Selecting the Best Frame for Your Canvas Print or Fine Art Photograph

Some people spend days or weeks choosing the perfect artwork. They research the artist, the period and the history of the piece itself. They budget and sample and relocate family portraits to make room.  Then, once the piece is purchased, they grab the first correctly sized frame off the rack and plop it onto their precious new acquisition.

Whether you’ve purchased an original, a gallery wrapped Giclée canvas print, a paper print of an artwork, or a fine art photograph, it is important to put some serious thought into your frame selection; it is as much as a part of the final display as the artwork itself.

Determine the Era of Your Artwork

In museums, canvas paintings are often bordered with the style of frame it would have been when it was created. If you have a print – or, lucky you, an original – of an Impressionism or Renaissance painting, it’s a pretty safe bet that the frame worn by the original in the Louvre or the National Gallery (a more affordable version) is a suitable choice.

If your piece is more modern – an abstract painting, sketch, or photograph, for instance – then the choice is less clear. Often, a solid colour frame with a flat or geometric face will work very well. In certain cases, a more decorative frame might work.

Match the Artwork to the Frame

What is the colour scheme? Is it full of bold reds and oranges, fiery hues that dominate the design and draw the eye instantly toward the piece? A modern canvas print featuring these colours pairs nicely with a plain black frame. If the piece itself is fairly simple, consider an inner lip design.

This plain black frame commits the viewer’s attention to the textured canvas print while highlighting the rich blues of the image.

Or is it a classic, muted watercolor of pale blues and greens swirling across the canvas – the kind of piece that suits the wall so unobtrusively it sometimes goes unnoticed? These pieces often work well with a white mat separating them from a gold or glossy wood frame.

An antiqued, gold foil frame gives the Mona Lisa’s skin a healthy glow. The gently bevelled profile adds a touch of class.

Just because a frame doesn’t clash with the artwork doesn’t mean it’s the perfect fit. Consider the “vibe” you want the painting to give off. If it is a Impressionist street scene at night, for instance, a black frame, while not mismatched, could evoke sad, dreary sentiments. But highlight the golds and yellows of the street lamps with a shiny gold, carved frame, and you create an inviting evening stroll.

Determine the Purpose of the Frame

Once you have determined the color palate of your artwork and which frames could work, it is important to figure out what you want your new frame to do. Do you want it to simply provide a border for that watercolor, so it can continue to grace your wall with subtle beauty? Or do you want to turn that quiet Giclée canvas print into an arresting centrepiece that will never again go unnoticed?

If the latter is your preference, keep in mind that picking the first ornate, gold foil, intricately designed frame you find is not the answer. While a bold, Victorian-era frame might be just the thing to pull the piece from drab to dramatic, try to pick one that complements the image but doesn’t take over. Too ornate, and the painting will again become a barely-there entity, lost within the confines of a glamorous border.

If you are framing a canvas painting or Giclée print, and want your frame to remain a simple border, you might consider a floater frame.

Notice the subtle but effective shadow created by the gap between art and frame.

Your stretched canvas fits neatly into your floating canvas frame, attaching to the inside lip. This allows your canvas to “float”, with a few millimetres of space between the outer edge of the canvas print and the inner edge of the floater picture frame. Our frame selections range from simple, to rustic, to modern, and accommodate all sizes of canvas prints.

A final reminder:

In general, wider frames (2 1/4 inches or more) are best for large pieces, while narrow frames (1.5 inches or less) are better suited to small pieces. A mid-size piece can handle a mid-sized frame (around 2 inches).

Consider the artwork, the display, and the frame. But at the end of the day, pick something you like, despite what this article, elsewhere on the internet, and high society art friends might tell you. After all, it needs to match your existing decor, and you’re the one who has to love it!