# Museum open access: free public-domain art you can reuse

> The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art release photographs of their public-domain works under CC0: you may print, crop, recolour and sell them without asking or crediting anyone. Image Asset Server searches all three directly (public-domain works only) and shows the museum, the date and the file sizes, up to full-resolution TIFF for Cleveland.

Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. How museums release public-domain art as CC0, which collections Image Asset Server searches (the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland), and how to use them.

## Three museums, one search

| Museum | Open-access images | Best for | Largest files |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art | 400,000+ | Paintings, Japanese prints, armour, antiquities, early photography | Originals of several thousand pixels |
| Art Institute of Chicago | 60,000+ | Impressionism, American art, prints and drawings | Any width through IIIF |
| Cleveland Museum of Art | 30,000+ | High-resolution art for print | Full-resolution TIFF |

All three are searched at once, alongside Wikimedia Commons, which holds many more museum scans uploaded by volunteers and institutions.

## Using the files

- **Web:** a 1600–1920 px copy is plenty. The detail view's download buttons pick it for you.
- **Print:** use the original. At 300 dpi, an A3 poster needs about 3500 × 4960 pixels; Cleveland's TIFFs and the Met's originals often reach that.
- **Credit:** not required for CC0, but a caption such as *Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906. Art Institute of Chicago* is good practice.

## What to watch

Photographs of three-dimensional objects (sculpture, armour, ceramics) are also released, but their photographer's copyright is what the museum waives: it's the same CC0. Works by living or recently deceased artists stay in copyright and are not searched. When the museum's record names a lender or a copyright holder, the work is left out.

## Questions

**Why can a museum give away a Van Gogh?**

The painting's copyright expired long ago. The museum owns its photograph of the painting, and releases that photograph under CC0, so nothing restricts the image.

**Are all works in these museums free?**

No. Works still in copyright (most 20th-century and contemporary art) are not released and are not searched here. Only works the museum marks public domain or CC0 appear.

**Can I put museum art on products I sell?**

Yes, for CC0 images: posters, cards, apparel and packaging are all allowed. Avoid suggesting the museum endorses your product, and don't use the museum's name or logo as branding.

## Try it

- [Van Gogh at the Met](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=van+gogh&providers=met)
- [Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=impressionism&category=art.painting)
- [Japanese woodblock prints](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing)

## Collections

- [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums.
- [Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free](https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints.md): Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown.
- [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design.

## Related guides

- [Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use](https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use.md): Which free image licences allow commercial use (CC0, public domain, CC BY, free stock licences), which don't, and what still needs a release.
- [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): The credit line a CC BY image needs (title, author, source, licence, changes) and where to put it on a web page, a slide, a social post or in print.
- [Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules.md): NASA images are free to use with credit, but the NASA logo, endorsements and astronauts in ads have rules. What's allowed, what isn't, and partner images.

## Sources

- [The Met: Open Access](https://www.metmuseum.org/hubs/open-access)
- [Art Institute of Chicago: open access images](https://www.artic.edu/open-access/open-access-images)
- [Cleveland Museum of Art: Open Access](https://www.clevelandart.org/open-access)

This guide is practical information, not legal advice.

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Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art