After spending thousands of hours sourcing free public domain art for The Public Domain Print Shop, I’ve learned a thing or two about where to find the best public domain art online.
From museums with open access art collections, to libraries and archives around the world with copyright free artwork, I’m going to give you my ultimate list of top go-to sources for finding the best public domain images on the internet.
What Is Public Domain Art
I’ve written about this in great detail here, but the short version is: in general, copyright protection on a work of art lasts the lifetime of the artist plus an additional 70 years after their death. At that time, the work of art passes into what is known as “The Public Domain”, meaning that anyone can use that image freely, for personal or commercial purposes, without having to first seek out permission or pay usage fees to the creator.
Where To Find Public Domain Art Online
There are now thousands of public domain paintings, drawings, and sketches available for free download—if you know where to look. Museums, libraries, and cultural institutions around the world have opened up their archives, offering high-resolution access to free public domain images under open access policies. After spending countless hours exploring these collections myself, I’ve learned which ones are the easiest to navigate, the most generous with their file quality, and the richest in copyright free artwork—so I can point you straight to the best stuff out there.
The Best American & English Open Access Art Galleries
I’ve separated this list into two sections, websites that use english as the native language and those that do not. While many non-native english sites have an option to toggle into english, some do not and require the help of something like google translate to navigate. But before we get into that, let’s kick things off with my favorite native english public domain art archives:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met’s Open Access collection is truly one of the best. With over 400,000 high-resolution public domain images available for download, they make it incredibly easy to explore centuries of public domain artwork—from medieval tapestries to Impressionist paintings. The search filters are excellent, and nearly every file includes further commentary or history about the work of art. (Which is super handy for research or just learning more about the art you are collecting.)
The National Gallery Of Art
Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art offers a robust open access digital archive filled with copyright free artwork. Their NGA Images platform makes it simple to browse over 50,000 public domain paintings, prints, and drawings. I love that their filters make it super easy to find exactly what you’re looking for.
The Art Institute Of Chicago
Not only does the Art Institute of Chicago have one of the finest art collections in the U.S., but they’ve also digitized a huge chunk of it for open public use. Their public domain images are well-organized, and include everything from impressionist paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Monet and Georges Seurat to Katsushika Hokusai’s famous painting of “The Great Wave”.
Yale Center For British Art
The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) might not be the first place that comes to mind, but trust me, it’s my favorite hidden gem for public domain artwork—especially if you’re looking for 18th–19th century British portraiture or landscapes. Their site is sleek, intuitive, and loaded with free public use images. I especially love that you can explore their site by tagged subject terms! (Which comes in handy when what you want to find an image of say a flower, but the word “flower” might not be in the title.)
The Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution houses over 3 million open access files across all their museums and libraries. So it’s a goldmine for open domain images. From botanical illustrations to abstract modernism, they’ve got a little bit of everything. Which can also make it a bit overwhelming.
Birmingham Museums Trust
This UK-based museum group offers a solid (if smaller) digital archive of public domain images, including works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Henri Fantin Latour and John Constable. While the site itself leans more functional than flashy. The selection of free use images is top-notch—and the downloads are very high quality.
The Cleveland Museum Of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art has a sleek, easy-to-navigate open access portal with a fantastic range of copyright free artwork available in high-res. Their online collection is packed with treasures from across the globe and across the centuries. This is one of my favorite stops for public domain paintings with a classical or romantic vibe.
New York Public Library Digital Collection
The NYPL Digital Collection is an eclectic mix of everything from vintage menus and fashion sketches to maps and rare manuscripts—and yes, a whole lot of public domain artwork. It’s a must-browse if you’re looking for something off the beaten path. I love their collection of works progress administration art!
The Getty
The Getty’s Open Content Program is one of the most generous around. They offer thousands of high-resolution public domain images, especially rich in European artworks from the Renaissance through the 19th century. Their downloadable files are gorgeous and come with extensive research data. Which means you can get the full story behind each art print.
St. Louis Art Museum
This one flies under the radar, but the St. Louis Art Museum has been slowly expanding their open access offerings—and the quality is chef’s kiss. They’ve got some beautiful public domain paintings and art sketches in their digital archive, and their site is a breeze to use. Keep this one on your radar for more unique finds. (Also how great is it that their acronym is SLAM!?)
