All of the digital archives below contain hundreds of pieces of art and literature that you can view for free.

The Smithsonian Archives of American Art

  • Grace Albee
    Marionettes in Modern Plays advertisement, 1915
  • Victor Mikhail Arnautoff
    Print of 1934 longshore strike, 19–
  • Werner Drewes
    Winter scene with tree and birds, 1965

“Founded at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1954, the Archives of American Art collects, preserves, and makes available primary sources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States.“

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Gianni Versace
    Evening dress, spring/summer 1991
  • Sword and scabbard, 7th century A.D.
  • Gustave Moreau
    Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1864

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.“

Contemporary African Art in the National Archives

  • Harmon Foundation
    Boy balancing on one hand
  • Harmon Foundation
    Egg, 1965
  • Harmon Foundation
    An Akan Mother and Child, 1947

“When the Harmon Foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated to the National Archives its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects.“

The Poetry Foundation

“The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.“

Project Gutenberg

“Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. Everything from Project Gutenberg is gratis, libre, and completely without cost to readers.”

Z-Library

Z-Library is another database of free books (and articles)! Without making an account, you can download up to five books for free every day. Unlike Project Gutenberg, it has a more modern selection of books, including books for professional skills development, self-help, novels by well-known contemporary authors, and more.

Shakespeare’s Globe On-Screen 2008-2015, 2016-2018

“Founded by the American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare’s Globe celebrates Shakespeare’s transformative impact on the world. Inspired by two beautiful, iconic theatres, the Globe’s diverse programme of work harnesses the power of performance and excites learning to make his work accessible to all.” –Drama Online

You will need your University of Illinois NetID and password (the same ones you use to access Moodle) to access this resource.

  • Arthur Darvill in Doctor Faustus
  • Kurt Egyiawan and Mariah Gale in Othello
  • William Houston and Flora-Spencer Longhurst in Titus Andronicus
  • George Irving in Julius Caesar

Documentary Heaven & Documentary Storm

Both of these sites have large libraries of documentaries available to watch legally and for free! All the documentaries available are already on the internet legal and free (for example, on YouTube). These sites organize them and offer in-depth descriptions, making browsing for something you’re really interested in much easier.

Home