Events from the year 1685 in art.

• (unknown)

• March 17 – Jean-Marc Nattier, French painter (died 1766)
• November 5 - Peter Angelis, French painter (died 1734)
• November 15 – Balthasar Denner, German portrait painter (died 1749)
• date unknown
  • Charles Cressent, French furniture-maker, sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur of the régence style (died 1768)
  • Pietro Paolo Cristofari, Italian artist responsible for a number of the mosaics in St. Peter's Basilica (died 1743)
  • Bernardo Germán de Llórente, Spanish painter of the late-Baroque period (died 1757)
  • Francesco Sleter, Italian painter active in England (died 1775)
  • Jan van Gool, Dutch painter and writer (died 1763)
• probable
  • William Kent, architect and designer (died 1748)
  • Johann Georg Schmidt, Austrian Baroque painter (died 1748)

• January – Herman Saftleven, Dutch painter (born 1609)
• March 25 – Nicolas Robert, French miniaturist and engraver (born 1614)
• May – Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch genre painter (born 1610)
• June 16 – Anne Killigrew, English poet and painter (born 1660)
• August 8 – Giovanni Battista Salvi or Sassoferrato, Italian painter (born 1609)
• September – Adam Colonia, Dutch painter working in England (born 1634)
• October 2 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (born 1638)
• October 3 – Juan Carreño de Miranda, Spanish painter (born 1614)
• date unknown
  • Li Yin, Chinese painter, poet and calligrapher (born c.1610)
  • Giulio Trogli, Italian painter nicknamed il Paradosso ("the Paradox") (born 1613)
  • Jan Baptist van Heil, Flemish painter (born 1604)