Art field guide
Open-access museum collections for artists
Twenty museum and archive collections with high-resolution images, from CC0 programs at the Met and the Smithsonian to non-commercial British collections and Japan’s national museums. Every link opens the collection itself, and the site lists what each institution allows you to do with its files.
The .artdeck file opens in ArtDeck for iPhone, iPad,
and Mac with its link cards, previews, and layout intact.
New to ArtDeck?
Get it free for 7 days, opens in a new tab,
then open the downloaded file from Files
on iPhone and iPad, or double-click it on Mac.
Start here
Open these four first.
If you have ten minutes, these do the most work. The full list follows.
- The Met Open Access, opens in a new tab
The easiest encyclopedic starting point, with clearly marked CC0 records and high-resolution files.
- Smithsonian Open Access, opens in a new tab
The broadest cross-disciplinary choice, spanning art, design, history, science, archives, and 3D objects.
- Rijksmuseum Collection, opens in a new tab
Exceptionally strong for Dutch art, prints, photography, costume, and decorative arts, with explicit rights metadata.
- ColBase, opens in a new tab
A rare, reusable route into Japan's national museum collections and wider Asian art and archaeology.
Public resource list
Every link in the board.
Open any source without leaving the list. External links open in a new tab, and each entry says whether it costs money or needs an account.
Broad open-access leaders
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountCC0
Its scale, stable object records, and consistent OA icon make it an unusually dependable first stop.
metmuseum.org Permalink Report a change
- Smithsonian Open Access , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountCC0
It opens an exceptional cross-disciplinary range, from portraiture and design to natural history and 3D models.
si.edu Permalink Report a change
- Getty Open Content Program , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountCC0
Museum and research-library holdings sit together here, giving artists both finished works and deep archival material.
getty.edu Permalink Report a change
- Cleveland Museum of Art — Open Access , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountCC0
It combines transparent CC0 filtering with excellent files, structured data, multiple views, and growing 3D coverage.
clevelandart.org Permalink Report a change
Painting, prints, and city collections
- National Gallery of Art — Free Images and Open Access , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountPublic Domain
Clear public-domain notices and direct downloads make a focused fine-art collection easy to teach from and reuse.
nga.gov Permalink Report a change
- Art Institute of Chicago — Open Access Images , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountCC0
Its global collection, clean CC0 labeling, and developer-friendly image service support both visual browsing and research workflows.
artic.edu Permalink Report a change
- Rijksmuseum Collection , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
It pairs outstanding Dutch art with prints, photography, Asian holdings, and unusually explicit object-level rights data.
rijksmuseum.nl Permalink Report a change
- Paris Musées Collections , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
Fourteen Paris city museums share one catalogue, and its image search can be limited to the CC0 open-content subset, so fashion, decorative arts, and urban photography are reusable from a single entry.
parismuseescollections.paris.fr Permalink Report a change
Nordic and design-focused collections
- SMK Open — National Gallery of Denmark , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
Its public-domain paintings, works on paper, and downloadable 3D scans make it unusually useful for studio practice.
open.smk.dk Permalink Report a change
- Finnish National Gallery Collection , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
The portal gives Finnish art a strong open presence while clearly separating downloadable CC0 files from copyrighted works.
kokoelma.kansallisgalleria.fi Permalink Report a change
- Nationalmuseum Sweden — Images , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
Its official image hub connects fine art and design records to a substantial set of genuinely high-resolution public-domain files.
nationalmuseum.se Permalink Report a change
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg — Collection , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountMixed
It broadens the guide beyond painting with deep design, photography, fashion, East Asian, and Southwest Asian collections.
mkg-hamburg.de Permalink Report a change
British art, history, and design collections
- The British Museum: Collection Online , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountNon-commercial (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Its million study-resolution images span more cultures and periods than any other single free collection, which makes it a first stop for costume, ornament, and object reference.
britishmuseum.org Permalink Report a change
- Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountNon-commercial (personal and private use terms)
It is the strongest single reference for decorative arts, pattern, and costume, and its object photography is consistent enough to compare materials across centuries.
vam.ac.uk Permalink Report a change
- London Museum: Collections , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountNon-commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Its everyday objects, dress, and documentary photography give environment and character artists period detail that fine-art collections leave out.
londonmuseum.org.uk Permalink Report a change
- National Galleries of Scotland: Art and Artists , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountNon-commercial (CC BY-NC on out-of-copyright works)
It adds Scottish portraiture, landscape, and a deep photography holding that the other selected painting collections do not cover.
nationalgalleries.org Permalink Report a change
Science, natural history, and Asian archives
- Wellcome Collection — Catalogue , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountItem-specific
Its direct catalogue search leads into rich visual ephemera, manuscripts, photography, and whole-item scans, while the access guide explains the mixed licences.
wellcomecollection.org Permalink Report a change
- Science Museum Group: Collection , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountNon-commercial (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Machines, instruments, vehicles, and industrial photography give hard-surface and prop reference that art museums rarely photograph in this detail.
collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk Permalink Report a change
- Natural History Museum: Data Portal , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountOpen license (CC BY 4.0 images, CC0 metadata)
Its specimen photography is the most reusable route to skeletons, insects, shells, and minerals for creature and material study.
data.nhm.ac.uk Permalink Report a change
- ColBase — Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan , opens in a new tab
FreeNo accountOpen license
It offers a rare, rights-readable route across Japan's national collections, from archaeology and Buddhist art to painting, calligraphy, ceramics, and textiles.
colbase.nich.go.jp Permalink Report a change
How to use the collections
From a search to a file you can keep.
Follow the steps in order, or take the one that fits today.
Start with the Met or the Smithsonian and filter to open access before you search, so every result is reusable.
Open the object record rather than the search thumbnail, and download the largest file the institution offers.
Read the rights statement on that record before reusing anything. A CC0 program can still hold restricted items.
Keep the object URL next to the image on your board, so you can return to the record and credit it later.
Use the arranged version
Take the whole collection into ArtDeck.
Rearrange the cards and add your own references. Keep the board open next to the app where you work.
opens in a new tab Free for 7 days, then one purchase. No card. No subscription.
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