For library acquisition committees
Dartabase: art reference data for academic libraries.
A unified catalogue of 15,000+ artworks from 29 institutions, with one-click citation export in all major styles. Free for all students and researchers with no account required. Institutional API access from $300 per year.
At a glance
15,000+
Artwork records
29
Source institutions
5
Citation formats
From $300/yr
Institutional access
What it is
A citation and discovery tool for art history research.
Dartabase aggregates artwork metadata from 29 source institutions, including Tate, MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard Art Museums, the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Smithsonian's seven art museums, among others.
Users search across all sources in one place. On any artwork page, they can export a correctly formatted citation in Chicago (notes-bibliography and author-date), MLA 9th edition, APA 7th edition, BibTeX, or RIS with a single click. Every citation links back to the authoritative source record. Zotero's browser connector imports records automatically.
The public site is free, anonymous, and requires no account. The institutional tier adds API access, bulk export, and an embeddable search widget for integration into library portals and course platforms.
How it compares
Focused, affordable, and open where it matters.
| Feature | Dartabase | ARTstor | Oxford Art Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public access for students | Free, no account | Requires institution login | Requires institution login |
| Citation export | Chicago, MLA, APA, BibTeX, RIS | Limited | Chicago, MLA |
| Zotero import | One-click (embedded metadata) | Not available | RIS download |
| REST API | Yes (institutional tier) | On request | Restricted |
| Bulk export | CSV and JSON | Image download only | Not available |
| Modern and contemporary focus | Yes | Broad (historical emphasis) | Broad |
| First Nations and Indigenous coverage | ICIP-aware; QAGOMA holdings | Limited | Limited |
| Embeddable widget | Yes (institutional tier) | No | No |
| Annual cost (institutional) | From $300/year | Thousands/year | Thousands/year |
| Invoice and PO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | Contact required | Contact required |
Competitor data is approximate and based on publicly available information. Prices and features may vary.
Pricing and procurement
Sized for academic budgets. Invoice and PO accepted.
Public access
Free
Full site access for all students and researchers. No login, no account, no tracking. This tier is permanent and will never be gated.
Institutional API
From $300/year
API key with custom rate limits, bulk export (CSV/JSON), all four endpoints, embeddable search widget, and a dedicated contact. Pricing scales with institution size.
Procurement
Invoice or PO
Annual billing by invoice. Purchase order flow supported. 30-day free trial with no payment details required. Trial key issued automatically within minutes.
Data integrity and compliance
Sourced from institutions, credited back to them.
Dartabase aggregates metadata from museum open-data APIs and CC0 datasets. Every record links back to its source institution. Dartabase is a finding tool that drives researchers to the authoritative source; it does not present itself as a substitute for a museum or gallery.
No full-resolution copyrighted images are hosted. Thumbnails load directly from source CDNs. No user data is collected; there are no accounts and no tracking beyond server-side access logs.
Indigenous cultural material is handled with care. Works from First Nations artists carry per-record advisories, consistent with AIATSIS, Creative Australia, and ATSILIRN protocols. Dartabase follows a strict "mirror, do not exceed" policy: only material that a source institution has itself chosen to publish is included.
Get started
The 30-day trial gives research staff full institutional-tier API access with no payment details required. The key arrives by email within minutes. After the trial, annual billing by invoice or purchase order. Turnaround for quotes is one business day.
See also: Full pricing · API documentation · Overview for departments · Data sources