Design resources · updated daily
Free Public-Domain Art for Book Covers
Classic artworks you can put on a book cover without a licence fee: the Cleveland Museum of Art releases its public-domain images under CC0.
119artworks
86large enough for a 6 x 9 cover
Browse by theme
Autumn
5 artworks
Birds
6 artworks
Castle
6 artworks
City
7 artworks
Flowers
3 artworks
Forest
6 artworks
Garden
6 artworks
Horse
6 artworks
Landscape
7 artworks
Moon
6 artworks
Mountains
6 artworks
Night
7 artworks
Portrait
7 artworks
Reading
6 artworks
River
5 artworks
Sea
7 artworks
Ship
6 artworks
Still Life
6 artworks
Storm
5 artworks
Winter
6 artworks
Recently added
Landscape with Fishermen
Yi Bul-hae (Korean, active 1500s)1600s
Blessing of a Yacht on the Belon River
Maurice Denis (French, 1870–1943)1899
View of Schroon Mountain, Essex County, New…
Thomas Cole (American, born England,1801–1848)1838
On the Beach, No. 3
Maurice Prendergast (American, born Newfoundland [now…c. 1915–18
Greek Cavalry Men Resting in Forest
Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863)1858
Virgin and Child
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519)c. 1500
Portrait of a Couple
Unknown artistc. 1580–88
Portrait of Roberto Castiglione
Unknown artistearly 1600s
Charles Apthorp
Robert Feke (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, c.…1748
British Manufactory; A Sketch
Benjamin West (American, born The Thirteen Colonies…1791
Portrait of Dora Wheeler
William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916)1882–83
Early Morning After a Storm at Sea
Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)1900–1903
Using public-domain art on a cover
- Use the print-resolution file — 300 ppi at final size is the target (1,838 x 2,775 px for a 6 x 9 in front cover with bleed).
- Most paintings are not 2:3; plan a crop or extend the background.
- Crediting the museum and artist is courteous even when not required.
- Check that the image is marked CC0; works still in copyright are not included here.
Sources & data
- Artwork data and images from the Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access API (CC0).