Office Art: Original Paintings for Workplaces

Original hand-painted art for professional spaces, signed by the artist, one of a kind, and chosen to anchor a working room without overwhelming it.

Which kind of painting suits which kind of office?

Abstract work suits boardrooms, landscape and nature painting calms high-pressure rooms such as reception and consulting offices, and contemporary portraiture reads well in an executive suite or a creative agency where the space should feel personal.

An office is not a waiting room. It is where decisions are made, where clients are received, where culture is felt before anyone explains it, and the walls carry part of that message. This collection is put together for those rooms: law firms, tech offices, creative agencies, medical practices and executive suites. Nothing here is a hotel-chain reproduction. Each painting is an original by a Canadian artist, one of a kind and signed, chosen because it can hold a room without shouting across it. Every piece ships free and fully insured across Canada and the USA and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, which also gives an office manager a clean document for the file.

Fiery Echo: Original Colored Pencil on Artboard by Phaedra | VanArtHub, an original painting in the Office Art collection
Fiery Echo: Original Colored Pencil on Artboard by Phaedra | VanArtHub · $723.00

Why should an office buy original art instead of prints?

An original painting tells staff and clients that a real person at your company looked at a real object and made a real decision, and no mass-printed canvas can send that signal. Every piece we sell is hand-painted, signed, and one of a kind, packed by us in Vancouver. We will be blunt about the alternative: prints are cheaper, and if the budget only stretches to posters right now, buy posters and come back later. But a print on an office wall reads as filler. People walk past it the way they walk past a fire extinguisher. An original stops a few of them, and those pauses are the point. A visitor who asks about the painting behind reception has already formed a better opinion of the company than one who noticed nothing at all.

What does original art actually do inside an office?

Original art marks the office as a place someone cares about, and it gives people a concrete way to remember your space. Clients describe meetings by the room they sat in, and a room with a strong painting gets a name. Staff read it too. A company that hangs real art is saying the office is meant to be worked in, at a moment when many workplaces are trying to give people a reason to come back. We will not pretend a canvas raises productivity by some percentage. Nobody can honestly measure that. What we can say is that bare drywall says nothing, and silence is also a message.

Azure Whisper: Original Colored Pencil on Artboard by Phaedra | VanArtHub, an original painting in the Office Art collection
Azure Whisper: Original Colored Pencil on Artboard by Phaedra | VanArtHub · $723.00

How do you get office art approved in the budget?

Office art is normally approved inside the fit-out or furniture budget, not as a separate art expense, so the person to convince is whoever signs off on chairs and desks. Keep the proposal small and specific. Pick one wall, get a written quote, and attach a mockup photo of the painting in place. Then make the asset argument in plain words: a painting arrives with an invoice and a Certificate of Authenticity, it sits on the books like furniture, and unlike a chair it never wears out or goes out of warranty. Ask for one wall, deliver it well, and let that wall argue for the next one.

How much does office art cost?

Our originals start around $72, and a realistic office program runs from a few hundred dollars for a single wall to a few thousand for a full client-facing floor.

ProgramWhat it coversTypical budget
One wallReception or the main meeting room$300 to $1,500
Client-facing floorReception, boardroom, and two corridors$1,500 to $6,000
Whole officeEvery shared space plus key private offices$6,000 and up

Delivery adds nothing to these numbers. Shipping is free and fully insured, 3 to 7 business days within Canada and 5 to 10 to the USA, which matters when you are quoting a total to a finance manager who dislikes surprises.

Echoes of the Unseen 03: Original Oil on Board by Nahira | VanArtHub, an original painting in the Office Art collection
Echoes of the Unseen 03: Original Oil on Board by Nahira | VanArtHub · $1,265.00

Where should an office start?

Start with the wall your most important visitors see first, which is almost always reception. From there, work wall by wall using our guide to office wall art, and narrow the style with our modern office paintings. Companies testing the idea often begin with pieces under $1,000. If you would rather hand the whole problem to us, our free art advisory service builds a shortlist against your floor plan and budget. One honest caution before you spend anything: art cannot fix bad lighting. Sort the lights out first, then hang the painting.

Frequently asked questions

We are fitting out a new office. Can you ship to the job site instead of head office?

Yes, give us the site address and a contact name at checkout or by message. Everything ships free and fully insured from our Vancouver studio, about 3 to 7 business days inside Canada and about 5 to 10 to the USA. For a site still under construction, tell us the earliest safe date, because a painting left in a dusty corridor for two weeks is the one that gets damaged.

What is the least we can spend on a real original for a small meeting room?

