Free high-res images for my walls?

June 5, 2009 9:35 AM

I have access to free printing on canvas paper, so I'd like to find some high-resolution (100 dpi minimum) images of neat illustrations and unusual images to frame.

I'm not a cutting edge art aficionado, but I like everything from the poppy fairytale illustrations of artists like Yoko Furusho to botanical drawings, Japanese prints, creepy images from old books, antique maps, Arthur Rackham, etc. I prefer color illustrations over black-and-white because my walls are tall, white, and sterile. For starters, this site has been helpful, though most of the images aren't big enough. Of course, I still plan on supporting artists via etsy.com and various shows, but I have far more blank walls than dollars to decorate them.

Thanks in advance!

posted by zoomorphic to media & arts (12 answers total)

I found this site today as a result of the Letty Lynton thread in the blue. Who wouldn't want this staring down at them from the closet door? Lots of other hi-res movie scans to choose from, though!
posted by hermitosis at 10:24 AM on June 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm also a huge fan of the Flammarion woodcut.
posted by hermitosis at 10:28 AM on June 5, 2009

Also, you will probably enjoy poring over this site: From Old Books.
posted by hermitosis at 10:31 AM on June 5, 2009 [3 favorites]

Forevertron.
posted by The White Hat at 10:52 AM on June 5, 2009

Shorpy! This one of the Girls' Rifle Team of Drexel Institute is my favorite, and is on my desktop at work.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:09 AM on June 5, 2009

Here, specifically, are Shorpy's color images (Kodachrome!).
posted by ocherdraco at 11:13 AM on June 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, some cool artists: Aubrey Beardsley, Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:57 AM on June 5, 2009

Library of Congress image search Many of the images have high-res tiffs.
posted by fings at 3:03 PM on June 5, 2009

Since you mention them explicitly, I should note that LoC just recently added a whole bunch of Japanese prints.

The poster collection is probably worth a look, too.
posted by fings at 5:55 PM on June 5, 2009

old ads
posted by leigh1 at 6:02 PM on June 5, 2009

There are a lot of vintage anatomy books that have been fully digitized and some have beautiful illustrations. For example, 1918 ed. of Gray's Anatomy. I recently saw an apartment with a big, old pull-down diagram of the human eye on the wall and it looked pretty neat and not at all creepy.

The Library of Congress digitized a ton of dance manuals published from 1490-1920 with loads of fun illustrations.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:37 AM on June 6, 2009

Nice, HotPatatta! I like this one.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:19 PM on June 6, 2009