Paint Café : My Workshop : Tips and Advice : Choosing wall colours to hang artwork

Choosing wall colours to hang artwork

There are many ways to hang artwork. If you have just moved into a new house that needs repainting, it is possible for you to take into account the artwork you want to hang before choosing wall colours. To do that, you may wish to inspire yourself from the way designers hang artwork in the great museums.

1. In museums, designers will, from time to time, choose to paint walls in colours that were popular at the time the featured artist lived. For example, works by a nineteenth century artist might hang over a red wall.

2. They may also choose shades that are reminiscent of an era or place with a link to the exhibition. For example, an exhibition of Italian renaissance works could be presented in a decor that reminds of Sienna brownish orange clay.

3. If they can find the information, designers may choose the same colours the painter had requested be used on the walls of the museum where he or she had exhibited work while alive.

4. Another way of proceeding in museums is to choose a colour that is found in small quantities in most of the works exhibited in a same room.

5. If there does not exist enough similarities between the pieces, it is better to choose a neutral colour, in tones of cream, sand or in grey.

To validate your choice, use a very rigid piece of cardboard and make a panel that is larger than the artwork you wish to display. Buy a small can (1 litre) of the paint you have chosen, paint the cardboard and lay the artwork over it to see for yourself what the effect will be. In the end, trust your taste and your instincts. Even professionals are not always in agreement.

6. If you wish to hang paintings or reproductions in a room that you do not want to repaint, you can choose those pieces that would best suit the room. For example, you could select those pieces in which the colour of the wall is found in small quantities.

7. Another way to proceed is to choose works that are brighter to decorate a room with dark walls and pieces that are darker for a brighter room.