonian collection

Scholars Resource offers complementary image collections from Saskia, Davis, Hartill, Archivision and Bridgeman Art Library, from more than 200 international museums and more than 85,000 images from every period in art history.

From Emory University.

American art, craft, and design from all regions, traditions, and cultures. Searchable and browsable by artist, work type, and subject.

An online database of works in the Tate Collection, plus an illustrated glossary.

Collections related to the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, and other genocides. In particular: Portraying Memories - Portraits & Conversations Survivors of the Shoah.

Digital images of several of the extensive holdings of the University of Washington Special Collections. Subject matter ranges from Art and Architecture to Natural Sciences, mostly related to the Northwest region.

Visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images from institutional sources contributed for use in learning, teaching and research. Includes art, design, architecture, decorative art, fashion. UK-based.

Search for over 1,000,000 works from the V&A's collections, including ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture and textiles.

The image gallery contains thousands of digital reproductions of works of art held by Canada's museums.

Includes Cartography, Fine Arts, Architecture, Photography, and other image. Digital image collections from Museums, Universities and private collections throughout the world - Cartography Associates (David Rumsey)

Web Gallery of Art The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries started in 1996

Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content including images, sound and video clips.

The Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database is a new online resource for the study of craft traditions, manufacturing, state and local history, and material culture. This searchable archive brings together examples of furniture, ceramics, textiles, and other 19th and early 20th century material culture artifacts from the collections of museums and historic sites across Wisconsin.

The Worcester Art Museum is acclaimed for the quality of its collections. European and North American painting, prints, photographs and drawings; Asian art, Greek and Roman sculpture and mosaics and Contemporary art. The collection is organized geographically except for Western prints, drawings and all photographs which are organized by medium and Contemporary Art which is defined as the international art of the past ten years in all media. Browse works fine on the website, Early American Paintings search not working properly.

Provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 65,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery.

Works from the Gallery, including paintings, decorative arts, arms and armor, and more. Searchable by department, classification, artist, etc.

Online collections, which offer access to over 45,000 works and basic information about works of art from all areas of our encyclopedic collection.

Celebrating the beauty and history of the photogravure process and the important role it has played in the evolution of fine art photography. Includes a database search of images from many famous photographers work with the photogravure process.

Photographs taken at the intersection of European, African, and Asian cultures from 1850 to 1950

Images from the Center for Creative Photography (Univ. of Arizona). This online collection contains images from the archives of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Garry Winogrand, Harry Callahan, and other great twentieth-century photographers.

Includes a database and gallery collection browse functionality for over 1,000 images of daguerreottypes, the first successful commercial photographic process produced on silver plated copper or brass plates.

A searchable online catalog with millions of digitized items to browse, including photos, maps and books, from libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions around the United States.

Search and use hundreds of images with "no known copyright restrictions." A joint venture of Flickr and the Library of Congress, Flickr Commons was designed to increase access to publicly-held photography collections.

Digital images from the George Eastman collection spanning the decades from 1839 to today.

Editorial pages on world news, sport, entertainment, and archival images.

Images from the collections of the International Center of Photography. Included in Blog story format.

Prints and photographs from the Library of Congress.

Searchable collection of photos from LIFE and Getty Images, two of the most recognized names in photography.

Work from nationally and internationally renowned photographers active in the Pacific Northwest, including Art Hupy, Ernest Kassowitz, Kyo Koike, Frank Kunishige, Mary Randlett and others. From the UW Libraries Special Collections.

Search for digital copies of the photographs, movies, data, drawings, maps and other documents from the National Archives.

Photos from National Geographic magazine.

Museum located in Washington D.C. focusing on the news.

American photographs from the 1860s-1920s in the New York Public Library. Includes albumen, platinum and silver gelatin prints from photographers including Alexander Gardner, William Henry Jackson, Timothy O'Sullivan, Edward S. Curtis, and Man Ray.

Reuters, current events.

Image collection of over 290,000 Polaroid photos.

Search over 6.4 million records with 536,000 images, video and sound files, electronic journals and other resources from the Smithsonian's museums, archives & libraries.

A large collection of photos and images made available by the U.S. government. ost of these images and graphics are available for use in the public domain, and they may be used and reproduced without permission or fee. However, some images may be protected by license. We strongly recommend you thoroughly read the disclaimers on each site before use. For information about obtaining seals of Federal Agencies and the United States, please see the Government Printing Office website.

Hosted by Duke University Libraries, this 50,000 item collection documents the work of photographer William Gedney, covering the 1950s to 1989 and locations in the United States, India, and Europe.

Provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 65,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery.

The British Museum, one of the oldest, largest and most famous museums in the world, holds objects and artworks dating from the 7th millennium BC to the present day, and covers all major world cultures. Images are licensed and may be purchased.

40,000 high quality digital images of paintings, drawings, architecture and sculpture from the Courtauld Gallery and Conway Library are available for searching, rights clearance and download on this site.

Images of objects from the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Contains images of many of the artworks held and displayed by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

Google Arts & Culture features content from over 1000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

This online collection contains selected classic works and more recent acquisitions from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Provides access to images held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including highlights from each of the curatorial departments as well as the entire Department of European Paintings and the entire Department of American Painting and Sculpture.

Contains images of objects from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

Search collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art for images of dance and dancers depicted in drawings, paintings and photographs.

American art, craft, and design from all regions, traditions, and cultures. Searchable and browsable by artist, work type, and subject.

An online database of works in the Tate Collection, plus an illustrated glossary.

Search for over 1,000,000 works from the V&A's collections, including ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture and textiles.

Web Gallery of Art The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries started in 1996

Works from the Gallery, including paintings, decorative arts, arms and armor, and more. Searchable by department, classification, artist, etc.