Artwork Search: Art Institute of Chicago Collection

Search the Art Institute of Chicago's public collection by keyword. Returns title, artist, date, medium, place of origin, department, public-domain status, artwork page and IIIF image URL. Filter to public-domain works only. Free official API, no key.

What does Artwork Search do?

Search 100,000+ artworks: artist, date, medium, origin, department, public-domain flag and image link.

What can you use it for?

• Collect public-domain images for design and education projects.
• Research an artist's works held by a major museum.
• Build art datasets and moodboards.
• Enrich cultural-heritage catalogues.

Why use this Actor?

• Fast and cheap: lightweight HTTP-based Actor with no browser, so runs finish in seconds and cost very little.
• No API keys or accounts needed for the data source (see notes below).
• Clean, structured JSON that you can export as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML, or pull through the Apify API and integrations.
• Scheduling, webhooks and integrations: run it daily and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n or your own API.

Input

Configure the run in the Input tab (all fields have sensible defaults).

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
query	string	yes	-	Artist, title or subject, e.g. monet, water lilies, samurai.
publicDomainOnly	boolean	no	false	Return only works flagged as public domain.
maxResults	integer	no	50	Maximum number of results.

Example input

{
  "query": "monet",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Output

Results are stored in the default dataset. Download them from the Output tab or via the API.

Example result

{
  "id": 16568,
  "title": "Water Lilies",
  "artist": "Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)",
  "date": "1906",
  "medium": "Oil on canvas",
  "placeOfOrigin": "France",
  "department": "Painting and Sculpture of Europe",
  "classification": "oil on canvas",
  "dimensions": "89.9 × 94.1 cm (35 3/8 × 37 1/16 in.); Framed: 103.2 × 107 × 5.8 cm (40 5/8 × 42 1/8 × 2 1/4 in.)",
  "isPublicDomain": true,
  "imageUrl": "https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/3c27b499-af56-f0d5-93b5-a7f2f1ad5813/full/843,/0/default.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16568",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-27T05:45:21.609Z"
}

Output fields

Field	Type	Example
id	number	16568
title	string	"Water Lilies"
artist	string	"Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)"
date	string	"1906"
medium	string	"Oil on canvas"
placeOfOrigin	string	"France"
department	string	"Painting and Sculpture of Europe"
classification	string	"oil on canvas"
dimensions	string	"89.9 × 94.1 cm (35 3/8 × 37 1/16 in.); Framed: 103.2 × 1...
isPublicDomain	boolean	true
imageUrl	string	"https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/3c27b499-af56-f0d5-93b5-a7f...
url	string	"https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16568"
scrapedAt	string	"2026-09-27T05:45:21.609Z"

How much does it cost?

The Actor is billed by Apify according to the pricing shown on the Pricing tab of this page. Runs are small and fast, and the Apify Free plan includes monthly platform credits so you can try it at no cost. You can set a maximum cost per run, and the Actor stops cleanly when that limit is reached.

Notes and limitations

• Images may be used freely only when the public-domain flag is true; check the museum's terms for the rest.

Tips

• Start with a small test run, then scale up the input.
• Use Schedules to automate recurring runs and Webhooks or Integrations to deliver the data where you need it.
• Call the Actor from your code with the Apify API or the official JavaScript and Python clients.

FAQ

Can I filter to free-to-use images?

Yes, enable Public-domain only.

Feedback

Found a bug or need an extra field? Open an issue from the Issues tab of this Actor and it will be looked at quickly.

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