Research Guides: Introduction to Visual Culture: Finding Images

Image Sources

Artstor This link opens in a new window
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Transitioning to Artstor on JSTOR | JSTOR Images. This resource will migrate to a new platform on June 1, 2024. Features images from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists. It is a comprehensive image resource, with many rare and important collections available nowhere else.
Artstor on JSTOR | JSTOR Images This link opens in a new window
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New Artstor platform. Features images from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists. It is a comprehensive image resource, with many rare and important collections available nowhere else.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
The foremost scholarly art encyclopedia, covering both Western and non-Western art.

Art Institute of Chicago: The Collection
Filter to "Public Domain" to discover works you can freely use.
Google Arts & Culture
Includes online collections from partner institutions.
The Getty, Los Angeles
Filter by "Open Content Images."
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Filter by "Open Access Artworks."
Smithsonian Open Access
Download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Use the search "Everything" dropdown menu to search specifically for photos or other types of media. Many, but not all, images have no known copyright restrictions. Enlarge images of interest. Under "About this Image" see "Rights Advisory" for more information.
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
NGA Images is a collection of open access digital images.
The Louvre
More than 480,000 works in the Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène-Delacroix.
British Museum Collection Online
The majority of the 1.9 million object images are available for anyone to use for free under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.
The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Users can create their own online galleries.

CARLI Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Includes Saskia Art Images collections and the Sanborn Maps of Illinois, 1867-1970.

Ads of the World | Part of the Clio Network
View: Latest Ads, Top Ads, Creative Collections, and Student Ads
Search by: Medium - Industry - Country
AdView | Duke University Libraries
Vintage television commercials from the 1950s - 1980s searchable by company and product.
Ad*Access | Duke Univeristy Libraries
Presents images and information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955.
Advertising Archives
A picture library and museum with an archive of one million British and American press ads, TV stills, magazine covers, catalogues, greetings cards, posters, illustrations and cultural ephemera dating from 1850 to the present day.

Berg Fashion Library This link opens in a new window
Color images, academic eBooks, museum directory, exhibition archive, reference works, and teaching resources relating to the world of dress and fashion.
WGSN This link opens in a new window
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A trend forecasting company providing global trend insights, curated data, and industry expertise on consumer trends.
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
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Contains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US Edition) from 1892 to the present day, reproduced in high-resolution color page images.

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