Harvard Art Museums

About Harvard Art Museums

The Harvard Art Museums API is a REST-style service that provides access to the data powering the Harvard Art Museums' website and collections. It returns JSON responses and covers resources including objects, people, exhibitions, publications, galleries, classifications, periods, places, mediums, techniques, and worktypes.

Access requires an API key passed as a parameter with each request, and the API returns a 401 error for missing or invalid keys. Responses are paginated, with a default of 10 records per page and a maximum of 100, and support an aggregation parameter based on Elasticsearch aggregation syntax for statistical analysis of the data.

The API also provides access to object images through an IIIF-compliant image service (version 2.1) and a separate IIIF presentation service for manifests. Images of objects with rights restrictions, including many 20th and 21st century works, are excluded for most API users. This service is intended for developers building projects that integrate the museums' collections.

Key features

• REST-style API access to Harvard Art Museums' collections data
• Multiple resource types: Object, Person, Exhibition, Publication, Gallery, and more
• JSON-formatted responses with pagination support (up to 100 records per page)
• IIIF Image API support for retrieving object images at various resolutions
• IIIF Presentation API support for object manifests
• Aggregation parameter for statistical analysis using Elasticsearch-style aggregations

Frequently asked questions