Five centuries of masterworks

About

I started MuseumArchive because I want to get more people to have art in their homes. It's absurdly obtuse how hard it is to find good art to hang up for a reasonable price, and when you do find something it's mass marketed.

I use the Art Institute of Chicago exclusively for now because they have enough pieces to last someone a lifetime. I like the idea of taking their collection and making it more accessible. Scroll through, find art that you like because of the piece, not just the same artists that always come up over and over. For the amount of masterworks that have been created, society does sure have a hard time remembering more than 3 names at any point in time.

Find pieces that resonate with you and grab the largest size you can. Most stores artificially mark up the larger sizes because they know they're desirable. I could have done the same but I'm not doing this to maximize profits. I keep a thin, flat margin on everything — just enough to keep the store running, and I publish that markup rather than hide it.

If you order one of my pieces I think you will also be surprised at the quality, as in actually seeing the brushstrokes on every piece. That's because I only sell sizes that allow for the highest quality reproduction. So if you're wondering why a piece can't be sold at a larger size, it's because it doesn't meet the quality I want to showcase on your walls.

I also frame them. A .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front, assembled around your print and shipped ready to hang — no trip to the frame shop, where the framing alone usually costs more than the difference here. If you want it on the wall the day it arrives, that's the one to order.

This is genuinely a project I believe in. It's not a cash grab, not a get rich quick hustle. I've put in much more time than I will ever get back, but I'm inspired by what this can become and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Materials & making

Paper

Thick matte, 189 g/m² · 10.3 mil · 94% opacity · sourced from Japan

Printing

Water-based inkjet, printed to order

Framing

.75″ ayous wood with an acrylite front, ready to hang

Shipping

US only · delivered in 5–8 business days