Pieces in this collection start around $72, and the middle of the range sits near $500. At the low end you are buying a genuinely small work, usually close to 30 by 40 cm, which suits a huddle room or the wall beside a door rather than a main meeting room. Every one of them is still hand painted, signed, and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

A contractor damaged one of our paintings. Can we get the same one again?

No, and that is the honest answer, because every piece is one of a kind and cannot be repainted. Tell us what was damaged and we will look for available work by the same artist in a similar size, which is the closest match possible. Damaged pieces are not eligible for the Lifetime Trade-Back either, since that covers work returned to us in good condition.

Do you ship to offices in the United States, and who deals with the export paperwork?

We ship to the USA and we prepare the export paperwork on our side. Orders leave our Vancouver studio and reach American addresses in about 5 to 10 business days, with shipping free and fully insured. Your team does not need a carrier account or a courier of its own. If your building needs a delivery appointment or a loading dock booking, tell us before it ships.

Do you have anything small enough for a home office or a desk shelf?

Yes, the smallest pieces here are close to 30 by 40 cm, which leans on a shelf or hangs on a narrow wall behind a monitor. Below that size a painting stops looking like art on a video call and starts looking like a frame. If a desk shelf is the plan, choose a piece with one clear shape rather than fine detail nobody can see on camera.

Should we buy the office art before or after the furniture arrives?

After, almost always. Art bought from a floor plan tends to be sized for the drawing rather than the finished room, and the wall you planned for it often ends up holding a screen or a cable tray. Wait until the desks and screens are in, take photos, then choose. If the timing forces your hand, the 14-day trial gives you a way to undo it.

Why do companies buy original art instead of prints for the office?

Companies buy originals because a hand-painted, signed piece tells staff and visitors that the business invests in real things, and people notice the difference within seconds. A print is a copy anyone can order online. An original is one of a kind. We also take our own paintings back for store credit at any time, which no print shop offers.

How much should a company budget for original art per office?

A practical starting budget is about $150 to $400 per wall you plan to fill, so a small ten-person office often lands between $1,000 and $3,000 for six to eight pieces. Our prices start around $72, and larger feature paintings run higher. Set the budget by counting walls first, then pick sizes to fit that number.

How many paintings does a 20-person office need?

Plan on one artwork for every two to three staff, so a 20-person office usually needs seven to ten pieces. Count the walls people actually look at: reception, the meeting room, the main circulation route, and the kitchen or break area. Leave some walls bare. A wall with nothing on it makes the art beside it read as chosen, not filler.

How do I get office art approved by finance or procurement?

Bring one page with the total, the piece count, the delivery date, and the return terms, because finance approves numbers and risk, not taste. Our 14-day home trial covers the risk part: if the pieces do not suit the space, send them back for a full refund and we pay the return shipping. We can invoice the company directly.

Can we pay by purchase order or invoice instead of a credit card?

Yes, we can issue an invoice to the company and accept a purchase order number on it. Email us the billing entity, the PO number, and the shipping address, and we will send an invoice that your accounts team can process on normal terms. We hold the pieces for you while the paperwork moves so nothing sells out mid-approval.

Does office art count as a business expense?

In most cases office art is bought by the company and recorded as a business asset or expense, but the exact treatment depends on your country and your accountant, so ask them before you file. We give you an itemised invoice and a Certificate of Authenticity for each piece, which is the documentation your bookkeeper will ask for.

When is original art the wrong choice for an office?

Original art is the wrong choice if the lease is short and the walls cannot be drilled, or if the office is a temporary fit-out you will leave within a year. Buy fewer, better pieces you can carry to the next space instead. It is also wrong if nobody in the company wants to choose, because art picked by committee usually pleases no one.

Also for professional spaces:

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Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of art is best for an office?

Abstract and contemporary paintings work best. They are versatile, professional, and do not impose a narrative that might not fit every visitor. Landscape works add calm. Large-scale pieces define executive spaces.

Do you offer bulk purchasing for corporate projects?

Yes. Contact us through the Collaboration page for multi-painting orders. We work with interior designers and corporate clients on volume pricing and coordinated selections.

Can I commission office art in company colours?

Absolutely. Our custom commission service allows you to brief an artist on palette, scale, and style that aligns with your brand identity.

How quickly can office art be delivered?

In-stock original paintings ship within 2-5 business days. Custom commissions vary by artist and complexity, typically 2-4 weeks.

Can you frame the pieces, and can you frame our own certificates and awards too?

Yes to both. Framing is done in our own workshop on Davie Street in Vancouver, and it is not limited to art we sold you. Diplomas, awards, certificates, photographs, maps and objects in shadow boxes are all framed here, which is useful when a reception wall needs the artwork and the credentials to look like they belong together.