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How To Select Art For Your Home
By Lynne Taetzsch, Sat Dec 10th
Selecting art for your home can be an exciting adventure and asource of enjoyment for years to come. Keys to success arefiguring out what kind of art you like, how it will fit in withthe rest of your interior design plans, and how to exhibit theart to the best effect in your home. What kind of art do you like? If you regularly visit galleries and museums, you probablyalready have a good sense of what kind of art appeals to you. Ifnot, there are many opportunities to browse art within yourcommunity at local exhibitions and art fairs. Even small townsusually have a not-for-profit gallery space, and your local caféor restaurant may exhibit the works of local artists. In largercities, galleries often get together for monthly or periodic"gallery nights" where all the galleries hold open housereceptions on the same evening. It's a great way to see a lot ofart in a short time.
Today the internet provides the largest variety and depth offine art available worldwide. You can visit museum websites andsee master works from ages past, check out online galleries forgroup shows, and visit hundreds of individual artists' websites.One advantage of using the internet is that you can search forthe specific kind of art you are interested in, whether it'sphotography, impressionism, bronze sculpture, or abstractpainting. And when you find one art site, you'll usually findlinks to many, many more. Should the art fit the room or the room fit the art? As an artist, I'd certainly prefer that everyone buy the artthey love and then find a place to put it. If you feel stronglyabout a particular work of art, this is certainly the way to go.But you may find that when you get the art home and place it ona wall or pedestal, it doesn't work with its surroundings. Bynot "working," I mean the art looks out of place in the room.Placing art in the wrong surroundings takes away from its beautyand impact. What should you do if you bring a painting home and it clasheswith its environment? First, hang the painting in various placesin your home, trying it out on different walls. It may lookgreat in a place you hadn't planned on hanging it. If you can'tfind a place where the art looks its best, you may need to makesome changes in the room, such as moving furniture or takingdown patterned wallpaper and repainting in a neutral color. Thechanges will be worth making in order to enjoy the art you love. Sometimes the right lighting is the key to showing art at itsbest. You may find that placing a picture light above a paintingor directing track lighting on it is all the art needs toexhibit its brilliance. If you place a work of art in directsunlight, however, be sure it won't be affected by theultraviolet light. Pigments such as watercolor, pencil andpastel may fade, whereas acrylics will not. (Be sure to framedelicate art under UV protected glass or acrylic.) How to pick art to fit the room. If you prefer to do the room first and then find the art, sizeand color are the two major criteria for selecting art to fitits surroundings.
For any particular space, art that is toolarge will overwhelm and art that is too small will be lost andlook out of proportion. The bolder the art, the more room itneeds to breathe. As a rule, paintings should be hung so that the center of thepainting is at eye level. Sculpture may sit on the floor, atable, or pedestal, depending on the design. Rules should beconsidered guidelines only, however, so feel free to experiment.One collector, for example, hung an acrylic painting on theirbedroom ceiling so they could better view it while lying down. When selecting a painting to match color, select one or two ofthe boldest colors in your room and look for art that has thosecolors in it. You're not looking for an exact match here.Picking up one or two of the same colors will send a messagethat the painting belongs in this environment. Another possibility for dealing with color is to choose art withmuted colors, black-and-white art, or art that is framed in away that mutes its color impact in the room. A widelight-colored mat and neutral frame create a protectedenvironment for the art within. Style is another consideration when selecting art to fit a room.If your house is filled with antiques, for example, you'll wantto use antique-style frames on the paintings you hang there. Ifyou have contemporary furniture in large rooms with highceilings, you'll want to hang large contemporary paintings. How to create an art-friendly room Think about it. When you walk into a gallery or museum, what dothey all have in common? White walls and lots of light. If awall is wall-papered or painted a color other than white, itlimits the choices for hanging art that will look good on it. Ifa room is dark, the art will not show to its best advantage. If you want to make art the center of attraction, play down theother elements of the room like window coverings, carpeting,wall coverings, and even furniture. A room crowded with othercolors, textures and objects will take the spotlight away fromthe art. You may want to select one room in your house to focus on art.Paint the walls white or off-white. Lay hardwood floors or aneutral carpet. Install window coverings with clean simple linesand neutral colors (or no window coverings at all). Put upceiling spot lights that can be adjusted to focus on the art, oruse individual lighting for each piece. For the furniture,follow the principle that less is more. Keep it spare. This isnot the room to display your collectibles. Let the art star.Then relax and enjoy it. Selecting and displaying art is an art in itself. Experiment tolearn what pleases you and what doesn't. You'll be well-rewardedfor the time you invest by finding more satisfaction both in theart and in your home. Source: http://www.artbylt.com About the author:Lynne Taetzsch is an artist and writer who has published bookswith Van Nostrand Reinhold, Regnery & Co., Watson-Guptill, andFaber & Faber publishers. Her contemporary abstract paintingshave been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout theworld, and she currently has a studio in Ithaca, New York. Visither online art gallery at http://www.artbylt.com.
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