A woman in a nightgown stands in a room with a couch and a lit floor lamp, looking out a large picture window. A house is visible, lit by a streetlamp.

Untitled, 2002, Gregory Crewdson. Chromogenic print, 48 1/16 × 59 13/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2012.81. Gift of Trish and Jan de Bont. © Gregory Crewdson

Gazing out a window may, at first, feel like a lonely act—especially now, as many of us are spending most of our time at home, away from loved ones and our daily routines. But a window can also help open up our worlds, framing the life that still goes on outside. Taking a moment to acknowledge the quiet beauty of trees rustling in the breeze, children playing catch, and neighbors rushing home with shopping bags reminds us that an infinite number of stories are unfolding every day, right outside.

Artistic inspiration, too, can be found simply by gazing out (or in) a window. The view from an artist’s window may reveal how they interpret the world outside or illuminate the story unfolding inside. (In 2014, there was a Getty exhibition on the topic.)

Take a look at the paintings and photographs below to discover a few ways artists have featured windows in their work. While many of us are spending more time looking out our windows than ever before, these works demonstrate the power and beauty that can be found in this quiet act.

Untitled

A woman in a nightgown stands in a room with a couch and a lit floor lamp, looking out a large picture window. A house is visible, lit by a streetlamp.

Untitled, 2002, Gregory Crewdson. Chromogenic print, 48 1/16 × 59 13/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2012.81. Gift of Trish and Jan de Bont. © Gregory Crewdson

This staged photo, in which a nightgown-clad woman gazes out her living room window as night falls, exudes a mysterious, almost surreal sense of foreboding. The primary light source is the lamp in the corner, which throws ominous shadows around the room. The window frames a suburban street – usually the ultimate representation of order and predictability, but here it looks haunting in the fading light.

Crewdson’s work often plays with themes of suburbia, nature, mystery, and the supernatural. He typically shoots staged photos, in which he assembles models, sets, and props to create a narrative, and has said that a major point of inspiration for his work is the 1977 sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The Rue Mosnier With Flags

Painting of a mostly empty street lined with French flags. A person with one leg walks up the street with crutches. A carriage is further up the street, with several people standing beside it.

The Rue Mosnier With Flags, 1878, Édouard Manet. Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 × 35 1/2 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 89.PA.71. Digital image courtesy of Getty Open Content

At first glance, this painting simply depicts a street celebration in Paris, as seen from artist Édouard Manet’s second-floor window. The day was June 30, 1878, a national holiday called Fete de la Paix (Celebration of Peace). It coincided with the recent Exposition Universelle, and commemorated France’s recovery from its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and the ensuing trauma of the Commune, a short-lived revolutionary government in Paris that was brutally suppressed by French troops.

Patriotic red, white, and blue flags wave and well-dressed Parisians traverse the streets in horse-drawn carriages. However, a closer look reveals a less-rosy view of modern society: a man on crutches who is missing one leg, a worker behind him carrying a ladder, and a construction site. While upper classes celebrate progress, growth, and peace, harsher realities of life are also on view.

Manet frequently turned his attention to everyday people, depicting rich and poor alike—in this case, taking inspiration from the disparities visible on the street outside his window.

The Cat at the Window

A dark room lit only by the double-paned window where a cat is coming in from outside. A person peeks into the room from the door on the left.

“Le chat” or The Cat at the Window, about 1857–1858, Jean-François Millet. Conté crayon and pastel with stumping and blending, fixed on wove paper, 19 5/8 × 15 1/2 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 96.GF.12. Digital image courtesy of Getty Open Content

In this drawing, a black cat with glowing eyes wiggles through a window, as a man peeks out from his bed curtains. While cats are notorious for their love of looking (and jumping) out windows, this drawing also has a lesson to teach. It illustrates the 17th-century fable “The Cat Who Became a Woman” by French writer Jean de la Fontaine, in which a man becomes obsessed with his cat and convinces Destiny to turn her into a woman. However, on their first night together, she jumps out of bed to chase a mouse. The moral of the story is that the truth about one’s self will eventually come out, even if your outward appearance has changed.

Women At Their Windows

Mixed media, a drawing of two windows, 1st and 2nd floor, with cutouts of photographs of women in the windows. British guardsmen walk by, seen only by their tall hats.

[Women At Their Windows], 1880s–1890s, British. Collodion print with brown ink and wash, 12 1/16 × 14 1/2 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 84.XA.1252.25. Digital image courtesy of Getty Open Content

You might relate to these women if you’ve found yourself peering out your window, keeping tabs on the goings-on in your neighborhood. The brick building and fur caps of members of the royal guard are drawn in brown ink, while the three women in the upper window and the lone woman glancing out the lower window are made of cut-out photographs. The trio on the second-floor stands, heads together, with a conspiratorial air. Perhaps these ladies are gossiping about whatever is across the street that has captured their attention. Nosy? Yes. Timeless? Also yes.

Jed Johnson

A man in a blue jackets stands at a large, floor to ceiling window. Outside, a multi-story building takes up the whole view.

Jed Johnson, December 1971, Andy Warhol. Dye diffusion print, 3 3/4 × 2 7/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2013.73.35. Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Sometimes, a window may frame a subject placed in front of it, as is the case with this Polaroid photo by Andy Warhol. The man standing in front of the open window is interior designer Jed Johnson, Warhol’s lover of 12 years. Johnson’s modern (at the time) shag haircut and blue jacket are juxtaposed against the ornate 19th-century building across the street. The camera appears to be several feet away from its subject, who has focused his gaze out the window rather than the photographer. There’s a feeling that we’re taking a surreptitious look at Johnson—perhaps capturing him in a candid moment.

Warhol and Johnson’s relationship ended in 1976. Johnson died in the TWA Flight 800 explosion in 1996.

Zuma

View of the ocean as seen from inside a broken window with tattered curtains falling off the rods.

Zuma #3, negative 1977; print 1982, John Divola. Dye imbibition print, 14 1/2 × 18 1/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004.157.6. Los Angeles, Gift of the Wilson Centre for Photography. © John Divola

In this photograph, the window itself tells a story. It’s part of John Divola’s Zuma series, a photographic record of an abandoned building overlooking Malibu’s Zuma beach from 1977 to 1978. Divola chronicled the house’s decay, which was caused by natural elements as well as human intervention such as fire and vandalism. The torn curtains, broken windows and rotting wood frame the ocean view, highlighting how the forces of humans and nature combine to affect the physical world.

Apartment Windows

Many windows in a checkerboard pattern, all uniformly sized, some with blinds open, closed, or partially pulled down. A shadow is cast from the left.

Apartment Windows, negative 1977; print 2004, Robert Mapplethorpe. Gelatin silver print, 13 3/4 × 13 3/4 in. Gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.57.212. © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation

Rows upon rows of windows give this apartment building an imposing first impression. With no roof, door, or even sidewalk visible, the windows appear to be part of a repeating pattern. But if you look closer, you’ll notice that no two windows are exactly alike. The shades are drawn at different heights, some blinds are open partway and some none at all—a reminder that behind each window is a unique world, with its own story.

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