National Museums of Japan Begin Offering Free Downloads of 14,063 Public Domain Artworks

The National Art Research Center (NCAR), under the National Museum of Art, has begun offering free downloads of image data for 12,190 works (14,063 images) that are in the public domain, via the 'Search System for the Comprehensive Catalog of Collections of the National Museums' as of May 29, 2026. Claude Monet's 'Water Lilies' from the National Museum of Western Art is now available for download. In recent years, museums worldwide have been promoting the release of public domain images to improve access to cultural resources and encourage digital utilization. This initiative is part of an effort to create an environment where the collections of the national museums can be more easily utilized. The comprehensive catalog allows users to search and view information across five museums: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; The National Crafts Museum; The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; The National Museum of Western Art; and The National Museum of Art, Osaka. Users can now easily download these images for free from the artwork detail pages.