Newfields
Formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Newfields has been quietly building one of the more user-friendly open access portals in the U.S. Their public domain collection includes everything from American landscapes to european Baroque masterpieces, and it’s all searchable, sortable, and free to download.
The Clark Museum
The Clark Art Institute digital collection is a bit of a hidden treasure trove as well. Their open access portal includes a beautiful curated mix of European and American art. Think Gilded Age portraits, pastoral landscapes, and a sprinkle of French Impressionism for good measure. It’s not the largest collection out there. But it is clean, easy to navigate, and well worth a browse if you’re hunting for copyright free artwork with a refined, classic feel.
The Best European Open Access Art Galleries
The below list of open access art archives host some of my favorite open domain images. However, they can be a bit more tricky to search as they are often not in english. Luckily many of these archives have an option to toggle the site into english. For those that do not, I highly suggest you get familiar with the google page translate feature on chrome, it will be your new BFF from now on.
Pro Tip: When using a non-native english site, if the webpage *doesn’t* have an option to toggle into english. You will need to do any searches you want to perform in the site’s native language. For example, if I want to look for flower paintings on a Polish website, I’m gonna have to head over to google translate and figure out what the word flower is in Polish (it’s kwiat btw) and search for that.
The Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam’s crown jewel of a museum also happens to have one of the best digital collections of free public domain art online. Full stop. Their Rijksstudio lets you collect, download, and explore an enormous archive of Dutch masters and beyond. Honestly, the experience of browsing this site alone is a work of art.
Figuring out how to download images from there site is not always intuitive though. For starters, you’re going to need to sign up for a free account on their website. Once you’ve done that and navigated to the artwork you want to download, you have two options. This first is to hover over the image and click on the red + sign that pops up, then scroll up to where it says “download”. The other option is to scroll down on the page to where it says “view all data” on the bottom right. Clicking that should take you to another page that displays your art on the upper left-hand side with a link that says “download image”.
Web Umenia
This Slovak archive features a beautifully curated collection of over 119,000 Central European public domain images, and includes works from lesser-known but wildly talented artists. It’s a bit quirky to navigate, but if you’re willing to dig a little (or toggle the site into English), you’ll uncover some truly special pieces. I LOVE this one and use it often.
The Belvedere
Vienna’s Belvedere Museum is known for its Gustav Klimt collection, and yes—some of that gold-leaf magic is available here as free use images (including his famous painting “The Kiss”). However their digital archive also has a wonderful mix of 19th and 20th century Austrian and German works as well! I particularly love some of the landscape paintings in their collection.
Paris Museums (Paris Musées)
This is a collective digital archive of 14 Parisian museums (including the Petit Palais and Musée Carnavalet), and it’s a total treasure trove of French art history. With over 100,000 public domain artworks available, this is where you go when you want to feel like you’re aimlessly wandering the streets of Paris, but on your laptop.
A warning before you head off. This website is not always the most user friendly and the image preview files are *very* low resolution, but the download files themselves are usually great!
Digital National Museum In Warsaw
This Polish gem has quietly become one of the best-kept secrets for lovers of public domain artwork. The Digital National Museum in Warsaw offers an impressive collection of open access art, much of it beautifully scanned and available in high-resolution. Expect moody still lifes, ornate religious iconography, and a rich selection of 19th- and early 20th-century Eastern European works. Pro tip: use Google Translate if needed—some of the best treasures are hiding behind Polish search terms.
Nasjonalmuseet
One of the most underrated open access collections out there, Nasjonalmuseet in Norway offers a stunning archive of free public use images, including dramatic landscapes, folk art, and 19th-century Scandinavian portraiture. Their digital collection is clean and modern, and yes—you can download high-resolution public domain paintings without jumping through a million hoops. If you love moody fjords, quiet interiors, or anything with a windswept Nordic vibe, this one is a must-browse.
National Museum In Krakow
The National Museum in Krakow houses a strong collection of Polish art as well, and their digital archive includes many free public use images that you won’t find anywhere else. I especially love the vast array of landscapes they have with a uniquely Eastern European aesthetic.
