: In the US for paintings made before 1978, the date of public domain depends on the first date when ANY likeness of the painting was published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain#Artworks

@Becky328

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In the US for paintings made before 1978, the date of public domain depends on the first date when ANY likeness of the painting was published. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain#Artworks
"Published" has been defined in several ways. Here's a good wikipedia summary:

To show that a work was published, one could look for printed works that contained reproductions of the artwork: art prints, art books, a catalogue raisonné of the artist's works, exhibition catalogs, and so on (although it is not clear when publishing a thumbnail constitutes publication of the original work). Reasonable effort should be made to find the earliest publication. If any is found from before 1923, that's good enough and the work is in the public domain. Remember, though, that "publication" means "lawful publication", which implies the consent of the author of the original.

Note that once a painting is in the public domain in the US, any photographs of this same painting published later on would still be public domain -- because such a photograph would be slavish reproduction of the original. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_Corp.
For graphic works produced after 1978, different rules apply. Generally it falls into the public domain 70 years after the painter's death.

One final thought. Wikimedia Commons (and wikipedia) are very thorough about clearing images on its websites. Generally any image you find on these sites will have correct labeling about copyright/public domain status. Sometimes the labeling will leave as ambiguous whether it's in the public domain in the USA though.

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