Thursday, June 4, 2009

When I'm giving students research pointers at school, I always like to direct them to the awesome resources available through the Library of Congress. This site contains not only valuable historical documents and records, but also some pretty great examples of American art and photographs. It's a good place to gather some inspiration, and you can even order print reproductions of your favorite pieces.

The WPA poster collection is one of my favorite places on the website.




These are just a few of my favorites. There are hundreds on the site in nearly every art style from art deco to modern and they represent a huge range of subjects from theater to farming. Aren't they awesome!

The LOC has gotten so hip, that they have even put some of their collections on flickr.
They have a great set of photochrome travel pics, as well as some of the most iconic pictures from the 20's and 30's.
What's even better, is that most of these photos are copyright free! So, have fun searching for some fun and free art for your home. Can't you just imagine a grid of these black and white photos in a hallway or going up a staircase?
I've been working on another easy and cheap art project, this time for our bedroom. So, stay tuned, I plan to get everything finished and post pictures over the weekend.
<3
Hattie
All photos from the Library of Congress.

1 comment:

Tracy said...

Thanks for the tip, Hattie. This is awesome! I totally forgot that LOC has this! I use the site at least once a week at work, but mainly for boring MARC records and I hadn't thought to look around it for artwork. In addition to great pics on the LOC (which I'm now to going to go peruse) you can also find public domain pics under the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL). They have really amazing old classic children's book pics that would look great (especially in a nursery). www.childrenslibrary.org