Google Art Project: more partners, more art

3 April 2012

Google Art Project [external link] is re-launching on 3 April with the addition of 46 new partners from across the globe.

New members include the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. The website now features more than 30,000 artworks and newly recorded virtual tours of the galleries in which they are housed.

As an original member of the initiative with over 130 paintings featured – including the iconic painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, 'The Ambassadors', photographed in extraordinary detail using super-high resolution or ‘gigapixel’ photo-capturing technology – the National Gallery has benefited from the increased access to its collection provided by Google Art Project and to the new audiences attracted by the initiative.

In the first year of the Google Art Project it was one of the top ten referring sites to nationalgallery.org.uk, with the vast majority of these visits being from people new to the Gallery and its collection.

New technology

The re-launch is part of a major global expansion of the project, which now has 151 partners in 40 countries. The project has expanded to include sculpture, street art, and photographs as well as paintings. Partners range from large national art museums to smaller, and more diverse organisations, some offering less traditional settings for great art.

Alongside the expansion there have been significant technical improvements and new user features.

Head of Digital Media, Charlotte Sexton, said:

“We’re delighted to see Google’s continued commitment to this project with its improved technology, support for tablets, and the ability to create your own collections of artworks. The new partners have really broadened the range of content available to users and we are excited that our continued involvement will lead to more people being able to enjoy our world-class collection of Old Master paintings through this site.”