The National Gallery of Denmark (SMK)
The Statens Museum for Kunst’s (AKA The National Gallery of Denmark or SMK for short) open access collection is sleek, searchable, and packed with character—from brooding Danish golden age landscapes to bright bursts of early modernism. They’ve made thousands of public domain artworks available for free high-res download, no login or permissions needed. Whether you’re after moody portraits, Nordic mythology, or bold brushwork, this is a beautiful rabbit hole worth falling into.
Städel Museum
Based in Frankfurt, the Städel Museum offers a sophisticated digital archive with a wide range of public domain artwork from the 14th century to the modern era. Their search function is strong, and the download options are generous, making this a great resource especially if you’re hunting for classical or more romantic works of art.
Finnish National Gallery
Last but not least, the Finnish National Gallery offers a unique glimpse into Nordic art that you’re not likely to find in most American or Western European collections. Their digital archive includes thousands of open access artworks—everything from haunting symbolist portraits to icy forest scenes and luminous Finnish landscapes. I love that the site is available in english and offers intuitive search tools to help you navigate by artist, medium, or theme so you can quickly find exactly what you are looking for.
Other Public Domain Image Archives & Museums Worth Exploring
A few other museums that I don’t tend to utilize as much personally, but whom also have excellent open access art collections worth exploring are:
- The Lenbachhaus
- The Mauritshuis
- Art In Flanders
- The Kunstmuseum Basel
- KMSKA
- The Barnes Foundation Collection
- The Wellcome Collection
- The Walters Art Museum
- The British Library
- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- Havard Art Museums
- The Morgan Library
- John J. Audubon’s Birds Of America
The Best Aggregate Free Public Use Images Websites
If this is all a bit overwhelming, I feel you. I’ve spent thousands of hours combing through these websites personally and it can be a lot to take in and *extremely* time consuming. If you want to save yourself some time, there are some more curated collections (like the one I host) that source public domain images from all over the internet and gather them all into one place for you.
The Public Domain Print Shop
This is the gallery of free public domain art I host here on this website. On it you’ll find curated galleries of my favorite works of art in the public domain all neatly sorted into: portrait paintings, landscape paintings, art sketches, animal portraits, flower paintings and works of modern art.
The aim of these galleries is to have smaller handpicked curated collections that deliver the best of the best in the public domain in one spot for you.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is kind of the wild west of public domain artwork—it’s vast, open, and a little chaotic, but full of hidden treasures if you know how to dig. You’ll find everything from high-res scans of classic paintings to obscure archival gems, all labeled clearly with copyright info. It’s not the prettiest interface, but the sheer volume of free public use images makes it an essential stop on any public domain scavenger hunt.
Pro tip: alway start by switching to “special search”. Then in the drop down menu under the “advanced search tab” scroll down to file type. Select Image, then set the width or height to 3000px. That should ensure it only gives you high-resolution search results.
Museo
Museo pulls from some of the best open access art collections (like the Met, Smithsonian, and Cleveland Museum of Art) and serves everything up in one bare bones, ad-free search engine. No pop-ups, no confusing navigation. Just clean, searchable, high-resolution public domain images ready for download. My biggest complaint is the lack of any type of search filter to help speed up the search process and reduce scroll time.
Europeana
Europeana is a mega-archive that brings together millions (yes, millions) of cultural heritage items from over 3,000 European institutions. It’s not just art—it also includes maps, manuscripts, fashion plates, and all sorts of historical ephemera—but their public domain artwork collection is enormous and constantly growing. Search filters can get a little overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, you can find some beautiful open domain images that haven’t been circulated a million times already.
Artvee – Requires A Paid Subscription
Unlike the other sites I’ve linked to on this page, artvee.com does not offer free high-resolution downloads. They operate under a subscription based system where users pay a monthly fee for access to download images from their art archive.
The reason I have included them on this list is that they often have public domain images from private collections that are not available for download from any museum or other open access archive online. My complaint again here is the lack of search filters of any kind.
Pro Tip: If you do decide to pay for an ArtVee account, keep in mind that ArtVee will only serve you EXACTLY what you search for and they input all the artwork into their website in the works original language. So if you’re looking for “flowers” you will probably want to search for the word flower in a bunch of different languages to ensure you’re finding everything there is to see.
Whew we made it to the end! Let me know in the comments below which of these galleries or archives are your favorites and if there are any other hidden gems out there I missed!
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