How To Hang A Painting
A well-hung painting transforms a whole room. Here are the guidelines museums give to show off your artwork and keep it safe, without getting it wrong.
The Ideal Height
No official standard sets the height of a painting. The firmest reference comes from the Smithsonian: in its guidelines for accessible exhibitions, it places the centre of what visitors read on a wall 137 cm from the floor, a comfortable height for people standing and for people seated, and it considers the whole range between 122 and 167.5 cm comfortable. The calculator starts from this reference and gives you the exact height of the hook.
Work Out The Height Of Your Hook
Enter the height of the canvas, between 10 and 250 cm.
This centre falls outside the range the Smithsonian considers comfortable for everyone, 122 to 167.5 cm.
Paintings By Régine At This Height
Régine Gardan
An Award-Winning Artist, 1964 - 2018
- 25+years of painting
- 200+hand-painted canvases
- 35+exhibitions
- 14awards & honours
Above a sofa or a piece of furniture, no manual sets a gap: the calculator simply tells you where the bottom of the canvas falls, so that it clears the furniture. The National Park Service museum handbook mainly asks you to keep the artwork away from furniture, doors and walkways that could knock into it. To hang several pictures together, our gallery wall planner works out where each hook goes.
Choosing The Right Wall
A colourful abstract painting loves light, but avoid direct sunlight, which dulls the pigments over time. Avoid hanging it above a radiator or a fireplace too: Museums Galleries Scotland points out that rising hot air carries dirt onto the canvas. Favour a wall that is seen as soon as you enter the room, in a neutral shade that lets the colour breathe.
The Right Fixings
Our canvases are oils on a light wooden frame, delivered ready to hang. The National Park Service museum handbook gives three simple rules: picture hooks rather than nails, two hooks for a heavy canvas, and a fixing into a stud or into concrete rather than into plaster or plasterboard. For a panoramic format such as “Tendresse” (120 x 40 cm) or a large 100 x 100 cm square such as “Ambition”, two fixing points also keep the canvas straight. Check now and then that hooks and hangers are still secure.
Picture It Before You Drill
Not sure of the ideal size for your wall? Our hanging simulator shows you a painting to scale, in your home, before you choose.
Once in place, a few simple habits keep your canvas vivid: see how to care for your painting.
Explore Her Colours
Each colour tells an emotion. Step into Régine Gardan's collections:
