What New York Times graphic?

Kathy,

Whenever I hang a piece of art over a piece of furniture or a mantel, I always have the bottom of the frame hit somewhere around 4-6 inches above the furniture/mantel. This ensures that the art relates to the piece below it and doesn't "float" above it.

You'll also want to consider the objects you may want to display on the mantel. They can bridge the gap between the mantel and the art.

Hope that helps!

What New York Times graphic?

If memory serves, this article originally came with an "AT Select" logo that used the T from the "Times Select" logo as a joke about premium content. The NY Times did send something along the lines of a cease-and-desist letter, which is why the graphic is gone.

And now Times Select is also gone. Such is the rhythm of life.

How high I hang my art work depends on how it will be viewed. If it will be viewed while seated (in the dining room) it goes a bit lower. If its viewed where people are standing up its a bit higher. Im 5'10 so I hang it to whats comfortable to me. I do have a series of pieces on a half wall. They are not intricate so they can be appreciated from a standing position. I like having pieces in unexpected places.

I just dont agree that there is one standard height for all art.

I use a special formula based on the rule of thirds and avergae height of the adults in the family. It's a bit complicated to cover in this format, but all the details are available at our site- http://www.scotttribe.com. We have also posted a height hanging calculator to simplify the process - the page describing the principles and link to calculator can be found at http://www.scotttribe.com/content/index.php/Latest/What-height-to-hang-pictures.html

Jeff- The Chicago Art Institute does hang its art higher than most east coast museums. I also think it's true that the midwest population is for the most part taller than east coasters. I don't know if this accounts for the difference but it's something to think about. We use approximately 57 but I think most people hang their art & their flat panel screens way too high, esp. if they have high ceilings.

HOW many times has this post been recycled? Is this the third?

I use 60" also. You can imagine my chagrin when I went to my boyfriend's place for the first time and there was no consistency whatsoever. He used somewhere between 72" and 80" for 36x48 posters. In a 8' room, everything seemed to be inching towards the ceiling, like they were trying to escape. Some topped out 6" from the ceiling. Ugh.

gallery hanging is one thing, but inside your home? why not just use your eyes and your sense of taste to determine where a particular piece should be placed in particular surroundings. using a rule like this seems like a crutch to create arrangements that are likely to be inoffensive but unlikely to be entirely well-suited to individual space and aesthetics.

but then, i suppose it would come in handy for those people who just don't have a sense of taste. then by all means let 57" rule your life.

Ivy, I think what you're looking for are A-frames with pegboard sides? That's what we use for our student exhibitions. Like these, perhaps?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsart/287179067/

I'm a museum curator at an accredited fine art museum and I can assure you that all museums do not follow the exact same rule. We have one gallery that we hang at a 59" centerpoint; another with much higher ceilings has a 60" centerpoint. Several others have chair rails at about 40", so we have to work around that.

A number of museums are starting to lower labels and centerpoints to be more accessible to those in wheelchairs, and more accessible to children. If only tall adults on two legs come in your house with 18' ceilings, hang those puppies high, for heavens' sakes.

I confess: NOTHING in my house is hung according to my museum's rules, because I'm so sick of being limited at work. I eyeball everything and move it if it bugs me.

I agree with the hang it where it looks right's.

Rules, rules, rules. Hang it where it looks good.

Just lean the suckers against the wall and be done with it.

I'm with Taureg. We've seen this content before, and very recently, too!

"I won't even mention art hung in a stairwell ... that would be a Pandora's box type question, right?" she cheekily types ...

Perfect advice for the type of person that doesn't care what they hang just so there's "something on the wall".

hah! that's old navy wrapping paper in the frame up there. i papered our bar area in it!

http://isuwannee.blogspot.com/2008/05/yes-its-crooked-i-know.html

who knew!

it's supposed to be 5 *FEET* 7 inches.

god, i hope nobody hung their art below the light switches.

i can't believe nobody pointed out this error.

whatever height you want to hang something is personal preference, but what i think one should take away from this post is how to figure out where to place your nail/screw/whatever.

I'm vertically challenged. I've always hung pictures the way I was taught: if most people sit in an area, the pictures should be hung low enough to view without neck-craning. If it's a hallway, entry area or somewhere most people would stand, the art should be hung for straight on viewing for average height people.

I can't believe how many design savvy people don't know this. The most common mistake I see in people's homes is hanging art too high.

such a useful tip. I'm such a picture hanging klutz!

The "Rule":
Imagine that the artwork is a mirror. You want to be able to see your face in a mirror without bending down or stretching up.
Now, break the rule if/when you want to make a (more) dramatic effect.

I'm with Teresa and Le_Sacre. The art should RELATE to other things in the room--a credenza, a sofa, a window, whatever. It has very little to do with the standing height for viewing that is commonly used in galleries. In my experience, people who are following the rules in this article almost always hang their art too high. It's floating on the wall and is not anchored to anything. I prefer to look at the "vignettes" created by different views within my house. No one is standing six (or more) feet away admiring my Rembrandts. They are being drawn in to various "scenes" within my house because of the way each one surprises and engages (at least, I hope that's what is happening!)

I have salon-style arrangements that cover entire walls. Saves me from having to measure so much.

I never understand why people apply art gallery hanging rules to homes. The purpose of an art gallery is purely to display art, so pictures should be hung at the optimum height for viewing that art. One of the reasons there is little or no furniture in art galleries is because you're not supposed to sit down and relax in an art gallery, you're supposed to nothing except stand and focus on the art on the walls.

The purpose of a home is not purely to display art. It's to relax, feel comfortable, socialise, play, study, whatever. Anything hung on the walls should facilitate those activities. And often, if not most often, that means the art should be hung to fit in with the proportions of a furnished room and provide visual balance to the room as a whole. Step away from the measuring tape!

My take on this rule and I DO think it's 5' 7" roughly, not 57" is it gives you something to go by when measuring, it's found to be the average IME height of any given room with 6" being the max for extra tall ceilinged rooms and for super huge art.

That said, since much artwork is hung at home, you DO need to ground it to whatever it's next to or near, such as furniture, shelves etc and there, no more than 6"-12" for the bottom of the frame to the back of the piece of furniture. I have one tall, narrow painting that rests on a LACK shelf unit and just leans against the wall, works just fine and when that same painting hung over my old dining table, I let the bottom of it hang about 6" from the table top, I have a series (not finished) of vintage 60's era Jazz album covers in black album frames where the bottom row's frames are no more than 6" or so from the top of the sofa's back (a red leather Klippan), otherwise, roughly 5'7" is a good average height and if you measure, I think you'll find most prints hung as I hang them will run more or less at that point at the center to 2/3 up the frame from the bottom.

I can't tell you how many times I see too many people hand artwork etc much too high on walls.

Very tall ceilinged rooms, be it flat or cathedral I find do best with larger artwork for small or many small items may feel lost and cluttered no matter how you try to avoid it and if need be, you CAN put larger artwork up a tad higher - especially when there is nothing to relate it to. At the same time, at home most artwork is viewed from a seated position so it needs to be a bit lower than in most museums for that reason. Nothing worse than having to crane one's neck to view something and I WILL often notice the artwork etc in a home and will note how it's all pulled together (or not)

I just use a system where you can move your pictures arround the wall and find out what the best position is best. At a store from holland called http://www.stasstore.com its with rails and transparant corts. Regards Rob