Ordering the Right Size Painting
David
Last Update 2 years ago
When shopping for a painting, size is nearly as important as the composition of the piece. That's why here at 1st Art Gallery we can paint any image, in any size! We can go as large as 120 inch on one side and unlimited on the other side. We offer various standard size options, as well as the ability to create custom sizes, because we understand it’s important that your painting perfectly fits the space in your home, as well as your taste.
Paintings needs breathing space to be appreciated. An improperly sized painting can either overwhelm a room or allow the room to overwhelm the art, neither of which is aesthetically pleasing. So you should take the time to ensure that you purchase your art in a size that is perfect for your needs.
Choose a painting size that best fits the proportions of your wall space. If it’s a narrow space then you’ll want a vertical painting, which are also referred to as having a “portrait” orientation. If it’s a wide space choose a horizontal size, which are referred to as having a “landscape” orientation.
How To Order the Perfect Size Painting For Your Wall? Start by Measuring the length and width of the wall where you want to hang the painting. If it is going over a bed, couch or other piece of furniture, only measure the open wall space, from the top of the furniture to the ceiling rather than from floor to ceiling.
The general rule is to choose a size that will amount to about 65% of the available space. So, for example, if your wall is 120 inch wide, a good width would be 120 x 0.65 = 78 inch.
Here is a little cheat sheet to help you choose the perfect size:
Recommended Art Sizes
WIDTH OF WALL Width of Artwork
1. 40" 26”
2. 50" 32.5”
3. 60" 39”
4. 70" 45.5”
5. 80" 52”
6. 90" 58.5”
7. 100" 65”
8. 120" 78”
9. 140" 91”
To ensure that the size of the painting is of your liking you may want to outline the dimensions of the piece on your wall using a painter's tape. Step back and take a photo of the wall with your phone. Then, readjust as needed and compare different sizes.
Paintings hung over furniture or a mantel should be about 75% of the width of the furniture; for example, a painting over a 100 inch-long sofa should be about 75 inches wide. Artwork hung over a fireplace tends to look best when the painting is as wide as the opening of the fireplace, no matter the size of the mantel.
If you intend to frame your piece, don't forget to factor frame size into your choice. This isn’t necessary when hanging with unframed canvases; however, even a moderate 2-inch frame will add 4 inches of width to your new painting, altering the ratio between the artwork and the size of the wall.
How high to hang your painting? 57” above the floor is the general rule. But rules are made to be broken. The larger the artwork, the lower it can be hung.
On our website we offer a few different types of sizes
The original artwork size. This size is available if we have this information in our records.
Sizes that maintain the proportions of the original artwork. These sizes keep the original ratio between the width and the height of the artwork, as it was originally painted.
For example, a square painting, such as The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, will have a 1 to 1 ratio. Proportionate sizes would be 20x20 inch, 33x33 inch, 45x45 inch, etc. All these sizes maintain the exact same ratio of 1 to 1. The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir has an aspect ratio of 3 to 2, meaning it's width is 1.5 times larger than it's height. So proportionate sizes for this painting will be 1.5 wider than it's height, for example 30” by 20”, 40 by 26.5, and 55” by 36”.
The third type of sizes that we offer are standard sizes, which are sizes of the most commonly found ready made frames, which might be cheaper than custom made frames. These sizes might not be proportionate to the original size.
The last size option is the Custom Size option, which allows you to order any painting, in any size you like, with or without maintaining the original.
It is always advised to order a size that maintains the proportions of the original artwork. If you order a disproportionate size, we may need to crop part of the painting or change or remove some of it's elements to fit the painting in the disproportionate size that you've selected.
As an example, let's look again at The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. As mentioned earlier, the original painting is a perfect square so any squared size would maintain it's original proportions. But if you order a disproportionate size, we night need to crop, meaning cut away, part of the painting, or conversely add additional background on both sides of the couple, in order to accommodate the specifics of the disproportionate size that you've ordered.