WASHINGTON, DC.- The Phillips Collection has joined the Google Art Project, extending access to high-resolution images of works from its world-renowned collection of modern and contemporary art to audiences around the world. From beloved masterpieces to surprising, less-known treasures, the Phillips offers a virtual experience with nearly 450 images of artwork to students, teachers, artists, and international art lovers. The partnership is part of Google’s global expansion of its Art Project with 29 new art organizations in 14 countries.
“We are energized and inspired by the vast reach we gain for works from our collection through this partnership,” says Phillips Director Dorothy Kosinski. “The Phillips Collection is committed to a global conversation about modern and contemporary art, and this platform brings that dialogue directly to desktops, tablets, or mobile devices anywhere in the world in an incredibly dynamic and personal way.”
On the Phillips’s Art Project page, users can browse world-famous images of work in the collection by Paul Cézanne, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. At the same time, they will encounter unusual artworks like John Frederick Peto’s Old Time Card Rack (1900) or Christopher Wood’s Tiger and Arc de Triomphe (1930). Concentrations of work by certain artists allow in-depth discovery, such as 24 images of work by Arthur B. Davies. The Phillips is renowned among U.S. museums for extensive holdings of 19th-century French artist Honoré Daumier’s work—over 50 images of his work are available through Art Project, including more than 40 of his bitingly satirical political prints.
The Phillips encourages users to actively engage its images, along with the 35,000 total works available from collections around the world, using two new educational and social features in the expanded Art Project experience. A tool called 'Compare' allows you to examine two pieces of artwork side-by-side, and a new Google Hangout app allows you to create a personalized guided tour.
"Bringing art or any object online takes a huge amount of commitment and resources from our partners so it's incredible to think that in a few short years we have built up such a wealth of precious material in one online destination,” says Amit Sood, Head of Art Project, Google. “Visitors to the Art Project range from Brazil, to India, to Japan. Far from slowing down, the appetite for bringing art online is growing. Add that to the technology we're developing to allow you to explore the objects in an ever-growing number of ways, and it's an exciting time for art lovers."
