Research Guides: Studio Art: Images & ARTStor

ARTStor introduction

Primary Image Database -- ARTstor

Connect to Artstor, a unique database that provides more than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. These images can be printed for use in your paper, or included in PowerPoint demonstrations.

Review the tutorial below, or ask a Reference Librarian if you require assistance using Artstor.

Artstor This link opens in a new window
Database of over one million downloadable digital images and associated descriptive data, including images from the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, and photography.

Other Databases with Digital Images

Academic Search Premier
Use to: locate images from popular magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals.
To search for images: hover over the word "More" in the blue bar at top of the screen, then select "Images" from the drop-down menu. Images are searchable by keyword; search limiters regarding image type (i.e. diagram, map, color photography) are also available. From the search results screen you will need to click on the thumbnails to view larger images and right-click on the image to download.

Other Databases with Images:

Grove Art Online [OXFORD] This link opens in a new window
Use the "Search for Images Only" option.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Once you are in an entry on your topic click on the "Images" link on the left side of the screen.
Contains both the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, as well as magazine and journal articles written by Pulitzer Prize winners and leading experts, a world atlas, country data, and timelines.

Continuously updated and enhanced on a daily basis with new articles, revisions, and related Internet sites.
eBooks [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Click "Advanced Search," enter in your keywords, and check the box before "to document with images."
Credo Reference [INFOBASE] This link opens in a new window
Click on the "Image" tab to limit your keyword searches to images only.

Image Resources on the Web

Artcyclopedia
A different way to search for artists - search for a movement and Artcyclopedia will tell you which artists were part of that movement.
Bing Images Search
Search for images on the internet through Bing's image search. Use Bing's limiters and related search features to refine your image search.
The Classical Art Research Centre
Provides an image collection of ancient art and pottery
Galaxy of Images (Smithsonian Institution)
Search through images found in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' book and manuscript collection. To locate images, search by keyword or browse by subject area.
Google Art Project
Zoomable images of works of art from over 100 of the world's most prominent museums.
Google Image Search
Search for photographs, illustrations, and artworks from across the Internet, using Google's well-known keyword search engine.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog
Perhaps the largest gateway to images on the Web, this catalog enables keyword searching of over one million digital images from the Library of Congress's photographic collections.
The National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
The National Gallery of Art was conceived and given to the people of the United States by Andrew W. Mellon. When the National Gallery of Art opened to the public, the nucleus of its world-class collection consisted of 126 paintings and 26 sculptures. By the time of the museum’s 25th anniversary in 1966, 114 exhibition galleries were filled with great works of art.
Web Gallery of Art
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 11th to mid-19th centuries.
Yale Digital Content
Cross Collection Discovery (CCD) provides a way to search across Yale's collections of art, natural history, books, and maps, as well as photos, audio, and video documenting people, places, and events.