All guides: Art, Arts Management, and Photography: Images

Image use and copyright

Check the copyright statement or license conditions before using an image. You may be able to download, re-use or adapt an image under some Creative Commons licenses.

RMIT copyright advice
What you need to know about copyright as a student.

Image databases

RMIT Library subscribes to databases that provide access to high quality images. The following databases are restricted to RMIT University staff and students.

ARTstor (now part of JSTOR database)
Artstor Digital Library is a nonprofit resource that provides access to digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research.
JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive
Navigate the breadth and depth of images on JSTOR using the image search function or browse images by classification terms or geography. Images characterised by more than one term will appear in multiple classification groups.
Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online provides extensive image links as well as all of the search advantages possible with an online reference source.

RMIT Digital Collections
A selection of digitised photographic slides from the School of Architecture slide library, focusing on Australian design and more.
RMIT Digitised Collections - Student Works
This collection contains works contributed by RMIT students for educational purposes.

Australian art collections

National Gallery of Australia (NGA)
Search for a specific artist, or work of art, or browse the National Gallery's collection by searching subject matter, concepts, periods, and styles.
National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
The NGV collection spans the history and development of Australian, Indigenous and international art, design and architecture.
Art Gallery of NSW
A significant collection of Australian, European and Asian art. The digital collection contains images across different types, media and origins.
Australian Prints + Printmaking
A gateway for information on printed images from Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Features a database of prints and printmaking by artists from Australia and the pacific regions, including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
RMIT University Art Collection
The RMIT University Art Collection has served as both a repository for education and research, and as a source of inspiration. Encompassing some of the finest examples of modern and contemporary art in Australia.
State Library of Victoria image pool
State Library of Victoria's digital image pool provides access to historical images, free of copyright restrictions.
Trove
Trove is an Australian based free discovery service. Resources are grouped into categories including collections of pictures, photos and objects.

Asian art collections

Asian Art Archive (AAA)
Comprises material gathered from focused research projects undertaken by AAA in partnership with artists, art professionals, and researchers. It is a growing repository of primary source material, photographic documentation, video recordings, ephemera, and more.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art
Collection features objects which originate from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the ancient Near East, and the Islamic world.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
The collections spans across different cultures, dynasties, religions and geographies over 6,000 years.

International art image collections

Use major galleries and art museums websites to search and use digital images of their collections for your study. Many websites allow downloading of high-quality images. Always check websites copyright statements before use.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
The collection includes an ever-expanding range of visual expression, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, architecture, design, film, and media and performance art.
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
Digital collection currently contains images covering a wide range of topics, which include ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, and textiles.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
Major collections belonging to the Museum include drawings and prints, European sculpture and decorative arts, Greek and Roman art, Islamic art, medieval art, modern and contemporary art, musical instruments and photographs.
Tate
A collection with a focus on British art and International contemporary and modern art. Users can search and refine the results by date, object type, artist, subject and collection.
Louvre Museum
An online database that provides images and information of the works exhibited at the Louvre Museum in English language.
Art Institute of Chicago
Collection includes renowned icons to lesser-known works from every corner of the globe, as well as our books, writings, reference materials, and other resources.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Collection includes paintings, drawings, manuscripts, photographs, antiquities, sculpture, decorative arts, artists’ sketchbooks, watercolors, rare prints from the 16th through the 18th century, and 19th-century architectural drawings of cultural landmarks.
Whitney Museum of American Art
Features a comprehensive range of twentieth-century and contemporary American art, with a special focus on works by living artists.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF)
More than 90% of the FAMSF collection has been digitised and made available through their website. Users are able to search or browse the collection by object type, century, country and department.
The British Museum
The British Museum is one of the largest museums in the world that features a broad collection of objects relating to human history and culture.
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The national museum of New Zealand. The collection areas cover Taonga Māori, Pacific Cultures, History, Photography, Art, Botany and Zoology.

Web image collections

The following image collections can be accessed without a library subscription via the web and include art and photography digital image collections. Always check websites copyright statements before use.

Europeana
Europeana hosts a diverse collection of images from European archives, libraries and museums.
Google Arts and Culture
Provides access to major world museum collections and artworks.
VADS: Visual arts database service
An art and design image collection from the UK which covers the broad range of the visual arts including applied arts, architecture, design, fashion, fine art, and media.
The Burns Archive
A collection of historic photographs from the birth of photography through the modern age, is best known for providing photographic evidence of forgotten, unseen and disquieting aspects of history and culture.
Digital Public Library of America
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together collections from America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available.
Library of Congress prints and photographs
The collection includes photographs, prints, drawings, posters and architectural and engineering drawings, mostly focussed on the United States but with some international scope.

Stock images

Note: Images found on the sites listed below may be protected by copyright. Check their terms of use or copyright statements to make sure that you can download and use the images for educational purposes.

Openverse
Search Openverse for images with a Creative Commons license. The CC license will tell you how you can use the image and how to attribute it.
Unsplash
Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a vibrant community sharing copyright free images, videos and music. All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.
StockSnap
Curated images from a huge pool of submissions, that are made available for browsing, download and use, entirely for free.
Gratisography
Providing access to unique photos and images. Gratisography chooses to take a unique and creative approach to the photos that end up on their website.
Foto Search
Fotosearch is a provider of royalty free and rights managed stock photography, illustrations, maps, video, and audio.
Flickr: Creative Commons
Online photo management and sharing application under Creative Commons license.
Getty Images
Selected works by contemporary artists available for licensing from commercial digital media company. Includes also archival images.
Wildscreen Exchange
A unique collection of thousands of videos, images and fact-files illustrating the world's species.

Library subject guides

Art, Arts Management, and Photography