Getty Release Second Batch of Open Content

Back in August we posted an announcement that the Getty Museum had released 4,600 digitised images from its collection as open content. Earlier today the Getty Research Institute took their Open Content Programme up a gear, by making a further 5,400 images openly available from its Special Collections. The manuscripts, photographs and drawings now available for users to download and re-use at no cost includes pages from the sketch books of influential 18th Century French painter, Jacques-Louis David, as well as 19th century photographs of Mayan and Aztec ruins. The openly available collection can now be fully searched and viewed here.

The content releases bring the total number of open images in the Getty’s Open Content Programme above 10,000. On the Museum. Writing on the Getty’s blog Andrew Perchuk gives some insight into the Getty’s motivation for embracing open content:

We hope the Open Content Program will accelerate this democratization process, enabling not only scholars but also students, artists, designers, and anyone who is interested to work with rare materials to produce new artworks, designs, and erudition that extend beyond the confines of the academy and the museum.

We couldn’t agree more! You can read more about the release over on the Getty’s blog.