University Libraries: Art History: Visual Materials

World Museums

Guggehnheim Museums
This is the gateway to all of the Guggenheim Museums internationally, including the ones in New York, USA; Bilbao, Spain; Venice, Italy; and Berlin, Germany. Information about each museum and its collections and exhibits are provided.
Kyoto National Museum
At the Kyoto National Museum site researchers can view over 10,000 images of objects from the museum's collections. An explanatory note accompanies each image. The site also features essays on Japanese art, culture, and history.
Vatican Museums
Together with the immense heritage of movable works of art, sculptures and paintings, which are displayed in the galleries, the itineraries of the Vatican Museums include the most important and artistically significant rooms of the Vatican...
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...Vatican Apostolic Palace, such as the 'Cappella Niccolina' with paintings by Beato Angelico, the 'Appartamento Borgia' with decorations by Pinturicchio, the 'Stanze' painted by Raphael and, of course, the Sistine Chapel with frescoes by Michelangelo as well as the most important 15th century masters from Umbria and Tuscany. View the collections, read about the artworks, and take a virtual online tour.
The Louvre
Located in Paris, France, contains one of the finest collections of European art.
The National Gallery, London
Contains Western art from the 13th to 19th century.
The State Hermitage Museum
Provides access to digital collections of the premier Russian art collection, covering pre-history to the 20th century.

ARTSTOR

Artstor on JSTOR This link opens in a new window
High-resolution art and architecture images for non-commercial educational use. Includes architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, and other forms of visual culture.

United States Museums

Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago's Web site provides a virtual tour of the museum's permanent and traveling exhibits.
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Brief biographies of artists accompany photographs of their works. Site also includes general museum information and art games.
Archives of American Art (Smithsonian Institution)
Archives of American Art comprise the world's largest source of documentation on the visual arts in America. Contained in the 5,000 collections are letters, diaries, sketches, photographs, catalogs, scrapbooks, business records, art periodicals...
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...and other types of documents, totaling some 14 million items.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The museum collects, preserves, and presents international modern and contemporary art in all media,...
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...distinguished by in-depth holdings of major artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum collects and exhibits Greek and Roman antiquities, European paintings, drawings,...
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...manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and European and American photographs.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Explore the exhibits and permanent collection at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The user can browse images of museum pieces, increase the image size and even tag images for their own collection.
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Each image is accompanied by a detailed description of the work, artist and genre.
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York
A unique feature of the Museum of Modern Art's Web site is its FAQ page on how to do research on artists, specific works of art, or art in general...
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...The site features selected works from the Museum's collection as well a brief comentary on the pieces.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The National Gallery of Art, Washington houses one of the finest collections in the world illustrating major...
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...achievements in painting, sculpture, and graphic arts from the Middle Ages to the present.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Online
Visitors may search the Museum's vast collections by artist name. Or click on browse collections to view works grouped into categories: photography, sculpture, folk art,...
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...drawings, urban scenes, literary themes, or Native American life and culture.
Frick Collection (The)
The Frick Collection is divided into paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, history, and virtual tour. The collection is housed in the New York mansion built by "Henry Clay Frick, one of America's most successful steel and railroad tycoons."