A facile direct precipitation method was used for the synthesis of luminescence nanomaterial. Gd2O3 doped with rare earth element Eu3+ is synthesized by polyol route. The synthesized nanoparticles show their characteristic red emission. The nanoparticles are characterized by x-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) study. The synthesized nanoparticles are spherical particles with ~ 30 nm size. The photoluminescence studies show the characteristic Eu3+ red emission. The PL study shows the intensity of the magnetic dipole transition ($$ ^{5} D_{0} \to \,^{7} F_{1} $$ 5D0→7F1 ) at 592 nm compared to that of the electronic dipole transition ($$ ^{5} D_{0} \to \,^{7} F_{2} $$ 5D0→7F2 ) at 615 nm. The nanomaterials can show significant application in various display devices and biomedical applications for tracking.