Hallway and Entryway Paintings: Tall Works for Narrow Walls

Tall formats and welcoming scenes for the walls you pass every day.

Hallways are narrow and tall, so portrait-format paintings and small works hung in a line suit them best. Paths, roads, gates and doorways make a natural welcome, and portraits and flowers hold up to being seen up close as you walk past. Panoramic works are too wide for a corridor. Hang the center of each piece at about 58 in (147 cm) from the floor and keep a consistent gap of 2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm) between frames so a group reads as one.

Woman Reading, Édouard Manet 16 × 20 in portrait print (41 × 51 cm), centered 49¼ in from the floor, 8 in above the console table. Drawn to scale on a 12 × 8 ft wall.

Try your wall color

Default greige

Showing 1 to 48 of 456 paintings

A young woman in a dark hat and coat with light ruffled collar sits reading a large periodical held up in her gloved hands. Flowers and foliage are suggested behind her.

Édouard Manet Woman Reading, 1880–82 Art Institute of Chicago

Large painting, standing man blue turtleneck, sitting woman with white collar.

Amedeo Modigliani Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz, 1916 Art Institute of Chicago

Dark portrait of an older light-skinned women with dark hair in a black dress and white collar, her hair pinned up. Her face is in partial shadow.

Thomas Eakins Portrait of Mary Adeline Williams, 1899 Art Institute of Chicago

A young girl with medium skin wears a striking dress of black and white stripes with a short lace collar. Behind her is backdrop featuring symbols and native figures. Mangos sit beside her.

Paul Gauguin Merahi metua no Tehamana (Tehamana Has Many Parents or The Ancestors of Tehamana), 1893 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of a placid-looking, light-skinned woman in a maroon dress, seated in a chair with yellow upholstery, hands folded.

Paul Cézanne Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair, 1888–90 Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of a woman in white with a bonnet perched on an architectural feature painting something to her right, a spouting water fountain, greenery, and a an ornate, low white fence behind her.

John Singer Sargent The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907 Art Institute of Chicago

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

A pensive faced woman sits, slightly hunched, holding a book.

Camille Corot Interrupted Reading, c. 1870 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of bearded, ruddy-faced man in eighteenth century style clothing.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Portrait of a Man in Costume, c. 1767–68 Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of man wearing voluminous black cloak, feathered hat, and gold medallion.

Rembrandt van Rijn Old Man with a Gold Chain, 1631 Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of Isabella Brant, Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1620–25, oil on wood

Peter Paul Rubens Portrait of Isabella Brant, c. 1620–25 Cleveland Museum of Art

Marie Emilie Coignet de Courson (1716–1806) with a Dog, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, ca. 1769, oil on canvas

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Marie Emilie Coignet de Courson (1716–1806) with a Dog, ca. 1769 The Met

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

Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560), Hans Holbein the Younger, 1532, oil and gold on oak

Hans Holbein the Younger Hermann von Wedigh III (died 1560), 1532 The Met

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

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait, 1660 The Met

By the Seashore, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1883, oil on canvas

Pierre-Auguste Renoir By the Seashore, 1883 The Met

Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608–1670), Diego Velázquez, 1650, oil on canvas

Diego Velázquez Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608–1670), 1650 The Met

Study of a Young Woman, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1665–67, oil on canvas

Johannes Vermeer Study of a Young Woman, ca. 1665–67 The Met

Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775), Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, ca. 1810, oil on canvas

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775), ca. 1810 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

Painted dark colored portrait of man, hands in prayer.

Rogier van der Weyden Portrait of Jean Gros (recto); Coat of Arms of Jean Gros (verso), 1460–64 Art Institute of Chicago

George Washington, Gilbert Stuart, begun 1795, oil on canvas

Gilbert Stuart George Washington, begun 1795 The Met

Portrait of a Young Man, Agnolo Bronzino, 1530s, oil on wood

Agnolo Bronzino Portrait of a Young Man, 1530s The Met

Portrait of a Carthusian, Petrus Christus, 1446, oil on oak

Petrus Christus Portrait of a Carthusian, 1446 The Met

Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1440, tempera on wood

Fra Filippo Lippi Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, ca. 1440 The Met

Francesco d'Este (born ca. 1429, died after 1486), Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1460, oil on wood

Rogier van der Weyden Francesco d'Este (born ca. 1429, died after 1486), ca. 1460 The Met

Bashi-Bazouk, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1868–69, oil on canvas

