Old Masters Wall Art

What's in the collection

Johannes Vermeer's girl in a blue turban turns out of the dark with a pearl at her ear. Leonardo da Vinci's chalk study of a woman's head bends quietly to one side. Lucas Cranach paints a bearded courtier in black and red, and Jan van Kessel heaps a vanitas still life with roses, a skull, an hourglass and a soap bubble. These are the oldest works we carry, and they sit at one end of the range that runs through fine art prints to the nineteenth century in impressionist wall art.

One house style

Dark grounds are the common thread, which makes this group the easiest to hang in a room with strong colour or heavy furniture. A black or espresso frame disappears into the background of the picture; natural oak warms it. Because the tones are deep, one print at a generous size usually does more than three small ones. For decorative work from a later century, see art nouveau wall art.

Sizes, paper and framing

Every design is offered on archival matte paper in nine sizes from 8\" x 12\" to 30\" x 40\", plus A4-A1 for European frames, and on matte canvas either stretched on a wooden bar or set in a solid wood floating frame in white, black, espresso or natural. Printed with pigment-based archival inks, rated to resist fading for decades indoors.

Questions about old masters wall art

Will the dark backgrounds look flat in print?

No. Pigment inks on matte paper hold the depth, and fine surface cracking stays visible at larger sizes.

Which size fits a narrow wall?

12\" x 18\" or 16\" x 24\". The wall art size guide compares them side by side.