Guides/Article

    How to Write a Caption for a Painting (Artist, Title, Year, Medium)

    7 min read · Updated September 15, 2026

    A painting caption is a short identifying label: who made it, what it is called, when it was made, and how it was made. Get those four facts right and the image stays useful — on Instagram, in a portfolio, or on a wall.

    This guide walks through artist, title, year, and medium in order, then shows short and extended examples. For a ready copy-paste block, see Artwork Caption Template: Copy-Paste Museum Labels for Paintings (Free Examples). For the broader museum format, see How to Write a Museum-Style Artwork Caption.

    Start with the four core fields

    Write the caption in this order every time. Consistency matters more than flourish.

    • Artist — the maker’s name as you want it published
    • Title — the painting’s title (or Untitled)
    • Year — the date of the work
    • Medium — paint type, support, and usually dimensions
    Artist Name
Title of the Painting, Year
Medium; support; dimensions

    1. Artist

    Use the name the artist publishes under. Add a short life line only when it helps identification — nationality and birth year, or birth–death dates for historical artists.

    Priya Sen

or

Priya Sen (b. 1985)

or

Haruto Abe (Japanese, 1941–2017)

    2. Title

    Give the painting’s official title. If it has none, write Untitled — do not leave a blank line. In running prose, titles are often italicized; on a short image caption, a plain title line is fine.

    Blue Kettle, 2022

Untitled, 2024

Study for Evening Window, 2019

    3. Year

    Prefer an exact year. If the date is uncertain, say so clearly with circa (c.) rather than guessing.

    • Exact: 2022
    • Range when needed: 2019–2020
    • Approximate: c. 2018
    • In progress only if truly unfinished: 2025–

    4. Medium (and dimensions)

    Name the paint and the support, then add size. Specific beats vague: “oil on linen” is better than “mixed media” when you know the materials.

    Oil on canvas; 55 × 70 cm

Acrylic on panel; 30 × 40 cm

Oil and wax on linen; 80 × 100 cm

    Put it together: short and extended painting captions

    Short captions suit social posts and grids. Extended captions suit wall labels, PDFs, and press.

    Short
Priya Sen
Blue Kettle, 2022
Oil on canvas; 55 × 70 cm
Courtesy of the artist

Extended
Priya Sen (b. 1985)
Blue Kettle, 2022
Oil on canvas; 55 × 70 cm
Courtesy of North Dock Gallery, Glasgow

Another short example
Marco Ellison
Lemon Table, 2020
Oil on panel; 40 × 50 cm

Another extended example
Yara Haddad (Lebanese, b. 1992)
Green Shutters, 2023
Acrylic on linen; 90 × 120 cm
Collection of the Ortega Family

    Optional lines after the core four

    Only add extras when they are true and useful:

    • Courtesy of the artist / gallery
    • Collection of … / Private collection
    • Edition info for works that are editioned
    • Inventory or accession number for private or institutional records

    Common painting caption mistakes

    Fix these before you publish:

    • Posting the photo with no identifying text at all
    • Changing title spelling between Instagram and your website
    • Skipping medium (“painting” alone is not enough)
    • Mixing cm and inches in the same list
    • Writing a long story before artist / title / year / medium

    Caption a painting image with ArtCaption

    Drop your painting photo into ArtCaption, fill artist, title, year, and medium once, and export a clean museum-style caption under the image for portfolio pages, Instagram, or print sheets. Processing stays private in your browser, with no upload to our servers.

    Priya Sen Blue Kettle oil painting with a museum-style caption showing artist, title, year, and medium
    Priya Sen, Blue Kettle — artist, title, year, and medium under the painting. Made with ArtCaption.

    FAQ

    What should a caption for a painting include?
    At minimum: artist, title, year, and medium. Add dimensions and a courtesy or collection line when the image will travel beyond your own archive.
    How do I write a painting caption if the work is untitled?
    Use Untitled and the year. That still identifies the work. Avoid posting with no title line at all.
    Do I need dimensions in every painting caption?
    Dimensions help a lot for sales, loans, and wall planning. On very short social captions you can omit them, but keep them in your master inventory and on exhibition labels.
    Should the painting title be italicized?
    In running prose, yes. On a short caption block under an image, a plain title line is standard and easier to read — stay consistent with your own house style.

    Related guides

    Create your caption next

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