I’ve been working on redoing my craft room recently. After new paint and wallpaper, I was craving fresh art for the space too. But original art wasn’t in the budget. Instead, I downloaded free public-domain artwork that I could print on a budget. I got so many questions of “where did you get that art?” that I thought I’d write a tutorial on how to get free vintage art!

how to find free vintage art for your home

First of all, what is public-domain artwork? These are pieces of art that are no longer protected by copyright, so you can use them without paying the original artist or licensing the artwork.

Why are they no longer under copyright? In the US, art published more than 95 years ago is now in the public domain. In other countries (like the UK, Canada, and most of Europe), once the artist has been dead for more than 70 years, the item is now in the public domain.

Works of art, in general, made before 1870 are safe to assume that they are in the public domain.

art round up

So now that you know more about public-domain art, I thought I’d share my favorite free vintage art! The links will go to where the art can be downloaded- for free! At the bottom of this post I’ll go over how I print them affordably.

I’ve included 50 pieces of art. These are items I have in my house or ones I’d add.

Another thing I want to mention is you might have seen this art for sale before. You can get on Etsy and pay to get a download and yes, they might have sourced it from the public domain. Or you might go into a store that sells art and see it on a canvas. This is all legal. But now that you know how to get it for free, you can print it yourself and save a ton of money.

Botanical Style Bird Prints

In my craft room, I wanted to use botanical style bird prints. They feel interesting and the colors are beautiful. These were created by the artist Johann Friedrich Naumann. He was a German artist who lived from 1780-1857. Naumann studied ornithology, the study of birds, and was known throughout Europe for his expertise. He published and illustrated books about the birds that he loved.

Victorian Cat Art

My son loves cats, so we’ve used a lot of art by Henriette Ronner-Knip. She has a romantic style and uses rich colors. She was born in Amsterdam into a family of artists. Later in life, she was married to a man who became blind, so she became responsible for supporting the family. To do this, she used her painting skills and painted portraits of cats.

In the Victorian era, pet paintings were popular with the wealthy. Cats had recently started to become household pets in Europe, valued for companionship (before they were used mainly for mousing and often lived outdoors). Henriette’s art depicted cats having fun in domestic scenes with beautiful furniture, linens, and household objects.

Kittens with a Ribbon

botanical flower art

I love botanical flower art and have used many throughout my house. My favorites come from painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté who was a French painter and botanist who lived from 1759-1840. He used watercolors and was known as one of the greatest botanical illustrator of all time.

Another interesting fact is that he was the official artist for Marie Antoinette. He’d paint rare and beautiful plants from the royal gardens for her. The artist was granted full access even to her private estate in the Palace of Versailles and the artwork was used for the royal archives. In addition, Redouté would sometimes tutor Marie Antoinette with painting.

Daffodil

Pink Rose with Butterfly

Strawberry Flower

Blue Hyacinth

Yellow Rose

Vintage Flower Paintings

In my bathroom, I had an old frame I wanted to use and needed art to go with it, so I chose a floral bouquet painting by Maurice Alfred Décamps. He was a French impressionist artist who was born in Paris in 1892 and lived until 1953. Décamps was known for his floral still-life paintings done in oils and studied under Pierre Montézin. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1913 at the young age of 21.

Blue Flowers

Roses in Blue Vase

Bouquets

Maurice Alfred Décamps (1892–1953) was a French artist known for his beautiful floral still-life paintings, especially lush bouquets painted in rich, romantic colors.He had originally trained as an architect, which you can see in the way he captured Austrian buildings and streets with so much detail. Hayd lived through both World Wars and his artwork documented the impact of war on Austria.

Daisies

Dahlias

Primroses

Clouds

I recently did a board game book and covered it in an image of clouds- which would be so pretty as art too. Simon Alexandre Clément Denis was born in 1755 in Antwerp and died in 1813 in Naples. He mostly painted neoclassical landscapes in Italy. His preferred medium was oil on canvas. Denis is most famous today as a pioneering early practitioner of plein-air (outdoor) painting.

