Resources in Art and Architecture on the Web

Historical photographs, albums, oral histories, moving images, maps and more.

John Jacob Omenhausser, was a Confederate soldier imprisoned at the Union camp at Pt. Lookout, Maryland from June 1864 to July 1865. Here in this sketchbook, he documents prison life in vibrant watercolor drawings. Available through JSTOR.

Exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery

A consortium of 14 art museums in the U.S.. Data and images can be cross-searched.

Collections from the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Over 19,000 images from the University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee Libraries. Includes many scenes of ordinary life and locations.

From Library of Congress.

"Meet the men and women who shaped our nation, 1600-1900." Exhibition on Google Arts & Culture site of images from the National Portrait Gallery.

Old website featuring images from the Library of Congress.

Online exhibition from the Library of Congress.

Photographs of people from Dallas and the celebrities and politicians who visited the city. From Southern Methodist University Libraries Digital Collections.

Early works of the American Impressionist artist. University of Tennessee -- Knoxville Libraries.

'The world's preeminent resource dedicated to collecting and preserving the papers and primary records of the visual arts in America." From the Smithsonian Institution.

Items documenting the experience of women in the Southwest, ca. 1840s-1980s. From Southern Methodist University Libraries Digital Collections.

"The Inventory of American Paintings and the Inventory of American Sculpture were created by the Smithsonian American Art Museum to assist researchers in locating American paintings and sculptures for comparative study. Together the Inventories reference over 400,000 artworks in public and private collections worldwide."

Websites of artists significant to the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Frick Collection.

From the Peter A. Juley & Son Collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum Photograph Archives.

"A world leading resource for art pricing, international art auction records, artist signatures, alert notifications and much more."

Commercial photographer Avery Field documented the growth and development of Riverside, California in the first half of the 20th century. From University of California, Riverside through JSTOR.

From the University of Maine, available through JSTOR.

Compiled by Susan V. Craig, Art & Architecture Librarian at the University of Kansas.

Library of Congress online exhibition of color photographs taken for the Farm Security Administration / Office of War Administration.

Digital collection of images relating to California, including architecture, art, historical photographs, etc. from California institutions. May be used freely for educational purposes, obtain permission for publication and other uses.

Born-digital catalog raisonnés.

Collection of inmate artwork created behind bars.

Non-profit dedicated to the art of the print.

"Changing Chicago was conceived as one of the largest documentary photography projects ever organized in an American city." Now housed in the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago.

From UC Berkeley Library.

Home of sculptor Daniel Chester French.

"The 10,000 images in this digital collection capture the parks’ construction, architecture, plant life and public enjoyment." From Chicago Public Library.

Includes a significant collection of New Deal art, as well a other Cleveland related material. Available via JSTOR.

Museum dedicated to the Abstract Expressionist artist.

Google Arts & Culture site.

Site "investigates how we visualize, interpret, and engage the slave past through contemporary monuments created for public spaces."

Searchable database of digitized letters from the University of Glasgow.

Over 10,000 still images from 1903-1966 document Angus’ family, friends, business, and travels. From Grand Valley State University through JSTOR.

Curates historical resources from the Frick, Brooklyn Museum, and Long Island University.

The Dominy family of East Hampton, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York functioned as craftsmen from ca. 1760 to ca. 1850.

From the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago.

Timeline with paintings.

"Items include prints, printing blocks, drawings, sketchbooks, photographs, architectural plans, ephemera, and artists' proofs, as well as broadsides, posters and printed reproductions." From UCLA.

Sculptures by Philadelphia artist, primarily ceramic. From UPenn via JSTOR.

"Features selections from the more than 3,000 rare maps, documents, paintings, prints, and artifacts that make up the Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress."

Blog of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.

Exhibition on Google Arts & Culture site of images from the National Portrait Gallery.

Documentary photographs of over 9000 gravestones, most made prior to 1800. Luna Commons site.

Over 25,900 images from the New York Public Library.

Old website with biographical information and examples of works.

Exhibition on Google Arts & Culture site of images from the National Portrait Gallery.

