The collector’s art library

Painting studies · 38

Explore 1,200 paintings through museum context, material records and interactive scale studies. Notice what you respond to, then use those observations to describe the art you want in your own space.

The reference works belong to the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and are not offered for sale here. Records and images use the museum’s CC0 open-access release; there is no museum partnership. Sources and methodology.

c. 1781 · Italy, 18th century

Study for "The Apotheosis of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina, King and Queen of Naples" (for the Palazzo dei Regi Studi, Naples)

Pietro Bardellino (Italian, 1728–1810) · oil on canvas

c. 1670–72 · Spain

Study for "The Assumption of the Virgin" for San Augustín, Seville

Juan de Valdés Leal (Spanish, 1622–1690) · oil on wood

c. 1639 · Flanders

Study for "The Bear Hunt" (for the Alcázar, Madrid)

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640) · oil on wood

1739 · Italy, 18th century

Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696–1770) · oil on canvas

c. 1750 · Austria

Study for "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (for Saint Ulrich, Vienna)

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (Austrian, 1724–1796) · oil on canvas

1851 · America

Study, North Conway, New Hampshire

David Johnson (American, 1827–1908) · oil on canvas

c. 1841 · France, 19th century

Study of a Reclining Nude

Isidore Pils (French, 1813/15–1875) · oil on fabric

1788 · China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

Su Dongpo

Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730–after 1788) · album leaf, ink on paper

c. 1700–1720 · Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Sugriva challenges his brother Vali, King of the Forest Dwellers, to a duel, folio 10 from the Kishkindha Kanda (Book of Kishkindha) of a Ramayana (Rama’s Journey)

Artist not recorded · Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

c. 1650 · Mughal India, Deccan

Sultan and Musicians

Artist not recorded · Gum tempera and gold on paper

c. 1720–1736 · France

Summer

Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695–1736) · oil on canvas

1891 · France, 19th century

Summer

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, 1824–1898) · oil on fabric

1600s · Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Summer and Winter Landscapes (one of a pair)

Kano Naonobu (Japanese, 1607–1650) · six-panel folding screen; ink on gold- and silver-decorated paper

mid-1600s · Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Summer Flowers

Kitagawa Sōsetsu (Japanese, active 1639–50) · hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on paper

1290–1354 · China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

Summer Mountains (after Dong Yuan [active c. 937–75])

Huang Gongwang (Chinese, 1269–1354) · hanging scroll; ink and slight color on silk

1460s–1550s · Museum collection

Sunset Glow over a Fishing Village, from Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang

Sesshū Tōyō (Japanese, 1420–1506) · Hanging scroll from a set of eight; ink and color on silk

c. 1750 · Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Surmananda Ragaputra of Hindol, from a Ragamala

Artist not recorded · Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

c. 1525 · Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)

Susuki Grass

Artist not recorded · Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper

1756 · France

Sweet Melancholy

Joseph-Marie Vien (French, 1716–1809) · oil on canvas

late 1200s–early 1300s · Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Swift Bull from the Ten Swift Bulls

Artist not recorded · section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper

c. 1890 · France, 19th century

Symbolic Head

Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916) · oil on paper mounted on canvas

1801 · Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Symbols of Longevity: Deer under Peach and Pine

Toda Tadanaka (Japanese, 1761–1823) · Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk (ivory roller ends)

early 1300s · Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Taima Mandala

Artist not recorded · hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

c. 1760 · Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Taking of the toll, Dana-Lila

Artist not recorded · Gum tempera and gold on paper