Art Up Close

A rich new online platform brings a leading collection of European art all together, and much closer up.

“A stunner with incredible utility”
– L.W. Schermerhorn, Deputy Director, Samuel H. Kress Foundation

The new online resource, with web design by C&G Partners, brings over 3,000 works of art from the Kress collection into the public view in a single place, and allows extremely close up views of the entire set. Because the Collection is physically distributed to many different places, this digital experience is the only way to see it all at once. C&G Partners worked closely with the Kress Foundation to ensure that the site redesign serves those they support, including historians of art and architecture, art conservators, art museum curators and educators, and art librarians. With this mission in mind, art historians and enthusiasts alike can now explore the full breadth of the Collection, using a highly visual tool.

Site search offers different views including visual gallery, interactive map, and comprehensive list layouts. A powerful digital viewer based on the IIIF API allows users to zoom to levels that expose brushstrokes, paint textures, and the evidence of time in extreme detail. Search filters have highly detailed capacity, enabling search by a long list of data fields. In addition to the Collection, the site also showcases the prestigious grant programs that The Kress Foundation offers, and hosts an interactive timeline of the history of the organization. The newly reimagined website offers a unique opportunity for expert and casual visitors to appreciate precious works from museums across the country from their own desktops and devices, advancing the Foundation’s core mission to share the art and architecture of Europe.