Black-and-White Paintings for a Nursery

Paintings with almost no color: grays, browns and blacks that sit quietly on any wall and beside any fabric. Nursery paintings are chosen for softness: animals and birds, gardens and meadows, boats on calm water, and children at play, all in light palettes with low saturation. Here are 30 paintings for a nursery, each with almost no color, with works by Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet and Eugène Boudin.

All 205 paintings for a nursery

The Shepherd's Song, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes 24 × 24 in square print (61 × 61 cm), centered 51¼ in from the floor, 8 in above the console table. Drawn to scale on a 12 × 8 ft wall.

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30 black-and-white paintings

The Shepherd's Song, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1891, oil on canvas

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes The Shepherd's Song, 1891 The Met

Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre, Vincent van Gogh, Early 1887, oil on canvas, mounted on pressboard

Vincent van Gogh Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre, Early 1887 Art Institute of Chicago

The Place du Havre, Paris, Camille Pissarro, 1893, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro The Place du Havre, Paris, 1893 Art Institute of Chicago

The Garden of the Tuileries on a Winter Afternoon, Camille Pissarro, 1899, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro The Garden of the Tuileries on a Winter Afternoon, 1899 The Met

Versailles, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1900–1905, oil on canvas

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Versailles, 1900–1905 The Met

Winter landscape painting with rocky stream lined by orange leafed trees.

John Henry Twachtman Icebound, c. 1889 Art Institute of Chicago

We look slightly down onto a baby tucked into an oval-shaped cradle with a woman sitting on the far side looking down at the child in this vertical painting. Both the woman and baby have light skin.

Claude Monet The Cradle - Camille with the Artist's Son Jean, 1867 National Gallery of Art

Shown from the knees up, a woman with peach-colored skin and dark hair sits facing us and holding a baby in this stylized, vertical portrait painting.

Amedeo Modigliani Roma Woman with Baby, 1919 National Gallery of Art

Rocks at Port-Goulphar, Belle-Île, Claude Monet, 1886, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Rocks at Port-Goulphar, Belle-Île, 1886 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of a young woman outdoors in a light purple dress and head covering with a wooden yoke around her neck suspending large bundles of brightly colored flowers.

George Hitchcock Flower Girl in Holland, 1887 Art Institute of Chicago

Environs of Fontainebleau: Woodland and Cattle, Rosa Bonheur, 1864, oil on canvas

Rosa Bonheur Environs of Fontainebleau: Woodland and Cattle, 1864 The Met

Boys in a Dory, Winslow Homer, 1873, watercolor washes and gouache over graphite underdrawing on medium rough textured white wove paper

Winslow Homer Boys in a Dory, 1873 The Met

Clouds, Thomas Cole, ca. 1838, oil on paper laid down on canvas

Thomas Cole Clouds, ca. 1838 The Met

Moonrise at Sunset, Dwight William Tryon, 1890, oil on wood

Dwight William Tryon Moonrise at Sunset, 1890 The Met

A snowy landscape in cool tones featuring a prominent, snow-dusted haystack in reddish brown in front of a row of red-brown trees and low, blue mountains, all beheath a pink-gray strip of sky.

Claude Monet Stack of Wheat, 1890–91 Art Institute of Chicago

Woman and Child at the Well, Camille Pissarro, 1882, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro Woman and Child at the Well, 1882 Art Institute of Chicago

We are eye-level on a beach with half a dozen ships in view, sitting on the ground against a gray sky in this vertical landscape oil painting created with broad, unblended strokes.

Eugène Boudin Low Tide, Sailboats Run Aground, 1885-1890 National Gallery of Art

Mäda Primavesi (1903–2000), Gustav Klimt, 1912–13, oil on canvas

Gustav Klimt Mäda Primavesi (1903–2000), 1912–13 The Met

From high up, we look down and out at a river with seven ferries and barges, the waterway lined with buildings on the bank to our right, in this loosely painted, horizontal landscape.

Camille Pissarro The Louvre, Afternoon, Rainy Weather, 1900 National Gallery of Art

Child with Brown Hair, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1887/1888, oil on canvas

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Child with Brown Hair, 1887/1888 National Gallery of Art

We look slightly down onto a bare, gnarled tree near a gray, dirt path, which leads back to a hamlet in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes, so many details are indistinct.

Camille Pissarro The Fence, 1872 National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a waterfront with boats and buildings in the distance. The shadowy horizon line divides the composition between the gray sky and gray water. The distant shore features faint outlines of buildings.

James McNeill Whistler Grey and Silver: Chelsea Wharf, c. 1864/1868 National Gallery of Art

Olive Trees at Tivoli, George Inness, 1873, gouache, watercolor, and graphite on blue wove paper with colored fibers

George Inness Olive Trees at Tivoli, 1873 The Met

The Dock of Deauville, Eugène Boudin, 1891, oil on wood panel

Eugène Boudin The Dock of Deauville, 1891 Cleveland Museum of Art

Two pale-skinned little girls sit back-to-back on a sandy beach, almost filling the width of this vertical painting. The girls wear matching pale, ice-blue pinafores over short sleeve, ocean-blue dresses.

Mary Cassatt Children Playing on the Beach, 1884 National Gallery of Art

Boats at Berck-sur-Mer, Édouard Manet, 1873, oil on fabric

Édouard Manet Boats at Berck-sur-Mer, 1873 Cleveland Museum of Art

The painting depicts a harbor scene with several large ships and smaller boats on a wide waterway. To the left and right of center, two large ships are visible, each with multiple tall masts and several sails.

Eugène Boudin Entrance to the Harbor, Le Havre, 1883 National Gallery of Art

Idle Hours, Julian Alden Weir, 1888, oil on canvas

Julian Alden Weir Idle Hours, 1888 The Met

Inter artes et naturam (Between Art and Nature), Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, ca. 1890–95, oil on canvas

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Inter artes et naturam (Between Art and Nature), ca. 1890–95 The Met

A young girl with dark hair and pale skin, wearing a long white dress, kneels on the ground in a hilly, tree-lined landscape in this vertical portrait painting.

Joshua Reynolds Lady Caroline Howard, 1778 National Gallery of Art

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Living Room 126 shared
Guest Room 85 shared
Bedroom 83 shared
Kids' Room 77 shared

More for a nursery

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