Over 200,000 digitized photographs and illustrations from the Florida State Archives.

One of the first comic books written in the U.S., published in the 1850s. From Dartmouth Library Collection.

"Presents publications of the acclaimed Los Angeles print and sculpture workshop from its beginning in 1966 through 1996." From the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Works from the National Gallery of Art. Catlin was particularly know for his portraits of Native Americans and depictions of their lives and culture.

Collection includes photographs Hanson took in China between 1937 and 1938. From Carleton College via JSTOR.

From the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library.

Commercial photographer from Chicago's North Side. From Chicago Public Library.

Exhibition about the political cartoonist, from the Library of Congress.

From Duke University Libraries.

Collections of the US House of Representatives.

"Hundreds of portraits made by an itinerant photographer who rode the trains to the small towns of North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia." From Duke University Libraries.

Primarily a studio portrait collection covering 1903-1939 Utah. From Brigham Young University via JSTOR.

Edited transcript of an oral history interview with Rosamund Felsen, conducted by Anne Ayres.

Works by 19th century self-taught botanical painter. From Boston Athenaeum.

Specializing in American paintings, drawings, watercolors and prints of the 19th and 20th centuries. Includes artist information.

Audubon Society site offering free high resolution images of the prints from this work.

Archives of the American printmaker, from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

"This site provides information about photographers active in the United States from 1844 to 1950."

Essay from East of Borneo.

This collection contains lavishly illustrated early U.S. bicycle and bicycle parts manufacturers’ catalogs covering the period from 1890 through 1932, with the great majority published between 1890 and 1902. From Northwestern University Libraries Digital Collections.

Website of former Brown University Visual Arts professor.

Finding aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Contains images from the 1850s to the present, documenting all aspects of life in Southern California, with an emphasis on Los Angeles."

Site chronicles themes of Bourgeois's prints. From the Museum of Modern Art.

American photographer (1877-1963) active in Vermont.

Scrapbooks maintained by the printmaker. From the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Includes cover art images and full scores for more than 9,000 works in the public domain, as well as cover art thumbnails for additional in-copyright titles. From University of Maine via JSTOR.

Mammoth plate photographs, chiefly created by Carleton E. Watkins and William Henry Jackson, ca. 1874-1898. From the Beinecke Library at Yale.

Digitized audio recordings of poetry readings, artist's talks, and cultural discussions from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Located in Orlando, Florida.

Collaborative collection with the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. Available via JSTOR.

"Freely available resource that documents the careers of visual artists whose practice has shaped the artistic heritage of the state."

Exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution

The oldest museum in the country dedicated to the art and artists of the American South.

Finding aid from the Archives of American Art.

Search interface to the collections. Museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Low resolution images may be used without charge for non-commercial use, such as a school paper or website. Larger resolution images must be purchased.

Collection relating to the American sculptor of Native American and African ancestry. From Rhode Island College via JSTOR.

Searchable interface.

"The NYC Municipal Archives Digital Collections website provides access to more than 1,600,000 items from the Municipal Archives' vast holdings, including photographs, maps, blueprints, motion-pictures and audio recordings." Prints may be purchased. Permission must be obtained and licensing fees paid for publication.

Searchable collection of almost 900,000 digitized items. Free and open access.

Museum site for the American illustrator.

Items from the U.S. Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and Canada. From Southern Methodist University Libraries Digital Collections.

Integrated search interface for many California institutions.

Digitized oral histories from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art.

Complete set of images from the 1883 publication. From Dartmouth via JSTOR.

Sketchbooks spanning Texas Regionalist artist's career from the 1930s-1980s. From Southern Methodist University Libraries Digital Collections.

Highlights from the collection plus search interface.

This collection contains fine examples of printed broadsides designed and distributed among Pennsylvania Germans. From Franklin & Marshall College via JSTOR.

Tthis collection contains fine examples of printed and hand-colored taufscheins (birth and baptismal certificates), vorshrifts (writing examples), haus segens (house blessings), bucherzeichen (book plates), and drawings created by Pennsylvania Germans. From Franklin & Marshall College via JSTOR.

