What I've done is-go to Wikipedia and put in the artist's name. When it comes up scroll down to their works-very often the copyright is there when you click on a particular painting. Starry Night by Van Gogh has been recreated as a quilt; I saw it at MQX in 2003. I'm sure it was public domain.
It just takes a little extra research.
Hope this helps,
eileenkny

Thanks for the info. I thought as much. But Monet is dead, is he before copyright? But Georgia O'Keefe is probably within copyrights. I see big quilted flowers, which reminded me of her work, but not exactly her work, so don't copy, but imitate?
well something to think about.
Joan

A further thought - I took a professional photo of my sister to try to portray in fabric a few years back, and Kinkos pointed out that the photo was copyrighted by the photographer, and they wouldn't let me make copies. Before then, I had NEVER considered this. It can be a pain, but if you think it through, it just makes sense. It is my dream that I would be so talented that others would ask me to copy my designs!!! LOL But if I was so confident and talented that I chose to make my living through my art, well copier beware!!

Nope, sorry. You need written permission from the artist. To that end, you might try searching some of the oldies, before copyright was enacted. Or, contact the artist, and let him/her know what you're trying to do. Many times, the artist is O.K. with it, as long as it's for personal use. But..........ya gotta ask.

Hi, I am curious as to the "rules" about quilting what we see. Let me try to explain! What if we see a picture/statue etc from a museum, or a card, or a picture from a magazine, can we make it into fabric? Now I'm not the best here, and so it won't be exact, just like a representation or my interpretation. Would it be ok if on the label I write "inspired by such and such a painting by so and so" something like that? I like patterns to make quilts for family/friends, but for myself I like to go out of the box and try other things. What's the general rule here?
Thanks
Joan