The Challenge

Users of Your Paintings need to be able to search paintings not only by artist and collection but also by types of painting (for example portraits or landscapes) and the subject matter shown in the works. Unfortunately this data does not already exist.

Asking the Public to Help 'Tag' the Paintings

The PCF (through the Your Paintings website) is asking the public to help it catalogue (or ‘tag’) paintings by subject matter online via the Your Paintings Tagger.

By looking at the paintings in detail, 'taggers’ are be able to help generate useful subject classifications for each work and supply important keyword information including information about people, places and events shown in the painting.

Algorithms ensure a high level of data reliability.

Project Partners

This pioneering crowd-sourcing exercise has been developed by the PCF in conjunction with the Citizen Science Alliance based at the Astrophysics Department at Oxford University and the Art History Department at Glasgow University.

The web interface was built by Keepthinking. The PCF was advised throughout the project by Adrian Cooper of Intelligent Heritage.

The Result: Being Able to Search 200,000 Paintings

The fruits of this exercise will enable Your Paintings to be searched by future users in a sophisticated manner. The approach to searching has been informed by user research into how audiences look for paintings online.

We expect the tagging project (which will last some 18 months) to encourage large numbers of people to engage with the paintings in an enjoyable way and at the same time make a significant contribution to the project.