a public domain art api.

quickstart

all responses are { data, meta? } — data is the result, meta carries pagination where it applies.

# base url
https://art-publica.com/api/art

# one call, no auth
curl \
  "https://art-publica.com/api/art/v1/smart-search?q=stormy+seascape&limit=12"

authentication

anonymous requests get 100/day. for more, create a free key and send it as the X-API-Key header. keys are shown once. to list, revoke, or add keys later, sign in to your account.

rate limits

limits reset daily at midnight utc. every response carries X-RateLimit-* headers; over the limit returns 429 with Retry-After.

ai agents (mcp)

art publica is also an mcp server — connect it once and your ai assistant can search the collection by meaning, colour, similarity, or a photo, and actually look at the artworks it recommends. eight read-only tools, works anonymously, same rate limits as the api.

# mcp server (streamable http)
https://art-publica.com/mcp

claude.ai — settings → connectors → add custom connector → paste the url. (custom connectors need a pro, max, or team plan.)

claude code —

claude mcp add --transport http art-publica https://art-publica.com/mcp

claude api — pass it on the request and the model gets the tools automatically:

"mcp_servers": [{ "type": "url", "url": "https://art-publica.com/mcp", "name": "art-publica" }],
"tools": [{ "type": "mcp_toolset", "mcp_server_name": "art-publica" }]

tools: art_search (by meaning, cross-lingual), art_search_by_color (hex palette), art_find_by_image (reverse visual search from an image url), art_find_similar, art_view_artwork (returns the image so the assistant can see it), art_get_artwork, art_random, and art_list_filters. three built-in prompts — find_art_for, moodboard, artist_tour — appear as quick actions in clients that support them.

anonymous use gets the same 100/day per user as the api; add your api key as an X-API-Key header in the connector config for keyed limits. verify the server is up:

curl https://art-publica.com/mcp/health
# → {"status":"ok","server":"art-publica-mcp","tools":8}