Unleash Your Inner Child With These Free Museum Coloring Books
Noble souls, these New Year Academy types.
Since 2016, they've invited hundreds of libraries, archives, and cultural institutions all over the world to share artworks and illustrations from their archives, and upload them as PDF coloring pages for the public. This year, 113 different institutions answered the call.
The resultant coloring books are a treasure trove of weird and wonderful images that frankly benefit from the lack of context in which they are presented. They echo the trend for "grown-up coloring books" that sprung up in the last few years, but with a slightly more high-brow, cultured vibe. Plus, they're free. If you're the kind of person who keeps their always-sharpened crayons arranged in color order, you'll enjoy setting to work on these books.
If you're like us, however, you'll immediately want to deface them. And you can!
Unleash your inner, immature child by downloading these cultural treasures and gettin' scribbly. Here are some choice images from the collection...
This workplace accident waiting to happen
From the Washington University Libraries Julian Edison Department of Special Collections Coloring Book 2019.
Forget the horn, can we talk about this neckbeard situation?
From the University of British Columbia Library Coloring Book 2019.
Don't take drugs kids. But if you do, make sure they are whatever drugs these ladies are on.
From the Bodleian Libraries Colouring Book.
"Hi! I'm a rhinocervs. That's what I said, Rinocervs! I have a lisp, it's not a joke, a**holes"
From the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library.
This extremely pissed-off wife who proves that cross-culture romantic difficulties are nothing compared to cross-species ones ...
From the Jagiellonian Library Coloring Book 2019.
This creep. Ever heard of #MeToo fella?
From the New York State Library Coloring Book 2019.
You get the idea. Check out the full collection here!
Want to see some real art now? Here are 3 reasons to get out to Tsinghua University Art Museum.
A much more mature version of this article by Wendy Xu originally featured on our sister site beijingkids.
Photo: Color our Collections
