Famous Paintings of Architecture

Churches, palaces, ruins and towers: buildings as the main subject.

140 paintings, with works by Claude Monet, Francesco Guardi, Canaletto and Camille Pissarro. Most often they suit the home office, living room and bedroom.

Showing 1 to 48 of 140 paintings

Life-size painting of an urban scene in Paris.

Gustave Caillebotte Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting composed of short, dense brushstrokes depicts two domed stacks of wheat that cast long shadows on a field. The angled light indicates either a rising or setting sun.

Claude Monet Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890–91 Art Institute of Chicago

Impressionist painting of two girls on balcony, bright flower hat, knitting basket.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881 Art Institute of Chicago

View of Toledo, El Greco, ca. 1599–1600, oil on canvas

El Greco View of Toledo, ca. 1599–1600 The Met

We look across an expanse of a flat, grassy lawn at the towering spire of a stone church outlined against billowing clouds in this horizontal landscape painting.

John Constable Salisbury Cathedral from Lower Marsh Close, 1820 National Gallery of Art

Loosely painted image of an open-air train station. On the right, a parked train gives off an enormous plumb of white smoke, making the scene look as though it were full of clouds.

Claude Monet Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877 Art Institute of Chicago

View of Delphi with a Procession, Claude Lorrain, 1673, oil on canvas

Claude Lorrain View of Delphi with a Procession, 1673 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of Greek landscape, classical architecture, yellow, red robed man reading.

Nicolas Poussin Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, 1640 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

Piazza San Marco, Canaletto, late 1720s, oil on canvas

Canaletto Piazza San Marco, late 1720s The Met

Dense and varied landscape with open fields, groves of bushy trees, and a row of thin conifers. A light-blue river tranverses the canvas, and a church steeple emerges from the trees at left of center.

Édouard Vuillard Landscape: Window Overlooking the Woods, 1899 Art Institute of Chicago

The Garden of Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo, Francesco Guardi, Late 1770s, oil on canvas

Francesco Guardi The Garden of Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo, Late 1770s Art Institute of Chicago

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

Dark moody painting of crumbling castle tower and walls amidst river and forest.

Jacob van Ruisdael Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond, 1650–55 Art Institute of Chicago

Landscape painting featuring a wavy tree tree in the foreground and a watermill with a red roof adjacent to a river at right. Colors are subdued earth tones, the foliage a dark green and the river a muddy brown.

Meindert Hobbema The Watermill with the Great Red Roof, c. 1665 Art Institute of Chicago

Hunting near Hartenfels Castle, Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1540, oil, originally on wood, transferred to masonite

Lucas Cranach the Elder Hunting near Hartenfels Castle, 1540 Cleveland Museum of Art

Large painting of ancient arch ruins, statues, humans are small in comparison.

Hubert Robert The Fountains, 1787–88 Art Institute of Chicago

Large painting, woman in pink dress in front of classical sculpture, shrine.

Joshua Reynolds Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, 1763–65 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of a cabin set below a dark blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Behind it is a field of many small white dots. In front, a dark-skinned woman sits and a dark-skinned child plays among roaming chickens and dogs in a fenced-in yard.

Horace Pippin Cabin in the Cotton, c. 1931–37 Art Institute of Chicago

St. George on white horse, piercing green, gold dragon

Bernat Martorell Saint George and the Dragon, 1434–35 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of the Annunciation, dove flying above Mary with angel.

Jean Hey, The Annunciation, 1490–95 Art Institute of Chicago

King Anushirwan and the Owls, from the Khamsa of Nizami, Islamic, Safavid dynasty (1501–1722), c.1535, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

Islamic King Anushirwan and the Owls, from the Khamsa of Nizami, Safavid dynasty (1501–1722), c.1535 Art Institute of Chicago

Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather, Claude Monet, 1900, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather, 1900 Art Institute of Chicago

The Crystal Palace, Camille Pissarro, 1871, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro The Crystal Palace, 1871 Art Institute of Chicago

Te raau rahi (The Big Tree), Paul Gauguin, 1891, oil on jute canvas

Paul Gauguin Te raau rahi (The Big Tree), 1891 Art Institute of Chicago

Peasants Bringing Home a Calf Born in the Fields, Jean-François Millet, 1864, oil on canvas

Jean-François Millet Peasants Bringing Home a Calf Born in the Fields, 1864 Art Institute of Chicago

View of a village surrounded by hills, fields, and trees, shown from a vantage point above the scene. Subtly rolling hills recede into a bluish gray-ish sky punctuated by white clouds.

