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Open Content Program

The Birmingham Museum of art makes available digital images of works in the Museum’s collection believed to be in the public domain. Images are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial. Users do not need to contact the Museum for authorization to use these images. They are available through the Online Collection at artsbma.org/collection. See detailed instructions for specific work types below.

Identifying Open Content Images

The mission of the Birmingham Museum of Art is to spark the creativity, imagination, and liveliness of Birmingham by connecting all its citizens to the experience, meaning, and joy of art. The Museum understands that by sharing images of works online without restrictions, the BMA collection becomes more accessible to a larger audience.

For objects with images the rights status is displayed in the “credit line” section of the object information. The rights status or rights holder will be indicated. If the work is in the public domain and/or the image may be downloaded, the download icon will appear in the bottom right corner of the image area. To search the collection click here.

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For copyright-protected images that have been approved by copyright holders, a presentation-sized image is available, but can not be downloaded. A copyright statement clearly listing the name of the copyright holder is visible in the credit line area when the image is displayed. Thumbnail-sized images of copyrighted works are displayed under fair use.

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Open Content Program
Digital Media Department
The Birmingham Museum of Art
2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd
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Disclaimer

  • If an image is not available under Open Content it may be because the work is still under copyright, the work is not owned by the museum, or the work has not yet been photographed to BMA standards.
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Self-Portrait

William J. Hinchey

1859

Trained in Dublin and Paris, Irish-born William Hinchey (originally “Hinchy”) came to the United States in 1854 at the invitation of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, then Bishop of Santa Fe, who hired the artist to paint frescoes in the churches of the New Mexico Territory. Frustrated by living conditions and difficulties with getting the frescoes to adhere to adobe walls, Hinchey left Santa Fe after only three and one-half months, ultimately traveling to St. Louis, Missouri, which became his permanent home.


Hinchey became one of St. Louis’s foremost artists, recording scenes of local life and making likenesses of the city’s leading citizens in oil and pastel. During the Civil War, he served as a special correspondent and artist for Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News, a capacity in which he continued until his death in 1893. 


In this captivating self-portrait, Hinchey depicted himself as an oil painter but executed the image in pastel, a medium favored by artists for its vibrancy of color and ability to create realistic flesh tones. 

See More of the Collection

Tidings from the Front (The Letter), William Gilbert Gaul, oil on canvas
View of Crosby's Opera House, a five-story Italianate palace with a mansard roof, located on the north side of Washington Street between State and Dearborn in the city of Chicago. Here it is seen from a point on State Street, looking northwest. The street in front of the opera house—filled with people, horse-drawn carriages, and dogs—bustles with activity. A large tree, perhaps an oak, dominates the foreground at left of center.
A Survivor, Alfred Leslie, oil and collage on canvas
Lady in the White House, Donald E. McAdoo, pencil on paper