Created by Dan Robbins in the 1950s, Paint by Numbers kits were a cultural phenomenon that was embraced by millions of aspiring artists. A cross between a colouring book and a painting, these kits enabled even a novice painter to become a fine artist. The concept was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci, who used numbered patterns on canvas to teach his apprentices how to paint. Through these kits, Robbins made painting accessible to all, ‘Every man a Rembrandt’ as the packaging said. The finished paintings from the '50s and '60s are now sought after collectors items. We have photographed our five favourites from that era and turned them into these incredible jigsaw puzzles.

This 1000 piece, 27" x 20" (68.6 x 50.8 cm) rectangular puzzle is a Paint by Numbers woodland landscape with birch trees and a still lake. The original kit titled ‘Quiet Waters’ contained 30 oil colours which gave it a moderate level of difficulty. The clean lines and hard edges of the coloured sections show the artist’s attention to painting within the lines which makes this painting so recognizable as a Paint by Numbers kit. 

The difficulty level of this puzzle is hard. The large number of colours and small details of the painting make this puzzle a satisfying challenge.

To learn about the history of Paint by Numbers, you can read our article here.

pieces : 1000
size : 27" x 20" (68.6 x 50.8 cm) rectangular
difficulty : 4 / 5