Created during the 18th and 19th centuries. From the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Research portal for the study of American watercolors. This site provides resources on watercolor societies from the 19th and 20th centuries in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Works of 20th century American cartoonist. From Biola University via JSTOR.

"The Photograph Archives of the Smithsonian American Art Museum contains over a half million photographs, negatives and slides documenting American art from colonial to contemporary times."

From the Peter A. Juley & Son Collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum Photograph Archives.

Finding aid from the Archives of American Art. "The collection comprises a comprehensive set of photographs of Inness's artwork compiled by his widow, Julia Goodrich Smith, shortly after his death."

"The Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalogue Index (AECI) contains 136,494 records describing artworks exhibited in the United States and in Canada up through 1876 (the Centennial year). The Catalogue contains information from 1,057 exhibition catalogs, newspaper articles, and gallery notices."

3-d models of portraits from the National Portrait Gallery. Note conditions of CC license.

A project of the Western States Arts Federation. Searchable database of public art in the United States.

"Provides free worldwide access to a wealth of scholarly research and documentation related to artworks by Robert Rauschenberg in SFMOMA's permanent collection." Includes downloadable images for educational use. Licensing fees and permissions are needed for publication and reproduction.

Essay from East of Borneo.

Historic house museum and collections.

Vimeo video from Brown professor emeritus.

The largest private collection of materials related to the history of Rhode Island, now in the John Hay Library at Brown University.

Exhibition from the Library of Congress.

Foundation for the artist's works and archives.

"In 1984, Chicago Public Library began working with local photographer Robert Krueger to document the North Side."

Official site of the Houston, Texas chapel.

Finding aid from the Archives of American Art.

Photo pool on Flickr.

Website for Kentucky National Historic Landmark.

Four centuries of art and Americana.

From an oral history interview with John Baldessari,
conducted by Christopher Knight.

Search the collections and view highlights.

Shaker site in Kentucky.

Collections from the museum at the University of Kansas.

The art and history of Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1968 by Harlem artists and residents.

The School of Visual Arts artistic response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Available via JSTOR.

Search interface to photographs and images.

A virtual repository of a substantial cross-section of the Archives of American Art's most significant collections.

"Dedicated to fostering exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States for national and international audiences."

From Southern Methodist University Libraries Digital Collections.

Library of Congress site.

Over 1500 drawings by the cartoonist. Available through JSTOR.

"Folk Figures : A Survey of Norwegian and Norwegian-American Artifacts in The Upper Midwest...virtual exhibit of objects ranging from the 17th century through the 1930's that depict animals, humans, birds, fish, or supernatural figures."

"Views on Native Americans, the Indian wars of the late-nineteenth century, life in the West, and George Armstrong Custer."

"Searchable digital collection of approximately 540 ceramic works created by Moravian potters in North Carolina in the late 18th and early 19th centuries."

"Images in this collection were taken by the Taylor Brothers photographic studio of Adams County, Wisconsin, circa 1910-1930."

Collection of card photographs of 19th century Geneva, NY individuals by local photographer James G. Vail. From Hobart and William Smith Colleges via JSTOR.

Exhibition on Google Arts & Culture site with images from the National Portrait Gallery.

List of artists in the collection. Permission form must be filled out in order to request rights to use images.

From Duke University Libraries.

"American born Jewish cartoonist, painter, lithographer, and muralist. The collection includes book covers, magazine and newspaper illustrations, cartoons, manuscript materials, and images of printed and original art." From Syracuse University Libraries.

Finding aid from the Archives of American Art.

"Created by the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this freely-searchable online archive documents the lives, work, and products of Texas artisans and artists through 1900."

Images of works in the collection, including all kinds of material culture and crafts. Downloadable. Contact museum for further licensing and rights information.

Materials from the University of Wisconsin -- Milwaukee Libraries.

Images of select World War II posters held at the Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library's Special Collections/University Archives. Available via JSTOR.

American posters available through JSTOR.

Consists of 907 posters produced from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the WPA. From the Library of Congress.

Collection of postcards, photographs and other material collected by A. Dean and Jean Larsen. From Brigham Young University via JSTOR.