Paul Cézanne Auvers, Panoramic View, 1873–75 Art Institute of Chicago

Venice, Palazzo Dario, Claude Monet, 1908, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Venice, Palazzo Dario, 1908 Art Institute of Chicago

Vétheuil, Claude Monet, 1901, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Vétheuil, 1901 Art Institute of Chicago

Armida Abandoned by Rinaldo, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45, oil on canvas

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Armida Abandoned by Rinaldo, c. 1742–45 Art Institute of Chicago

No te aha oe riri (Why Are You Angry?), Paul Gauguin, 1896, oil on jute canvas

Paul Gauguin No te aha oe riri (Why Are You Angry?), 1896 Art Institute of Chicago

The Customs House at Varengeville, Claude Monet, 1897, oil on canvas

Claude Monet The Customs House at Varengeville, 1897 Art Institute of Chicago

Charing Cross Bridge, London, Claude Monet, 1901, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1901 Art Institute of Chicago

A lone wheat stack, in shadow, rests on a snow-covered field that is rendered in shades of white, blue, yellow, and purple. A house can be seen in the distance on the right against the blue hills beyond.

Claude Monet Stack of Wheat (Snow Effect, Overcast Day), 1890–91 Art Institute of Chicago

Claude Monet Vétheuil, 1901 Art Institute of Chicago

Houses of Parliament, London, Claude Monet, 1900–1, oil on canvas

Claude Monet Houses of Parliament, London, 1900–1 Art Institute of Chicago

The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand, Alfred Sisley, 1875, oil on canvas

Alfred Sisley The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand, 1875 Art Institute of Chicago

Rabbit Warren at Pontoise, Snow, Camille Pissarro, 1879, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro Rabbit Warren at Pontoise, Snow, 1879 Art Institute of Chicago

Horizontal oil painting in shades of pale purple, pink, and light blue of a bridge composed of multiple linked archways over water, engulfed in hazy fog.

Claude Monet Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, 1903 Art Institute of Chicago

View of Genoa, Camille Corot, 1834, oil on paper, mounted on canvas

Camille Corot View of Genoa, 1834 Art Institute of Chicago

Watering Place at Marly, Alfred Sisley, 1875, oil on canvas

Alfred Sisley Watering Place at Marly, 1875 Art Institute of Chicago

An Alpine Scene, Gustave Courbet, 1874, oil on canvas

Gustave Courbet An Alpine Scene, 1874 Art Institute of Chicago

Landscape along the Seine with the Institut de France and the Pont des Arts, Alfred Sisley, c. 1875, oil on canvas

Alfred Sisley Landscape along the Seine with the Institut de France and the Pont des Arts, c. 1875 Art Institute of Chicago

The Banks of the Marne in Winter, Camille Pissarro, 1866, oil on canvas

Camille Pissarro The Banks of the Marne in Winter, 1866 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting depicting Christ anointed by a woman in yellow, seated centrally at a crowded table of guests with long thin grayish faces in colorful robes with strong white highlights.

El Greco The Feast in the House of Simon, c. 1608–14 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of woman in a striped dress seated on the bank of a river, beneath a full, leafy tree, a boat at the shore and a village visible across the river.

Claude Monet On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt, 1868 Art Institute of Chicago

The Departure of the Boats, Étretat, Claude Monet, 1885, oil on canvas

Claude Monet The Departure of the Boats, Étretat, 1885 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

Famous Paintings of Architecture

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