Jean-Léon Gérôme Bashi-Bazouk, 1868–69 The Met

Burgomaster Jan van Duren (1613–1687), Gerard ter Borch, ca. 1666–67, oil on canvas

Gerard ter Borch Burgomaster Jan van Duren (1613–1687), ca. 1666–67 The Met

Margaretha van Haexbergen (1614–1676), Gerard ter Borch, ca. 1666–67, oil on canvas

Gerard ter Borch Margaretha van Haexbergen (1614–1676), ca. 1666–67 The Met

Portrait of a light-skinned woman with dark curly hair and to her right a small, blond child. Both are elegantly dressed, the woman in a dark, short-sleeved dress with gathered bodice and the child in a short-sleeved white dress.

Joshua Johnson Elizabeth Grant Bankson Beatty (Mrs. James Beatty) and Her Daughter Susan, c. 1805 Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of man, black coat, white collar, hand in book.

Ammi Phillips Cornelius Allerton, 1821–22 Art Institute of Chicago

Nocturne, John La Farge, ca. 1885, watercolor, gouache, and charcoal on off-white wove paper adhered to wove paper

John La Farge Nocturne, ca. 1885 The Met

Mrs. Mayer and Daughter, Ammi Phillips, 1835–40, oil on canvas

Ammi Phillips Mrs. Mayer and Daughter, 1835–40 The Met

Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Nun of San Secondo; (verso) Scene in Grisaille, Jacometto, ca. 1485–95, oil on wood; (verso: oil and gold on wood)

Jacometto Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Nun of San Secondo; (verso) Scene in Grisaille, ca. 1485–95 The Met

Portrait of Alvise Contarini(?); (verso) A Tethered Roebuck, Jacometto, ca. 1485–95, oil on wood; verso: oil and gold on wood

Jacometto Portrait of Alvise Contarini(?); (verso) A Tethered Roebuck, ca. 1485–95 The Met

Portrait of a Man, possibly Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini, Unknown artist, 1494(?), tempera on wood

Unknown artist Portrait of a Man, possibly Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini, 1494(?) The Met

Portrait of a Woman, possibly Ginevra d'Antonio Lupari Gozzadini, Unknown artist, 1494?, tempera on wood

Unknown artist Portrait of a Woman, possibly Ginevra d'Antonio Lupari Gozzadini, 1494? The Met

Margaret of Austria, Jean Hey,, ca. 1490, oil on oak panel

Jean Hey, Margaret of Austria, ca. 1490 The Met

Emma Van Name, Joshua Johnson, ca. 1805, oil on canvasPainting

Joshua Johnson Emma Van Name, ca. 1805 The Met

A Bouquet of Flowers, Clara Peeters, ca. 1612, oil on wood

Clara Peeters A Bouquet of Flowers, ca. 1612 The Met

A young, smiling boy in a ruffled collar, hat, and cumberbun rides outdoors on a brown ram, a small whip held aloft in his hand.

Francisco de Goya Boy on a Ram, 1786–87 Art Institute of Chicago

The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy), Vincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on fabric

Vincent van Gogh The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy), 1889 Cleveland Museum of Art

Shown from the elbows up, a young person with pale skin and brown hair wearing a wide, scarlet-red hat sits in front of a tapestry in this vertical portrait painting.

Johannes Vermeer Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1669 National Gallery of Art

From low on a hillside, we look up at a light-skinned woman and boy standing in tall grass against a sunny blue sky in this vertical painting.

Claude Monet Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875 National Gallery of Art

Shown from the waist up, an older man with pale, peachy skin looks out at us with deep-set, gray eyes under a furrowed brow, in front of a sable-brown background in this vertical portrait painting.

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait, 1659 National Gallery of Art

Sarah Dupont, Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1777–79, oil on canvas

Thomas Gainsborough Sarah Dupont, c. 1777–79 Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of a Lady, Frans Hals, 1627, oil on canvas

Frans Hals Portrait of a Lady, 1627 Art Institute of Chicago

Mrs. Charles Gifford Dyer (Mary Anthony), John Singer Sargent, 1880, oil on canvas

John Singer Sargent Mrs. Charles Gifford Dyer (Mary Anthony), 1880 Art Institute of Chicago

Collections for the hallway and entryway

Guides

Staircase 366 shared
Apartment & Dorm 319 shared
Guest Room 93 shared
Living Room 75 shared

Collections for the hallway and entryway

Guides

Rooms that share paintings