Apartment and Dorm Paintings: Bold Works That Print Well at Home

Bold, clear compositions that print well at home and move with you.

For a rental or a dorm, a painting should print at home, frame cheaply and survive a move. Bold graphic compositions, striking portraits, city views and modern works with clear shapes read well at 8×10 to 16×20 in (20×25 to 40×50 cm) and look right in a simple ready-made frame. Hang with removable strips, group three small prints into one block, and choose works whose main color matches the one textile you already own.

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler), Vincent van Gogh 36 × 48 in portrait print (91 × 122 cm), centered 63¼ in from the floor, 8 in above the desk. Drawn to scale on a 12 × 8 ft wall.

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Showing 1 to 48 of 584 paintings

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler), Vincent van Gogh, 1887, oil on canvas

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler), 1887 The Met

Small painting of woman in pink and black sitting on park bench.

William Merritt Chase A City Park, c. 1887 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting, heavy in tones of blue-green and burnt orange, depicting a bar scene at night. The men wear top hats and many are bearded; the women are dressed in voluminous gowns and decorative hats.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec At the Moulin Rouge, 1892–95 Art Institute of Chicago

A heronǳ silhouette sits amongst the brush in a golden hued forest.

George Inness The Home of the Heron, 1893 Art Institute of Chicago

A multitude of vibrantly colored shapes interweave with one another.

Marsden Hartley Movement, 1913 Art Institute of Chicago

A Shaded Avenue, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, ca. 1775, oil on wood

Jean-Honoré Fragonard A Shaded Avenue, ca. 1775 The Met

Shown from the chest up, a man with short, orange hair and green-tinted, pale skin looks at us, wearing a vivid blue painter's smock in this vertical portrait painting.

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, 1889 National Gallery of Art

A dark-haired, disembodied head of a haloed man with pale, peach skin floats against a red and yellow background in this vertical portrait.

Paul Gauguin Self-Portrait, 1889 National Gallery of Art

Painted almost entirely in tones of topaz, lapis, and sky blue, the façade of a building abutting a waterway fills this horizontal painting. Brushstrokes are visible throughout and they blend to make the scene appear hazy.

Claude Monet Palazzo da Mula, Venice, 1908 National Gallery of Art

A sand-colored riverbank stretches in front of us to meet an arched bridge that spans a pale blue river to our right in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is loosely painted so many details are indistinct.

Camille Corot Bridge on the Saône River at Mâcon, 1834 National Gallery of Art

Autumn Landscape, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Orange County, New York, Jasper Francis Cropsey, ca. 1870–75, oil on canvas

Jasper Francis Cropsey Autumn Landscape, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Orange County, New York, ca. 1870–75 The Met

Venice: The Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute, Francesco Guardi, 1763, oil on wood

Francesco Guardi Venice: The Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute, 1763 The Met

Venice: The Rialto, Francesco Guardi, 1763, oil on wood

Francesco Guardi Venice: The Rialto, 1763 The Met

The painting depicts a tranquil lake scene with a low horizon line showing a pale green hill in the background under a pale, cloudy sky. Closer to us, on the right, there is a large, textured rock surrounded by greenery and red flowers.

John Frederick Kensett Landing at Sabbath Day Point, c. 1853 National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a busy scene at the edge of the water. The horizon is visible on the left, where blue-gray sky meets blue-gray water behind a line of tall masts.

Robert Henri Volendam Street Scene, 1910 National Gallery of Art

In saturated, vivid tones of mint green, marigold orange, dandelion yellow, sky blue, and rose pink, a long building stretches away from us along a walkway.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Dance Hall Bellevue [obverse], 1909/1910 National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a coastal scene with a perspective from the water. There are dark, billowing gray clouds above the horizon, and the sky is pale orange.

Thomas Chambers Threatening Sky, Bay of New York, mid 19th century National Gallery of Art

Packet Ship Passing Castle Williams, New York Harbor, Thomas Chambers, mid 19th century, oil on canvas

Thomas Chambers Packet Ship Passing Castle Williams, New York Harbor, mid 19th century National Gallery of Art

Irregular, geometric shapes in burnt orange, pale peach, light blue, forest and mint green, brown, taupe, gray, and black are layered and spread across this horizontal, abstract painting. They are mostly flat planes of color.

Juan Gris Glass and Checkerboard, c. 1917 National Gallery of Art

Sawmill, Outskirts of Paris, Henri Rousseau, c. 1893/95, oil on canvas

Henri Rousseau Sawmill, Outskirts of Paris, c. 1893/95 Art Institute of Chicago

This painting shows a rocky green ravine with a gray stream running through it, surrounded by thick foliage and large boulders. An arched stone bridge crosses over the stream in the center of the painting.

Théodore Rousseau Mountain Stream in the Auvergne, 1830 National Gallery of Art

Painting of a red-haired, bearded man with light skin, painted in short brushstrokes and multicolored dots. The background is likewise a mass of small, closely spaced colored dots, these in green, blue, and red-orange.

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, 1887 Art Institute of Chicago

The head of a pale-skinned man nearly fills this shadowy, vertical portrait painting. His shoulders angle to our right, and his dark eyes cut back to look at us.

