Well, I'm half-way through with my summer internship, and I must say, time flies! I truly don't feel like I've been here for 4 1/2 weeks already. Things are taking a rather slow pace around the gallery lately; the heat has kept most people off the streets, so we're not getting so much walk-in traffic. Point being, I've had time to check out other fine art galleries in our area. In doing so, I've come to understand the proper way to display art and the improper way to display art.
A few galleries (which will stay unnamed) were less concerned with displaying the beauty and power of a few pieces of their collections than simply showing off the size and extent of their collections. These galleries simply lined the walls with painting after painting, leaving only an inch or so of wall space between each work. I mean, these galleries were crammed full of paintings! Even the lighting was displaced in a nonchalant fashion.
Some galleries, on the other hand, masterfully and tastefully hung their works according to prominence, leaving other works shelved behind the scenes, but still easily accessible for bringing out to interested clients. When hung this way, each work was given room to "breath," in a sense. Thus, the viewer is pulled into that single painting and allowed to focus on IT, not being distracted by the other million paintings surrounding it.
It is also important to consider the hanging works' compositions. Simply, a contemporary collage should not be hung adjacent to an eighteenth century portrait. Rooms should be kept in sync with each other. If you want to display contemporary works, have a contemporary room for contemporary art only.
This week has thrown into my consideration the importance of display. I immediately deemed the crammed galleries of a lower status than the aesthetically pleasing galleries simply because of the way their paintings were hung.
You tell me which is better:
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