On 28 November the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History –launched the upgraded search function RKD explore via its website www.rkd.nl. The new portal provides immediate access to an unprecedented number of art-historical data relating to Dutch art within an international context.

The RKD holds millions of photographs of art objects, many thousands of publications and roughly 1,500 metres of archival records from artists, galleries and other stakeholders in the art world. Thanks to Google’s indexing system, RKD explore can be found easily by users all over the world giving them free access to major parts of the collection.

According to Chris Stolwijk, director of the RKD: ‘RKD explore is unique within the art-historical world. No other institution offers its users a search tool that is as fully integrated and accessible as the one we have developed. Dutch art, and its place in the international context, is now available to a much larger audience.’