Is a bigger painting a better painting?

Is a bigger painting a better painting? As you may intuitively guess, not necessarily so. After all, the Mona Lisa is about the size of the bathroom mirror in my old summer cabin. At only 30 X 21 inches, the queen of the Louvre definitely garners more attention than thousands of other larger works within the museum. So why are we often drawn to the largest work in an exhibition?

I have puzzled over this observation of gallery visitors frequently. The only way to mitigate this tendency is to show several large pieces together. Even then, many visitors visual seem to scan for the largest painting and anchor their exploration of a show using this work as their primary reference. As a curator of art shows, I have tried different strategies (unsuccessfully I might add) to minimize this tendency. So what to do?

As a casual viewer of paintings, I like to do a slow circle of a room first one way and then the other and then I settle in and explore more fully just two or three works. I step back then I step forward and then I step back again. I ask myself what is it that is drawing me towards this specific painting? In answering this question, size rarely comes up as a consideration. This process seems to get me past the hooks of the-largest-painting-in-the-room syndrome.

When I am viewing work for a specific location, I use the same process with one distinct difference. I measure the space I want to hang the work before I go looking at paintings. I have a minimum and maximum height and width in mind. These measurements are seldom as large as the empty space available on the wall. Remember the example of the Mona Lisa? The measurements are only a guide because paintings do not take up equal visual space based on their dimensions. Sometimes an ill-fitting large work becomes nothing more than background noise in a room where a different small work will set a visual still point well beyond its small real estate. For these reasons, the measurements we take are not rules but guides to assist us in our decision.

In conclusion, the best painting is one that sings to your heart and enhances your space. Size should only be a secondary consideration when choosing an original painting.