Ideas for living with art

Guides, essays and references on choosing, hanging and understanding art prints.

Textured vs Smooth Art Paper

Textured paper adds character; smooth paper adds precision. How the surface affects detail, colour and the feel of a print, and which art suits…

A size like 50 × 70 doesn't say whether a print is portrait or landscape, and on the wall it matters. How to read…

That white margin isn't wasted paper. It protects the image, eases framing and changes how a print looks. When it matters and how to…

Elevations, plans and imagined cities: architectural drawing is a graphic genre with a long history. How to look at it, and how to hang…

Rothko wanted his paintings seen from about 18 inches; Newman asked people to stand close. How Abstract Expressionism used scale, and what it means…

Scissors, magazines and an idea. Photomontage began in Dada Berlin and moved onto covers and books. How it differs from collage, and archive images.

A mesh, some ink and a squeegee. How screen printing works, how Pop Art turned it into a visual language, and how it differs…

In the late nineteenth century Barcelona had its great poster moment. From the Anís del Mono contest to Els Quatre Gats: how Modernisme took…

Thousands of dots of pure colour that, from a distance, become a Sunday afternoon. What pointillism was, how optical mixing works and what it…

Publisher, designer, carver, printer: ukiyo-e was a team effort. How the prints were made, why Europe fell for them, and what to know about…

Between 1953 and 1968, a small German school reshaped industrial and graphic design. What HfG Ulm was, who made it and why its mark…