Top 5 tips on how to hang and handle your original artwork or print.

OK. So you have spent a lot of time in finding out the perfect piece for your home. You receive the artwork and you are keen to put it up on wall and enjoy its beauty on your wall. But in the haste of hanging the artwork you end up handling it a bit roughly or hang it up on store bought plastic hooks. The artwork ends up on the floor getting damaged. We hear these stories a lot and therefore, here are our top 5 tips on how to hang and handle your original artwork or print.

Handling your artwork:

After you take the artwork out of its packaging, hold the artwork by its edges or the wire at the back of the frame or the stretched canvas. The artwork may get damaged with fingerprints pressure leaving its distinct marks, causing the canvas to sag slightly at the point of pressure. If you have purchased a print unframed, make sure that you hold it by its border. The reproduction/print will loose its archival quality eventually wherever you have touched it with your fingertips on the actual image/ print.

If you have purchased a reproduction/print that is unframed, then make sure you buy a frame with a mat board separating the glass from the surface of the reproduction/print. Otherwise it will get damaged eventually. It is best to get the artwork framed professionally by a local framer as it will help your artwork last long. You have spend a decent amount of money on buying this artwork and you would like to make sure it lasts, right?

Hanging your artwork:

Once your artwork is ready to hang, make sure to hang your artwork in a well lit space but away from direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will eventually fade the colours and damage the material of the artwork. The reproduction will loose its archival ink quality if exposed to direct sunlight.

If you want to hang the artwork in the kitchen, make sure that it is away from the steam and heat from the cooking area as overtime the moisture will damage your artwork no matter how superior it is in its quality at the time of purchase even if it is framed behind the glass.

We recommend hanging your original artwork by its wire at the back. If the artwork is hung by its frame, it may eventually bow and change the shape of the entire canvas.                   

Plastic hooks may work to hang your artwork but we recommend good quality metal hooks so that the artwork is protected from falling accidentally in case the glue is not strong enough.

If you have followed these basic tips to handle and hang your artwork, then there is nothing else you need to do.

Just sit back and enjoy your new artwork up on the wall and enjoy that little ‘you’ space you have created.