European Oil Paintings

Europe has been painted more than anywhere else on earth, which makes it harder rather than easier. The subjects in this collection are chosen for a particular hour or a particular angle rather than for the view everyone already has: the Rialto at dawn before the crowds, Sintra ramparts as the sun clears them, a tiled courtyard at the point the light goes flat.

What is in this collection

Around a hundred and ten paintings in three groups. Mediterranean coast covers the Amalfi cliffs, the Faraglioni sea stacks off Capri at golden hour, and harbours worked rather than photographed. Cities and architecture takes in Venice at dawn, the Moorish castle at Sintra, and Portuguese azulejo courtyards where the subject is really the tilework. Northern and inland holds the Plitvice lakes in autumn and the colder light of the continent, along with a small group of literary figures, Dostoyevsky in St Petersburg among them.

The collection is built around light more than around landmarks, which is what keeps it from reading like a travel brochure.

How each painting is made

Nothing here is printed. Each canvas is painted in oils after you order it, by an artist working from the reference on the page. The lead time runs in weeks and no two canvases are identical.

You set the dimensions rather than choosing from a fixed list. Three finishes are available: Simple for a clean, even surface, Texture for visible brushwork, and Museum for the heaviest impasto.

Choosing one for a room

Coastal and lake scenes want width and suit a living room or a dining room, hung low enough that the horizon sits near seated eye level. City and architecture subjects often work better upright, in a hallway or a stairwell, where the building can rise.

Mediterranean subjects bring warmth into a north-facing room. Tell us the wall and we will suggest a proportion.

A European place of your own

A city you lived in, a house in the hills, the view from a holiday you keep going back to: send a photograph and an artist will look at it before anything is agreed. Shipping is free worldwide.