LACMA announces 20,000 high-resolution images are available to users free of charge

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art continues its innovative digital efforts with the launch of a new collections website that dramatically increases accessibility to the museum’s holdings. The new site (collections.lacma.org) allows visitors to quickly search and sort images and information based on the user’s individual preferences, ultimately providing quick and easy access to LACMA’s encyclopedic collection. In addition, visitors can now download nearly 20,000 high-quality images of public domain artworks from LACMA’s permanent collection without restriction on use.

In 2011, LACMA first launched an online image library giving away 2,000 images of public domain artworks for unrestricted use. With the launch of this new site, the number of free unrestricted images for download has increased ten-fold—representing nearly a quarter of the total number of artworks from LACMA’s collection online—roughly 80,000 artworks spanning the full range of cultural history, from 2000 BC to the present.

Another noteworthy feature on the site includes a new interface that allows visitors to see what’s on view at any given time in various parts of the museum. The “On View” feature allows visitors to plan their visit, previewing artworks in any particular part of campus; this information is updated daily.

George Bellows, United States, 1913. Oil on canvas, 40 3/16 x 42 1/16 in. (102.07 x 106.83 cm). Los Angeles County Fund (16.4)

In recent years, LACMA has provided unique digital experiences for visitors, including apps for exhibitions such as Stanley Kubrick, California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way”, and Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy. Additionally, the online Reading Room continues to be a resource to the public. Introduced in 2010, the Reading Room allows visitors to view a collection of rare, out-of-print exhibition catalogues (lacma.org/readingroom) that they might not otherwise have access to. As part of the Getty-funded Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative (OSCI), LACMA is currently in the process of creating a citable web-based publication. This initiative is a multi-year program designed to expand the ways scholars access and cite scholarly information regarding museum’s collections. The online catalogue includes an optimal reading interface that will allow users to compare related works of art, read extended essays, view high-resolution conservation images, maps, and videos. LACMA’s first volume is scheduled for release later this year.