You can now use world-famous paintings as note cover images

You can now set images of works widely released by museums around the world as cover images for your note articles. You can set them via "Minna no Photo Gallery," a feature that allows you to use images provided by other creators as article cover images.

As a first step, we have uploaded approximately 500 images of works widely released by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan to Minna no Photo Gallery. We plan to continue making images of works released by various institutions available for creators to use.

note respects all creators and values history, creating a flow where creations from the past to the present support the creations of the future.

Background of the initiative

Some museums release images of certain works widely on the internet as free and open resources. For example, these are works where the author has waived copyright or a certain period has passed since the author's death. By opening up such images, this initiative allows people around the world to easily enjoy masterpieces and also helps save works from being hidden away.

Current and future creative activities are always born from the history of the creations of our predecessors. This project was started with the hope of creating opportunities for note creators to encounter these works, which are assets of humanity, and to reflect on them or find inspiration for new creations. When used, the artist's name and the name of the museum housing the work are displayed with links to encourage these encounters.

As a first step, we have uploaded approximately 500 images of works widely released by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We will continue to work on making works released by various institutions available for creators to use.

What is Minna no Photo Gallery?

The images of the works will be uploaded to "Minna no Photo Gallery." Minna no Photo Gallery is a feature that allows you to set images provided by other creators as article cover images. For creators who use the images, it lowers the hurdle for creation as they do not need to create them from scratch, and for creators who provide the images, it is an initiative that increases opportunities for their work to be enjoyed.

Publication of guidelines

note creators and the artists who have woven the history of creation are both creators who should be equally respected. We have created guidelines for "Minna no Photo Gallery" so that creators can enjoy creating with respect for one another. Please read them before use.

How to use

1. Click the image icon at the top left of the post screen and select "Insert image from Minna no Photo Gallery"
2. Select an image from the "World Museums" tab and click the "Insert this image" button

※Support for the note app is as follows. Until support is available, please use the browser version when using a smartphone.

iOS: Available in the latest version
Android: Currently no plans for support

Examples of works　

※All from the Metropolitan Museum of Art "The Met Collection"

Vincent van Gogh, "Wheat Field with Cypresses"

During the year he was hospitalized at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh worked on a series of paintings of the Provençal countryside, dotted with cypresses and olive trees. In a letter to his brother Theo dated July 2, 1889, he described his latest work, which he began in June, as having "cypresses with some ears of wheat, poppies, a blue sky, like a multicolored Scotch plaid; and the latter painted with a thick impasto like the Monticellis." Van Gogh considered this sun-drenched landscape his "best" summer painting and produced three versions with the same composition. (Reference:
The Met Collection)

Paul Cézanne, 'Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses'

Cézanne rarely painted flowers or floral arrangements. He only painted potted plants in three still lifes, two works depicting the greenhouse at his family home, Jas de Bouffan, and a dozen beautiful watercolors created over a twenty-year period from around 1878 to 1906. It seems Cézanne kept this distinctive table and apron to use as subjects, which resulted in the creation of his three great still lifes of the 1890s.
(Reference: The Met Collection)

Katsushika Hokusai, 'Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit'

This is one of Katsushika Hokusai's representative works. The thunderstorm, indicated by red lightning, expresses a sudden change from a cloud-covered summer sky to a turbulent violence disturbing the area below Mount Fuji. As one of the world's most creative artists, Hokusai possessed an extraordinary sensitivity to nature and a sharp insight into humanity, demonstrating the power to embody these in his work.
(Reference: The Met Collection)

Georges Seurat, 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Study)'

Seurat's final study depicting Parisians relaxing on an island in the Seine. In 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,' which was presented at the Impressionist exhibition held two years later in 1886, Seurat used pointillism with more delicate brushstrokes. He employed 'divisionism,' a technique of interpreting color by breaking it down into small dots, favoring a method that maximizes the human eye's ability to blend the colors of adjacent dots.
(Reference: The Met Collection)

In addition, we have uploaded images of works by Itō Jakuchū, Utagawa Hiroshige, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, Johannes Vermeer, and others.

If there are any works or institutions you would like us to add, please let us know here!