Getty’s Open Content Program Has 88,000 Images You Can Use for Free

Mar 07, 2024

Getty Museum expands its Open Content offerings with 88,000 images under Creative Commons license.

The J. Paul Getty Museum added around 88,000 images of artworks from its collection to its Open Content database. People can download, edit, and repurpose any high-resolution images without any restrictions using a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.

“Add a print of your favorite Dutch still life to your gallery wall or create a shower curtain using the Irises by Van Gogh — the possibilities are endless,” Getty explains.

Getty Museum expands its Open Content offerings with 88,000 images under Creative Commons license. — Sunrise (Marine); Claude Monet (French, 1840 — 1926); 1872 or 1873; Oil on canvas; 50.2 × 61 cm (19 3/4 × 24 in.); 98.PA.164

The museum’s Open Content program began in 2013, but today’s news marks the transition of the entire image library to CC0 licensing, which dramatically increases transparency and how people can use the extensive library of images.

“We are committed to supporting and growing a diverse audience and have already noticed an uptick in image downloads on our site, averaging about 30,000 per month,” explains Jenn Stringer, vice president, chief digital officer at the J. Paul Getty Trust. “This shows demand is high and we anticipate that number will grow as more images from the Getty collection are made available.”

More images will be continuously added to the Open Content database as they become available, including when new artwork is added to the museum’s collection and when content enters the public domain.

There are many photographs among the more than 88,000 images, all labeled by the medium with which they were created. For example, there are 44,192 albumen silver prints in the collection, dating back to the 19th century.

There are thousands of other photos, including calotypes, ambrotypes, collodion prints, cyanotypes, gelatin silver prints, tintypes, and more. Unfortunately, one cannot simply search “photograph” or “photography” and receive any results. Queries are limited to very specific photographic processes. Nonetheless, there are more than 50,000 types of photos in Getty’s updated Open Content database.

Alongside other fantastic resources for historical artworks, like the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library, the latter of which put 187,000 pictures online in 2017, Getty’s new Open Content collection is a great place for people to learn more about history and find helpful content for projects.

“We’re glad the art community has adopted CC0 as the industry standard to help broaden the impact of collections worldwide and remove barriers to experiencing art,” explains Richard Rand, associate director of collections at the Getty Museum. “We hope the public continues to enjoy exploring and using our images in creative ways for years to come.”