The AGO Joins The Google Art Project

The Art Gallery of Toronto (AGO) has become the first Canadian museum to join the Google Art Project, whose aim is to make museum collections available to everyone over the internet.

Started last year, the project launched with some high profile museums including the Tate in London and the Palace of Versailles.

Earlier this week the project expanded as Google announced an additional 100 museums from 35 countries would be added to the database. The AGO is the only Canadian participant.

58 pieces from the AGO are now online and the work includes some notable Canadian works by artists such as Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.

Over 20 million people have visited the online collections since the launch of the program which uses the same high-resolution cameras that Google uses for "Street View." Users can zoom in on the images to see details such as brush strokes and carving techniques as well as get background information on the artist and the piece.