Vintage wall art is one of the best ways to enhance any home, study, office, or classroom and bring history to life while creating a connection between the past and present. From the proper height to choosing a style that matches your interior's existing aesthetic, there are ways to make your vintage wall art truly pop. Whether you choose a museum-quality print, canvas wrap wall art, or framed vintage art print, you can make the most of displaying your piece by following some simple guidelines.

Vintage wall art can blend in with traditional spaces or provide a complimentary counterpoint that adds warmth to more minimal contemporary interiors. If you are planning or giving a vintage art print as a gift, you may want to consider having it framed beforehand so that the recipient can hang it immediately. Vintage wall art provides a link to the past and can create a connection through ancestral and personal history to one's hometown or where a family first settled after arriving in America.

These tips will help you create a striking focal point that sparks conversation, enhances your space, and takes you back in time.

Create a Connection Between the Past and Present

One of the most appealing aspects of vintage wall art is that it brings history to life and can create a genuine connection to a particular place in its early days. Vintage art prints bear a unique aesthetic and are immediately recognizable whether they are produced by railroad companies, government agencies, or independent artists.

Getting multiple different prints from distinct periods and displaying them together creates a cohesive aesthetic that also illustrates a region's growth, development, and history. You can multiple framed pieces together 3"-6" apart to show chronological growth or have images of the same region in different rooms tailored to each space's unique aesthetic. This is a great way to show how the past shapes the present and an area's collective evolution.

Antique wall art like panoramic maps transports the viewer back in time and often shows cities across the globe in periods of significant growth and transformation. These works were produced widely throughout the nineteenth century by artists who were not constrained by the traditional cartographical scale and could use their individual styles and flourishes to create images that were designed to entice residents and merchants alike. Panoramic maps are among the most popular pieces of vintage wall art due to their distinctive style and historical importance.

Bring History to Life With Your Decor

Image Source: Historic Prints - Bird's Eye View of Louisville Kentucky Map Wall Art Print

As advances in cartography, printing, and exploration developed throughout the ages, historical maps provide context for how cultures adapted, grew, and developed from settlement to modern-day portrayals. Images produced by federal agencies like their Central Intelligence Agency provide a glimpse into the evolution of geopolitical boundaries and diplomatic relations.

All of these images have their own distinct history and can help bring that story to life when displayed in any space from your home, office, study, or classroom. What makes vintage wall art so unique is that it offers a snapshot of a region at a particular moment in history. These images tell a distinct story and offer a glimpse of the past that transports the viewer through the years and gives them a sense of historical perspective.

Not only does vintage wall art bring history to life, but it also sparks conversation and creates a personal connection no matter where it’s displayed. Canvas wrap wall art can further enhance images by giving them a more classical artistic appearance that highlights bold colors and intricate details. Framed vintage art allows you the opportunity to provide complimentary mats around the image to give it a more distinguished appearance.

Enhance Any Space With Vintage Art Prints

Whether you’re decorating your home office, study, living spaces, or classroom, vintage wall art elevates your decor and provides a distinct decor. Whether you choose a museum-quality giclee print on archival paper, a canvas wrap, or framed piece of vintage wall art, you can help give a traditional interior a cohesive aesthetic or bring some warmth to a contemporary space. Vintage wall art offers a wide range of imagery, from ornate bird’s eye perspectives to accurate railroad maps that illustrate the vast settlement of the American west during the latter portions of the nineteenth century.

You can choose a style that matches your existing decor, or you can provide a striking contrast that makes a bold statement with your vintage wall art. Cartography developed rapidly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and these important historical developments are illustrated by antique wall art. Depending on the room you plan to display your vintage wall art in, you should explore the size that is most appropriate for your space.

Larger prints can highlight the intricate details of bird's eye perspectives. At the same time, more minimal-style maps like those produced by government agencies can make great gifts when ordered in smaller sizes to commemorate significant moments in an individual's military career. Smaller maps are also well suited to being framed and displayed in offices or desks. You can also combine one large print augmented by several smaller prints of the same region to exhibit the history and development of a particular area through the years.

Choose the Proper Height for Displaying Vintage Wall Art

The best height recommendation for hanging vintage wall art is 57 inches at the center of the piece. So, if you have a print measuring 18”x24”, you should hang your work at the 9” mark to get the proper height. This recommendation will make your vintage wall art blend seamlessly and elevate any space with professional displays.

Another essential consideration is hanging vintage art prints above furniture, mantles, or other items changes the eye level rule of 57”. The general rule of thumb is to display your antique wall art 6”-8” above the item even if this is not 57”. Also, you should choose an appropriate size for your print if you are planning to hang it above a large item, as a small print will appear out of place compared to a large sofa or credenza.

If you are going to hang your vintage wall art above a mantle, you should opt for a larger format print to create a focal point and centerpiece for the room. Larger prints are ideally suited for more detailed reproductions like bird's eye perspectives due to their bold colors and intricate details. More minimal vintage wall art in black and white can match contemporary spaces while providing a connection to the past without distracting from the existing aesthetic.

 

Historic Prints has been printing museum-quality archival reproductions and prints for over five years, and we believe in providing transparent communication and providing the highest level of customer service. Our elegant canvas wrap wall art offers another level of connection and transforms a vintage map into a piece of art. When you choose HistoricPrints.com, you gain access to our carefully curated catalog of vintage wall art and historical prints.

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