Frame sizes per print size???

[Box Brownie]

Hi all

Sorry if this is the wrong section but could not find a sub fora more logical 

I have found a gallery who having shown them an online selection of my varied subjects/work would like me to exhibit in 2014 so all being well lots of time to get this right?  It is a non moderated gallery i.e. if they like the subjects and "you" after an informal meeting following filing their application form you go in on the agreed month and hang them with the help of one of the assistants. NB the hanging period is 1 month and the footfall is good IMO as this is a hospital thoroughfare.

Now the total availble space is 33'6" long by 4'6" high with lowest point not to go below of 3' above the floor level.  I have seen they either let the space as a whole or split it into two approx equal lengths.  The hanging rails are continuous along the whole length and they are spaced 17" apart, there being 3 rails.

Now at this stage I am thinking of displaying a mixture of sizes depending on crop or not with the max likely being 10x15, with the smaller ones being 8x10 and 8x12 so based on these and indeed any size down to the smallest of the small i.e. 6x4 what size should the frames be in relation to the print & mount size.  Ultimately for this first time I will be buying stock sizes of frames.

Many thanks for the insight and guidance

[PeterAit]

First of all, I would not display prints as small as 6 x 4. They may look cute when held in the hand, but when on a wall with people passing by they will just be ignored, for the most part.

For the larger sizes you mention, I would want about 2" of mat border around the print.

[bill t.]

The minimum sizing you should consider is a 13 x 19 print in a 22 x 28 frame.  That gives a pretty wide, dramatic matte that is an even size all around the print.  As Peter mentioned the smaller stuff just gets lost.  While venues like hospital walls can be very lucrative, people will be there for other reasons than buying art and your pieces must shout pretty loud to be noticed, especially if they are in a passage rather than a waiting room with a captive audience.  And as a general rule art always looks smaller at the installation than in your house, usually a lot smaller.  If I were going into that space, I would show three 8 foot wide panoramas on canvas with 4" moulding and no mattes or liners.

The 13x19/22x28 combo gives a consistent matte width all the way around the image.  Among the basic "rules" is that the matte should never be thinner than the moulding (if that's what you want use a liner instead).  For a really boring but politically correct frame, use the inevitable 1" to 1.5" black, featureless moulding.  That way painters won't get mad at you.

There are always things you can't control at such installations.  #1 is lighting.  Give some thought to what sections of your space have decent light on the wall, and which don't.  Select and print your images accordingly.

Sounds like you may have so-called French hangers.  You can usually slide those left and right to get optimal spacing for various sizes.  A general problem with hanging frames from such rods is that they tend to hang tilted forward at the top because they are not snug up against the wall and there is nothing to keep the bottom of the frame from swinging backwards.  Dangle a frame in the air with a finger over the wire, you'll see what I mean.  I have made spacers out of cardboard folded in a v shape or thick packing foam with holes punched so they can slide up the part of rod adding some support to the bottom of the frame.  Buy some dowel or other rod simulator from Home Depot and experiment before the installation.  Good luck!

[Edward Mendes]

Traditionally standard framed sizes for matted prints would be as followed

8x10 print matted to 11x14 or sometimes 16x20
11x14 print matted to 16x20
16x20 print matted to 22x28
20x24 print matted to 28x32
24x30 print matted to 30x40 or 32x40
30x40 print matted to 40x60

Regarding the sizes you show, I would keep them consistent in size.  Hanging 10 16x20 images matted to 22x28 looks much better on the wall than having a variety of print sizes.  Check out any successful retail gallery, especially those that represent only one artist, and notice how they hang there images.  All about the same size and as LARGE as possible.  My standard gallery size is 24x30 matted to 30x40 and framed in 3 inch fine hardwood frames.

Good luck with the show, I hope its a wonderful success!

[Graham Clark]

Depending on the aspect ratio, I would recommend two sizes:

• 16 x 24
• 24 x 36

For that size those are reasonable, and when a vertical 16x24 is aligned with a horizontal 24x36 they match perfectly. A couple marketing principles that I've learned along the way could be useful in your upcoming non-moderated gallery experience:

• offering each image in three sizes is an excellent approach. this approach follows the Great American Marketing Breakthrough (GAMB), which consists of offering products in three sizes: small, medium and large. for example: 11x14, 16x24 and. 24x36
• the pricing you decide to sell this product for defines whom your audience will be, meaning who will be able to afford your work
• when applied to galleries, the 80/20 law stipulates that 80% of your income will come from 20% of the galleries your work is in
• the value in art in its quality and limited availability
• one of the most important framed pieces is not for sale - it's your artist statement

The above may not make sense, but then again consumer thinking is not necessarily logical.

Graham

[bill t.]

Nice looking installation!

Just a few comments.

You need to be careful with the small, medium, large thing.  If you are too overt about that, you will position your work as a commodity item, rather than Art.  Sears sells things in small, medium, and large, but your pieces should be "available in custom (or alternate) sizes."  Avoid showing different sized pieces of the same image at the same time.  If somebody is  hesitant, mention that you have other sizes available, but only if you think they're about to walk.  If somebody starts to buy a small or medium piece, ever so daintily mention that you have a "version for a large space" available, but do that only if you actually have it right there ready to go, otherwise you can lose the sale entirely to induced indecision.

It is impossible to define a market.  You have go find them, and sometimes they hang out in funny places.  FWIW there exist large, unsatisfied markets in the middle class willing to buy "reasonably priced" but impressive art in sufficient numbers to make much more difficult, higher $ sales to upscale markets seem inconsequential.  Unless your last name is Gursky or Lik or you have a gallery at Caesar's Palace.

Concentrate on galleries with good sales.  Drop galleries with poor sales, unless they are a prestige venue.

The value of art is in whether or not somebody wants to buy it.  There are many reasons that could be so, but for most buyers other than the rare collector, limited availability is either a non-issue or a very minor one.  Most people buy art because it affects them in some personal way, they think it will enhance their stature, they feel it will impress their friends, it's a good color match for the sofa, and it's "priced right", not necessarily in that order.

I sometimes don't even show an artist's statement.  But newspaper clippings, screen grabs from TV appearances, and other media related graphics are potent stuff that will cast you as a certified, genuine artist.  Talk is cheap, and artist's statements are about as useless as a resume.  Media coverage is credible, even when the writers got almost everything wrong, and the editors only made it worse.

But that's just me.

[Mike Guilbault]

When's your book coming out Bill?