Hanging Paintings

In class we read a piece by O’Doherty in which discusses how paintings are presented. When pictures are framed it creates a “portable window” which transports the viewer into a new place and limits the borders of the painting but hanging a picture takes on a new effect. The frames help to transition a person into the picture. This display influences the interpretation and worth of the piece. There is a relationship with the wall and a painting and hanging deals with the aesthetics of the surface. Easel paintings change its meaning when it is hung. There are aspects that cannot be taken during this move. The painting would lose edge, and the prospect of the canvas. Also museums had to accommodate for the large paintings that are now being hung on walls and ones that are oddly shaped such as those created by Stella. This can be seen at the High Museum how many of the paintings are hung. It causes the paintings to have more of a limitless space because it is a lot bigger than an easel painting. It does not contain the painting as much as the easel painting does. Such as the water lilies painted by Monet(presented in the picture), people have to walk down the wall to see the entirety of the painting.