Hello again, Debra.
Thanks for getting back to me on this.
As I mentioned, there are a number of excellent sites where you can
access a wide variety of images -- works of art, commercial
photographs, illustrations, etc.
Of course, you will need to obtain the appropriate license/permission
in order to make use of the images, especially for commercial
purposes.
The one exception to this get-permission-first rule is the use of US
government images, which are in the public domain, and can be used in
an unrestricted fashion for whatever purposes you choose. I'll
include some information about these below.
I've included a number of links that I think you will find very
useful. However, before rating this answer, let me know if you need
any additional information. Just post a Request for Clarification and
I'll be happy to assist you further.
All the best,
pafalafa-ga
==========
For a deep collection of fine art files, try Art Resource at:
http://www.artres.com/c/htm/Home.aspx
You can pretty much find any topic or theme of interest to you, from a
host of artists, both famous and lesser-known. For instance, my
search on "sunflower" returned 32 images.
The company describes their service this way:
"Whether for a book, advertisement, poster, calendar, CD-ROM,
television program, web site, film, or greeting card, Art Resource
will act quickly to get you quality images of famous and lesser known
works of art..."
Prices depend on the image selected and its intended use. You will
have to contact Art Resource directly for more detailed pricing
information.
==========
http://www.anthroarcheart.org/
This site isn't the easiest to navigate, but it has a hefty collection
of images -- fine art as well as archeological -- and makes
high-resolution digital files available for a fee of from $20.00 to
$65.00 per image (low resolution images are also available for as
little as $5.00).
Their license policy is fairly unrestricted:
"AnthroArcheArt.Org Digital Images may be used for Advertising,
Promotional, and Editorial purposes, as well as on items for resale
such as: Packaging, Brochures, Magazines, Books, Jackets, Hard Goods,
Greeting Cards, Clothing... "
At present, their fine art collection is rather limited, although this
is still a worthwhile site to explore. They apparently intend to
expand their art collection sometime soon.
==========
I also want to mention this site:
http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml
which lists a great variety of images available from the federal government.
The value of these is that the vast majority of images are in the
public domain -- that is, they are available to the public for any
use, with no restrictions, and at no charge.
For instance, have a look at these beautiful "Earth as Art" images from NASA:
http://earthasart.gsfc.nasa.gov/image_index.html
Some of these would make some first-class tiles, if you ask me (which
you didn't...!). But still, you may want to explore these image links
for free downloads from a wide variety of federal agencies.
==========
Alamay also has a good art collection, as well as stock photographs:
http://www.alamy.com/
I find that searching on an artist's name is the easiest way to bring
up relevant pictures, and to separate photos of paintings from other
photos.
Once you register at the site (there is no charge for this), you can
click on an image of interest to find out the relevant fees, which
seem to start at about $50.00 per image.
==========
Individual museums generally have provisions for making images of
their works available for a fee, though they can be cumbersome to work
with.
Here is a link, for instance, to the instructions for obtaining
high-quality copies and permission to use them, from the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York:
http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_photo_lib.asp#pub
==========
Getty Images is another very extensive, very well-known collections of
available art and photography images:
http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx
Click on "Creative" to get started, and search for the terms of
interest to you. Again, searching on artist names can be helpful in
sorting through the materials, though their search engine can be
finnicky at times, so if a name doesn't produce immediate results,
don't give up.
You'll have to register at the site (no charge) to get information
about the fees for specific prints.
==========
FotoSearch makes available pre-assembled collections of artwork on CD:
http://www.fotosearch.com/stock-photos-categories/art/13/
There's are quite a number of CD's with fine art collections here,
mixed in with others that are more in the clip-art camp. If these
meet your needs, though, you might find the price more agreeable --
and the process a whole lot simpler -- than purchasing individual
prints. Click on a collection of interest to see the images it
contains.
==========
I trust these services will be an endless source of images for your
commercial needs. But again, just let me know if you need anything
else.
pafalafa-ga
search strategy: Used bookmarked sites for "Art" and for "royalty-free" |