Sunset Near Rome

Early Evening Cloud Study

Distant Storm

Landscape & House Art

Landscape art is always a good idea- especially if there’s a house in it. I really like the art of John Constable who was an English Romantic painter who lived from 1776-1837. He is known for revolutionizing the genre of landscape painting by painting the natural world more honestly. He especially liked to paint Suffolk, where he was born, and found it easier to paint because he loved the area.

Female Portraits

I think the look of a portrait gallery wall is so chic! Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is a French artist who is known as Madame Le Brun who lived from 1755-1842 and was a Rococo portrait painter. She created a name for herself by becoming the portrait painter to Marie Antoinette. She painted over 660 portraits during her lifetime and started painting when she was in her early teens.

Seascapes

There is nothing more beautiful than the sea and Winslow Homer was excellent at painting marine subjects. He lived from 1836-1910 and was one of the foremost American painters of the 19th century. He was mostly self-taught and began his career as a commercial illustrator. Later he painted in oils and watercolors to chronicle his travels.

bird art

Aert Schouman (1710–1792) was a Dutch artist. He was a talented and versatile artist who worked in painting, printmaking, glass engraving, and more, and was especially known for his detailed studies of birds and other natural history subjects. I love his bird artwork for its delicate details and beautiful, natural colors, making it perfect for adding a vintage touch to a gallery wall.

Animal Art

Alexandre-François Desportes (1661–1743) was a French painter and decorative artist who worked primarily in Paris and created artwork for royal palaces including Versailles. He became known for his paintings of animals, hunting scenes, and flowers, often working in oils with incredible detail. I especially love his animal paintings as they have such a beautiful, classic French feel.

botanical floral art

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) was a German-Dutch naturalist and scientific illustrator who was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and later worked in Amsterdam. She was trained as an artist and created detailed botanical illustrations using watercolor, engraving, and etching.

I especially love her botanical artwork because she combined beautiful flowers and plants with the insects that lived among them, creating these incredibly detailed and interesting natural history illustrations.

Vase with Flowers

Daffodils and a Butterfly

The Wonderful Changes of an Insect

how to print the art affordably

For printing the free vintage art, I like to take the download and then have it printed at my local FedEx. Check if your city has one (if not, you probably have a local print shop). Personally, I like FedEx because I can order and pay online and then go and pick it up quickly once I get an email that it’s ready. I don’t like waiting at the print shop- lol.

As a tip, make sure to download the largest size of art you can get when you’re printing it. Sometimes, the art can look pixelated when printed if the file isn’t big enough. The print shop will give a warning if this will be an issue.

printing different sizes of art

I go on Fedex.com and then click on the “design and print” tab. For an 8×10 print, I go to the “Business and Marketing Essentials” tab and select “resumes.” At that point, I upload the art and select the type of paper for it to be printed on. I usually choose Ultra Bright White Card 80 lb. and add it to my cart. These usually cost less than $1 each to print.

For larger art, I go to the “Banners, Signs, and Posters tab and select “poster prints.” At this point you can upload the art and select the size of poster you want. Measure your frame and select anything from a 16″x20″ poster on up to a 36″x48″ poster (with many sizes in between). I stick to the matte paper. These posters are more expensive, starting at $18.

When checking out, you can select “pickup in store” and then choose which location to get them printed from. My store usually takes a few hours to print them and email and call me that they’re available. The website will say when they can be printed to give you realistic expectations.

Then I just bring the printed art home and pop them into a frame. Sometimes I have to cut them down a little (especially the 8×10 prints) and so I use this paper cutter to trim them. It’s quick and a very affordable way to have beautiful art in your house.

conclusion

A quick note on this post- I included art that is in the public domain in the United States. Each download page will tell you if it’s in the public domain through the world or if any countries are excluded. Please make sure the art is available in your country before using.

I hope this gives you some ideas for finding beautiful free vintage art! I love that public domain art makes it possible to fill your home with pieces that feel collected and special, and you can customize the size and frames to fit your space. It was so fun for me to find my favorite pieces and I hope you found one you like as well.

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