Bathroom wall art: 12 serene pictures for a classy bathroom

Whistler’s little bathers, Monet at Étretat, a turquoise Homer and a moonlit Hokusai: twelve quiet water pictures for the smallest room, with the colours of each.

A bathroom is a small room you see every day, often in quiet moments, so it rewards a picture chosen with care. Water is the natural theme: seas, shores, boats and bathers. Cool blues and greens feel fresh against tile and white porcelain, and a single good picture makes even a plain bathroom feel like a hotel.

Here are twelve, in three moods: calm seas, Japanese water prints, and greens and shores. Each one is shown with its colour palette, and each can be ordered as a print.

Sea, sand and soft light

Shore pictures in the cool blues and greens that suit tile and porcelain.

1. Violet and Blue: The Little Bathers, Pérosquérie

A hazy blue green sea under a pale sky, with tiny bathers on the shore suggested in a few strokes.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Violet and Blue: The Little Bathers, Pérosquérie, 1888. Oil on wood panel. Harvard Art Museums.

Whistler painted this little panel on the French coast in 1888. Sea and sky melt together in violet and blue, and the bathers are no more than a few quick touches.

The perfect calm picture for a white or pale blue bathroom.

See the print

2. Étretat: The Beach and the Falaise d'Amont

Fishing boats rest on a pebble beach below the white chalk cliff of Étretat, under a pale blue sky.

Claude Monet, Étretat: The Beach and the Falaise d'Amont, 1885. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.

Claude Monet spent the autumn of 1885 at Étretat in Normandy and painted its cliffs again and again. Here the boats are pulled up on the beach, and the cliff glows in cool morning light.

Soft aqua and sand tones that sit beautifully with stone or marble.

See the print

3. Schooner - Nassau

A white two masted schooner on brilliant turquoise water under a bright tropical sky.

Winslow Homer, Schooner - Nassau, 1898/99. Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting and scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough twill-textured, ivory wove paper. Art Institute of Chicago.

Winslow Homer visited the Bahamas in the winter of 1898 to 1899 and painted the harbour at Nassau in quick, luminous watercolour. The turquoise water seems to light up the paper.

A fresh, sunny choice for a bright bathroom with white tiles and natural wood.

See the print

4. Hastings: Boats Making the Shore in a Breeze

Fishing boats with full sails come in to the beach at Hastings on a breezy day.

John James Chalon, Hastings: Boats Making the Shore in a Breeze, 1819. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

John James Chalon, a Swiss born painter who settled in London, painted the boats of Hastings in 1819. A fresh breeze, grey blue water and busy boats make a lively coastal scene.

A classic seaside picture for a traditional bathroom in grey, navy or white.

See the print

5. Coming Squall (Nahant Beach with a Summer Shower)

Figures on a beach watch a summer storm gather over a calm sea under dark clouds.

Thomas Doughty, Coming Squall (Nahant Beach with a Summer Shower), 1835. Oil on canvas mounted on cradled panel. Art Institute of Chicago.

Thomas Doughty, one of the first American landscape painters, painted Nahant Beach near Boston in 1835, just before a summer shower. The calm before the rain is beautifully caught.

Soft greys and blues for a calm, modern bathroom.

See the print

6. Breaking Wave with Two Boulders

A wave breaks around two pale boulders under a dark stormy sky, in deep blues and sea greens.

Arnold Böcklin, Breaking Wave with Two Boulders, by 1901.

Arnold Böcklin, the Swiss painter of mythical seas, also painted the plain sea for its own sake. In this late study, rock and water meet under a brooding sky.

A moody, dramatic piece for a dark painted bathroom.

See the print

Boats, moons and fish

Japanese prints are small, graphic and cool in colour, ideal for a bathroom.

7. Akashi Bay at Night

A small boat drifts on a dark green sea at night under a full moon.

Katsushika Hokusai, Akashi Bay at Night, 1835–36. Color woodblock print. Cleveland Museum of Art.

Hokusai made this print around 1835 for his series illustrating a hundred classic poems. A tiny boat crosses Akashi Bay at night, its passengers alone with the moon and the sea.

Deep indigo and sea green, beautiful against white or dark green tiles.

See the print

8. Dutch Ship off Tsushima

A Dutch sailing ship lies at anchor in calm blue water, with small Japanese boats in the foreground.

Utagawa Hiroshige II, Dutch Ship off Tsushima, Late Edo period, third month of 1859. Yokohama woodblock print in ōban format; ink and color on paper. Harvard Art Museums.

Utagawa Hiroshige II made this print in 1859, the year Yokohama opened to foreign ships. A Dutch ship rides at anchor off Tsushima, watched by small Japanese boats.

Clear sky blue and teal for a fresh, graphic bathroom.

See the print

9. O Sho, The Winter Carp

A figure kneels on a snowy river bank beside two carp that have appeared through a crack in the ice.

Totoya Hokkei, O Sho, The Winter Carp, c. 1825. Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono. Art Institute of Chicago.

Totoya Hokkei made this small print around 1825. It tells the Chinese tale of Wang Xiang, who lay on a frozen river to catch fish for his stepmother until the ice opened and two carp leapt out.

A small, delicate print for a powder room or beside a mirror.

See the print

Quiet rituals and garden greens

Gentle figures and fresh greens for a softer bathroom.

10. Woman Bathing

A woman leans over a washbasin in a patterned room, drawn in flat colour and fine lines.

Mary Cassatt, Woman Bathing, 1890–91. Color aquatint and drypoint on off-white laid paper. Art Institute of Chicago.

Mary Cassatt made Woman Bathing in 1890 to 1891, one of ten colour prints inspired by the Japanese woodblocks she saw in Paris. A daily ritual becomes a picture of pattern and calm.

The classic bathroom print, lovely with soft blue, sand or blush walls.

See the print

11. Karin by the Shore

A woman in a blue apron and white hat stands by a calm lake, with orange lilies in the foreground.

Carl Larsson, Karin by the Shore, 1908. Malmö Art Museum.

Carl Larsson painted his wife Karin by the water at Sundborn in 1908, framed by summer lilies. It is one of his freshest and calmest pictures.

Perfect for a Scandinavian bathroom in white, pale green and light wood.

See the print

12. Bird's Nest and Ferns

A small bird’s nest with eggs rests among green ferns and moss on the forest floor.

Fidelia Bridges, Bird's Nest and Ferns, 1863. Oil on panel. Art Institute of Chicago.

Fidelia Bridges painted this tiny corner of a forest in 1863 with great precision. Ferns, moss and a nest of pale eggs make a cool, green world.

Brings the green of a fern filled bathroom onto the wall.

See the print

Bathrooms are humid, so choose a print framed behind glass or acrylic and keep it out of the direct path of the shower. Small and medium sizes suit most bathrooms; hang the picture at eye level above the bath, beside the mirror or on the wall opposite the door. Repeat one colour from its palette in towels or a soap dish. For more sea pictures, see our guide to coastal wall art.

Questions

Can you hang art in a bathroom?

Yes. Choose prints framed behind glass or acrylic, keep them away from direct splashes and make sure the room is ventilated. A well framed print lasts for years in a bathroom.

What kind of art suits a bathroom?

Calm pictures of water, shores, boats and bathers, Japanese prints, and botanical studies. Cool blues and greens look fresh against tile and white porcelain.

Where should art go in a bathroom?

Above the bath, beside the mirror or on the wall facing the door, at eye level and away from the shower spray.

What size art works in a small bathroom?

One medium picture of 30 to 50 centimetres, or a pair of small ones, is usually enough. A single larger piece can make a small bathroom feel bigger.