Édouard Vuillard Self-Portrait, Aged 21, 1889 National Gallery of Art

Self-Portrait, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660, oil on canvas

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait, 1660 The Met

Madame Roulin and Her Baby, Vincent van Gogh, 1888, oil on canvas

Vincent van Gogh Madame Roulin and Her Baby, 1888 The Met

Abstract painting in various bright colors—yellow, blue, red, green, orange, pink—with lines indicating building-like structures as well as canons in the lower right corner.

Wassily Kandinsky Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), 1913 Art Institute of Chicago

Venetian Passageway, John Singer Sargent, ca. 1905, watercolor, gouache, and graphite on white wove paper

John Singer Sargent Venetian Passageway, ca. 1905 The Met

Painted in golden tones of butter and harvest yellow, tawny brown, and olive green, this horizontal landscape painting has a low wall stretching diagonally from the lower right corner off to our left, dividing a river to our right from a…

Joseph Mallord William Turner Mortlake Terrace, 1827 National Gallery of Art

People walk, sit, or stand on a plaza along a canal lined on the far side with buildings in this horizontal landscape painting.

Bernardo Bellotto The Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1743/1747 National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of a pastoral scene with animals, a watermill, and a bridge. The artwork features a rural landscape with lush greenery and a serene setting.

Charles Georges Dufresne Judgment of Paris, 1925 National Gallery of Art

The White Bridge, John Henry Twachtman, after 1895, oil on canvas

John Henry Twachtman The White Bridge, after 1895 Art Institute of Chicago

This painting shows a grand building with elaborate arches, columns, statues, and staircases, in front of which is a courtyard filled with people facing away from us.

Francesco Guardi Temporary Tribune in the Campo San Zanipolo, Venice, 1782 or after National Gallery of Art

Chrysanthemums in the Garden at Petit-Gennevilliers, Gustave Caillebotte, 1893, oil on canvas

Gustave Caillebotte Chrysanthemums in the Garden at Petit-Gennevilliers, 1893 The Met

The Two Disciples at the Tomb, Henry Ossawa Tanner, c. 1906, oil on canvas

Henry Ossawa Tanner The Two Disciples at the Tomb, c. 1906 Art Institute of Chicago

A square white tile, rotated 90 degrees, crossed by black lines intersecting at 90-degree angles. A few of the shapes thus formed—some partial squares, some rectangles—are colored in a single shade of yellow, blue, black, or red.

Piet Mondrian Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray, 1921 Art Institute of Chicago

View of Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme, Edgar Degas, 1896–98, oil on canvas

Edgar Degas View of Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme, 1896–98 The Met

A snowy street with a horse and carriage is flanked to each side by tall buildings in this vertical painting. The overcast scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout, so some details are difficult to make out.

Robert Henri Snow in New York, 1902 National Gallery of Art

Variations in Violet and Grey—Market Place, Dieppe, James McNeill Whistler, 1885, gouache and watercolor on off-white wove paper, mounted on academy board

James McNeill Whistler Variations in Violet and Grey—Market Place, Dieppe, 1885 The Met

Gardanne, Paul Cézanne, 1885–86, oil on canvas

Paul Cézanne Gardanne, 1885–86 The Met

Painted in muted lime green, plum purple, buttercup yellow, slate and royal blue, the head and shoulders of a man with peach-colored skin sitting in front of a window looks at us in this stylized, vertical portrait.

Paul Gauguin Self-Portrait Dedicated to Carrière, 1888 or 1889 National Gallery of Art

This horizontal landscape painting shows a cluster of tan and rust-brown buildings set on a tiny island at the center of a wide brownish-gray river.

Camille Corot The Island and Bridge of San Bartolomeo, Rome, 1825/1828 National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of a park filled with tall trees and people in colorful clothes. Some people are seated on chairs, while others are walking or standing on the tan ground.

William Glackens Luxembourg Gardens, 1906 National Gallery of Art

Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses, Paul Cézanne, ca. 1890, oil on canvas

Paul Cézanne Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses, ca. 1890 The Met

A row of spire-like structures of different heights is silhouetted in azure blue against a soft pink, yellow, peach, and lavender-purple sunset and reflected in a rippling river in this nearly square landscape painting.

Claude Monet The Houses of Parliament, Sunset, 1903 National Gallery of Art

We look across a river at a long, flat bridge that runs parallel to a hazy, city skyline in the distance in this horizontal painting.

Camille Pissarro Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1890 National Gallery of Art

Painting of a performance inside a circus ring. A man wearing a suit holds a whip in his hand and looks towards a woman with red hair riding a gray horse and wearing a green dress.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando), 1887–88 Art Institute of Chicago

The Colonnade of Saint Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave, Hubert Robert, c.1769, oil on canvas

Hubert Robert The Colonnade of Saint Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave, c.1769 Cleveland Museum of Art

Street, Tangier, John Singer Sargent, 1895, watercolor, gouache, and graphite on off-white wove paper

John Singer Sargent Street, Tangier, 1895 The Met

Collections for an apartment or dorm

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Staircase 360 shared
Hallway & Entryway 319 shared
Living Room 83 shared
Dining Room 80 shared

Collections for an apartment or dorm

Guides

Rooms that share paintings