According to information on the website Art Resource, last reviewed in these columns three years ago (RR 2010/281), has over 350,000 images from an international selection of museums. An initial view of the site indicates that the company will provide purchasers with a licensed copy of an image of an artwork to use in any project they wish to undertake. Ultimately that is not entirely the case, see the licensing section below. They will also do the research for you if you are unsure what types of images or artwork you wish to have. The site is a catalogue of online images that one can select for purchase. Visitors may browse by museum, by collection or by artist using the cover photos on the home page or by entering text into the search box on the site. Content is not complete for many of the content islands covered. For example, clicking on the Scala Collections under Museums and Collections yielded one image. A search for Scala yielded no images. Curious, I went to the Museums & Archives We Represent link on the About page and there was a link to the Scala Picture Archives which has their own registration and log-in to obtain information and/or to purchase from their website.
As indicated above, the search function on the site appears not to work as intuitively as one would like. Although the pages and graphics load quickly, one has to know what is sought in order to find anything relevant. Users are required to both register and create a cart in order to save or purchase items.
According to the site history the founder of the site began creating alliances with museums and archives to produce and sell their images in 1968. There is a listing on the site under the About link of museums and archives they represent with varying levels of information behind each link. Some museums/archives have many images, some have one or none but an information page about the museum/archive itself. Although the navigation is easy to use, the search results and anticipated information are not always forthcoming from the site due to the vast differences between the images available.
The Help link provides one page of information that does not include pricing but does include detail on Terms and Conditions. Users are directed to contact the company via email or telephone with further enquires. There is no toll free number at this time. The Terms and Conditions document does not indicate pricing. The licensing is for one computer and one user at a time for one year only for non-commercial use. After that time, users will need to pay again if they wish to continue to use the image. Other usages need to be given by the Permissions Department and require a telephone call to obtain.
In keeping with the SCALA Picture Archive comparison, (www.scalarchives.com) that site was viewed. Pricing is not included on their site either. However, they do allow free low resolution images for non-commercial use whereas Art Resource appears to allow only non-commercial use and only for a year. Their images are subject to copyright and licensing fees but are available for a broader usage than ones from Art Resource.
Audiences looking for a one stop shop to view images held at a variety of different museums may benefit from using Art Resource. However, their content is not complete and relying on them to be a comprehensive listing of all the images available from one museum may be misleading.
