Living room wall art: 12 masterpieces, by wall and by mood
A Homer seascape for a bright room, a Canaletto for a formal one, a Viennese salon for a reader’s corner: twelve paintings chosen for the room you spend most time in, with the colours of each.
The living room is where a painting does the most work. It is seen from the sofa, from the doorway and from across the room, in morning light and lamplight, by you and by every guest. So the best living room pictures share a few qualities: they read well from a distance, they reward a closer look, and their colours sit happily with the room around them.
Each of the twelve paintings below is shown with its colour palette, taken from the picture itself, so you can match it to your walls, sofa and rugs. We have grouped them by mood: bright and airy, calm and green, and warm and sociable. Every one can be ordered as a print, and where you see a room view, that is the painting hung on a real wall.
For a bright, airy living room
Sea, sky and open views make a sunny room feel even bigger.
1. Coast of Maine
Winslow Homer, Coast of Maine, 1893. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
Winslow Homer spent his last decades on the Maine coast, painting the Atlantic from the rocks below his studio. This canvas of 1893 is all weight and movement: dark rock, green water and a burst of white spray.
Strong enough to hold a whole wall, and calm enough in colour for a pale room with grey, white or navy textiles.
2. The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge
Canaletto, The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge, 1730s. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Canaletto painted Venice for the English gentlemen who came on the Grand Tour, and they hung his views in their drawing rooms back home. Here, in the 1730s, the Grand Canal runs toward the Rialto Bridge in clear morning light.
A classic choice for a formal living room, especially with blue green or stone coloured walls.
3. View on the Hudson
Christopher Pearse Cranch, View on the Hudson, c. 1853. Oil on canvas. Harvard Art Museums.
Christopher Pearse Cranch was a poet as well as a painter, and his view of the Hudson around 1853 has a poet’s calm: sailboats drifting, a low sun and soft hills on the far bank.
Its soft blues and greens suit a light, airy room with natural linen and wood.
4. Setting Sun, Antwerp Harbor
Johan Barthold Jongkind, Setting Sun, Antwerp Harbor, 1868. Etching on ivory laid paper. Art Institute of Chicago.
Johan Barthold Jongkind was one of Monet’s teachers, and his harbours taught the Impressionists how to catch fleeting light. In this etching of 1868 the low sun lays a bright path across the water at Antwerp.
A graphic black and cream print that fits a modern or minimalist living room.
For a calm, green living room
Gardens, paths and fields bring the outside in and soften a busy room.
5. Landscape, Eragny
Camille Pissarro, Landscape, Eragny, 1890. Transparent watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper. Harvard Art Museums.
Camille Pissarro settled at Éragny in 1884 and painted its fields and orchards for the rest of his life. This watercolour of 1890 follows a sunny path between trees, in fresh greens and warm ochres.
Lovely in a living room with sage or olive walls, or beside plants.
6. Peasant House at Éragny
Camille Pissarro, Peasant House at Éragny, 1884. Oil on canvas.
Pissarro’s own village again, in oil this time: a farmhouse half hidden behind trees in 1884, painted in the small, flickering strokes he was developing at the time.
A gentle, rural picture for a cottage-style living room.
7. The Mill Pond
George Inness, The Mill Pond, 1889. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
George Inness painted feeling more than places. In The Mill Pond of 1889, trees, water and a single figure dissolve into a soft golden haze.
A warm, quiet picture that settles a living room with wood and leather furniture.
8. Moscow Courtyard
Vasily Polenov, Moscow Courtyard, 1878. Oil on canvas. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Vasily Polenov’s Moscow Courtyard of 1878 is one of the best loved paintings in Russia. A summer afternoon, children in the grass, a horse waiting by a cart and church domes shining beyond the trees.
A sunny, cheerful picture for a family living room.
For a warm, sociable living room
Interiors, gatherings and rich colour make a room feel lived in and welcoming.
9. The Morning Room of the Palais Lanckoronski, Vienna
Rudolf von Alt, The Morning Room of the Palais Lanckoronski, Vienna, 1881. Watercolour.
Rudolf von Alt painted the great rooms of Vienna in watercolour. This morning room of 1881 is crowded with pictures, carpets and furniture, with two men reading in the sun. It is a living room painted as a portrait.
Perfect for a book lover’s living room with deep red, green or brown tones.
10. In the Dining Room
Berthe Morisot, In the Dining Room, 1886. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Berthe Morisot painted her maid in the dining room in 1886, with a little dog at her feet. The brushwork is so quick and light the whole room seems to shimmer.
A light, lively picture for a living and dining space in white and soft grey.
11. A Naiad (Hylas with a Nymph)
John William Waterhouse, A Naiad (Hylas with a Nymph), 1893. Oil on canvas.
John William Waterhouse told the Greek story of Hylas many times. In this version of 1893 a water nymph rises from a woodland stream to gaze at the young man asleep on the bank.
A romantic picture for a living room with dark green or teal walls.
12. Festival in Piazza Navona
Giovanni Paolo Panini, Festival in Piazza Navona, 1729. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
Giovanni Paolo Panini painted Rome’s great public festivals for visiting nobles. In 1729 the Piazza Navona fills with carriages and crowds around Bernini’s fountain, under the dome of Sant’Agnese.
A lively, detailed picture to hang where guests gather, above a sideboard or a console.
A few rules make any of these work. Hang the centre of the picture at about 145 to 150 centimetres from the floor, or with its lower edge 20 to 25 centimetres above a sofa. Let the picture be about two thirds as wide as the furniture below it. And pick one or two colours from its palette to repeat in cushions, a throw or a vase, so the painting and the room belong together. For bigger walls, read our guide to large wall art for a living room, and for a wide piece above a sofa, see horizontal wall art.
Questions
What kind of art is best for a living room?
Pictures that read well from across the room and still reward a closer look: landscapes, seascapes, city views and lively interiors are the classic choices. Match the mood of the picture to the mood you want in the room.
How high should art hang in a living room?
Hang the centre of a picture about 145 to 150 centimetres from the floor. Above a sofa, leave 20 to 25 centimetres between the back of the sofa and the lower edge of the frame.
How do I match art to my living room colours?
Use the painting’s palette. Pick one strong colour from it to repeat in a cushion, rug or vase, and choose a picture whose background tones sit close to your wall colour.
Should living room art match the sofa?
It should relate to it rather than match it exactly. A shared colour, or a picture about two thirds the width of the sofa, is enough to tie the two together.