Google Arts & Culture and the Courtauld Institute of Art on Wednesday launched The Art of Looking, a digital collection that expands their partnership and offers new ways to study historic works online, according to Google. The partners also announced an artist residency to explore how artificial intelligence can be used for metadata workflows in cultural institutions, they said.
Google said the collection brings together art made across centuries and continents and reflects a shared commitment to opening up art and art history to a broad audience. The announcement said the 12 new stories take on fundamental questions about art and bring viewers closer to how artists made their works.
Topics include “What does art mean?” in which Professor Dorothy Price shows how painter Lubaina Himid used her imagination to rewrite history, and “Who is art for?” where Dr. Tom Stammers traces how artist Rosa Bonheur bypassed elite gatekeepers to reach a global audience. Other stories examine technique and interpretation, including zooming into the bold marks of Van Gogh’s reed pens, exploring the riddle of Michelangelo’s The Dream, and, as described by Dr. Jessica Barker, how Claudette Johnson uses the monumental scale of Blues Dance to give her subjects a powerful presence.
The project highlights individual works from the Courtauld’s collection. The announcement describes how Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère uses a shifted mirror reflection to unsettling effect, and how Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear records vulnerability alongside determination to keep painting. It also cites Bruegel’s Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, where the Holy Family’s small figures are set within a sweeping landscape, and Johnson’s Blues Dance, whose fluid lines and rich color celebrate music, movement, and joy.
Google said it first partnered with the Courtauld in 2022, using Google’s Art Camera to capture 16 works in high detail. The company said this allowed online viewers for the first time to follow the play of Manet’s brushstrokes across A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
Alongside the new collection, the partners said the artist residency will explore how AI can unlock the Courtauld’s extensive photographic collections. According to the announcement, the effort lays the foundation for making these images searchable and connecting them to learning curricula worldwide. Google directed readers to explore The Art of Looking at goo.gle/courtauld.