# WikiArt Paintings Scraper (`parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes WikiArt paintings by art style and returns each painting as a flat row with title, artist, year, image URL, and full metadata.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.62 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### WikiArt Paintings Scraper

**Scrape WikiArt paintings by art style, up to a million per run.** Each painting comes with its title, artist, year, style, genre, medium, museum location, image URL, and tags. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

WikiArt's public pages are a visual encyclopedia of 250,000+ paintings, but browsing them one by one is slow. This Actor reads the paintings-by-style listings directly, so you can collect a whole movement like Impressionism or Surrealism in one run. Every painting is returned as a flat row with its metadata, ready for analysis or your own art database.

| Who uses it | What they scrape WikiArt for |
|---|---|
| Art historians | Building a corpus of paintings from a specific movement for stylistic analysis |
| Data scientists | Creating a dataset of artwork metadata for machine learning or visualization |
| Educators | Gathering examples of a style to use in teaching materials |
| App developers | Populating an art discovery app with paintings and their details |

### What it does

This Actor collects WikiArt paintings by art style and returns each one as a flat row with its title, artist, year, style, genre, medium, museum location, image URL, and tags.

- 🎨 **Style browsing:** pick from 14 preset styles like Impressionism, Cubism, or Ukiyo-e, or type any valid style slug.
- 🔢 **Flexible volume:** set a maximum from 1 to 1,000,000 paintings per run.
- 📦 **Structured output:** each painting is a flat row with consistent fields, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML export.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with WikiArt data

**📚 Build a style dataset.**

An art historian collects all Impressionist paintings from WikiArt to analyze color palettes and brushwork across the movement.

**🖼️ Populate an art app.**

A developer scrapes Surrealist paintings to seed a mobile app that shows a random artwork each day with its details.

**📊 Train a classifier.**

A data scientist gathers paintings from multiple styles to train a model that predicts art movement from image features.

**🎓 Create teaching materials.**

An educator downloads a set of Baroque paintings with metadata to build a slideshow for an art history class.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key** | WikiArt has no official public API, so this Actor scrapes the public pages directly. |
| **Complete metadata** | Get title, artist, year, style, genre, medium, museum location, image URL, and tags for each painting. |
| **Scalable** | Collect up to a million paintings in a single run, limited only by your patience and storage. |

### How it compares

This Actor focuses on browsing WikiArt by art style, while the other scrapers offer artist search and keyword search as well.

| Feature | ParseForge | WikiArt Scraper - Visual Art Encyclopedia | WikiArt Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse by art style | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search by artist name | Not listed | Yes | Yes |
| Search by keyword | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
| Fetch all paintings by a specific artist | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
| Set maximum number of paintings | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Preset style list | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a single art style slug, and set a maximum number of paintings to collect. The Actor reads the style's listing pages and returns each painting as a row. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.004 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $0.40 |
| 1,000 results | $4.00 |
| 10,000 results | $40.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [WikiArt Paintings Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to WikiArt through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that the style slug you entered is valid. Use one of the preset styles or verify the slug on WikiArt's paintings-by-style page. Also ensure the style has paintings listed.

**Why did the run stop before reaching my maxItems?**

The Actor stops when it has collected all available paintings for that style. If the style has fewer paintings than your maxItems, you will get all of them.

**Why are some fields empty?**

Not all paintings on WikiArt have every field filled in. For example, some may lack a museum location or tags. Empty fields are returned as empty strings or null.

**Why is the run slow?**

The Actor respects WikiArt's servers by making requests sequentially. If you need faster scraping, consider increasing the maxItems or running multiple styles in parallel.

**Can I scrape a style not in the preset list?**

Yes, type any valid style slug from WikiArt. For example, 'abstract-art' or 'minimalism'. The slug must match exactly as it appears in the URL.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is WikiArt? | WikiArt is an online visual art encyclopedia with over 250,000 paintings from around the world, organized by artist, style, genre, and more. |
| Do I need an API key or login? | No. This Actor scrapes the public WikiArt pages directly, so you only need an Apify account to run it. |
| Can I scrape by artist or search term? | This Actor is focused on browsing by art style. For artist or keyword search, consider the other WikiArt scrapers on Apify. |
| What styles are available? | The input includes 14 preset styles: Impressionism, Surrealism, Cubism, Baroque, Expressionism, Romanticism, Realism, Post-Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Art Nouveau (Modern), Symbolism, Renaissance, and Ukiyo-e. You can also type any valid style slug from WikiArt. |
| How many paintings can I get? | You can set a maximum from 1 to 1,000,000 paintings per run. The actual number depends on how many paintings exist in that style on WikiArt. |
| What data does each painting include? | Each row includes the painting's title, artist, year, style, genre, medium, museum location, image URL, and tags. |
| Can I export the data? | Yes, you can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Is this legal? | You should only scrape public data that you are allowed to access and use. Check WikiArt's terms of service and your local laws before scraping. |
| How fast is it? | The Actor processes pages sequentially, so speed depends on the number of paintings and WikiArt's response time. It is designed to be polite and not overload the site. |
| Can I run it on a schedule? | Yes, you can set up a scheduled run in Apify to collect new paintings periodically. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WikiArt.org. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `style` (type: `string`):

The WikiArt style slug to browse (paintings-by-style). Pick from the list or type any valid style slug (for example impressionism, surrealism, cubism, baroque, pop-art).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many paintings to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "style": "impressionism",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/wikiart-paintings-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/yJdOnNgmOGF0dSosC/builds/ijHNGudq95Yb4lQdq/openapi.json