Vertical Wall Art

Vertical Wall Art: The Honest Version

Be clear about what you are buying here: a shape rather than a subject. Tall formats are chosen for the wall, not for the image, and that is exactly where people come unstuck. A tall piece needs a tall wall — a genuine run of clear plaster between the top of the furniture and the ceiling — and most rooms have fewer of those than their owners think. Measure that gap before anything else.

The second caveat is eye level. Hang a tall piece with its centre at the usual height and the top climbs well above comfortable viewing, so the upper third is seen at an angle and effectively wasted. Either accept that the top is atmosphere rather than detail and choose an image whose interest sits low, or hang the whole thing lower than instinct suggests.

Crookedness is unforgiving in this format. A slight tilt that would pass unnoticed in a wide piece is glaring against a vertical, because the eye compares its long edge with the door frame, the corner of the room and the drop of the curtains. Use a level, and check it again after someone next knocks the wall.

Where the format genuinely earns its keep is narrow, awkward wall: between two windows, beside a chimney breast, on the strip next to a door, in a stairwell where the ceiling runs away from you. In those spots a tall piece does something no other shape can, drawing the eye up and making a cramped wall look intentional rather than left over.

As for subject, choose images with vertical structure of their own — a waterfall, a tree, a figure, a tower, a run of stairs. A landscape cropped into a tall frame usually looks like a landscape that lost an argument. Hold a tall sheet of paper against the wall for a day before ordering, and if you keep noticing how close it comes to the ceiling, go one size down.