Walls looking a tad bit plain? Could your space use a sprinkle of personality and panache? Dive into this treasure trove of wall art decor inspiration! They say when one door closes, another opens &#; or in our case, when wall space gets bare, it calls for a new piece of wall art or two! From timeless classics to modern masterpieces, we&#;re about to explore different types of wall art to elevate any room.
1. Framed Art
The age-old classic, framed art pieces are like the Little Black Dress of wall decor &#; always in vogue. Whether it&#;s a cherished family portrait, a vintage map, or a unique graphic print, frames provide structure and elegance to an otherwise blank wall. With the plethora of frame designs out there, you can easily customize them to fit different types of wall art styles.
Choose a frame that complements the style of your art and the overall aesthetic of your room.
- For a more traditional look, opt for a wooden frame with a simple design.
- For a more modern look, try a metallic or plastic frame with a unique shape.
- You can also mix and match different frame styles to create a unique and eclectic look.
2. Canvas Art
A little textured and oh-so-posh, canvas wall art brings gallery walls to life. It feels as if the artwork might just leap off the wall and join you for tea! Canvas wall art can be used to create a focal point in a space or as a decorative addition to any room. One effective technique to establish a focal point with canvas art is to use contrast. This can be achieved by juxtaposing the canvas art against a different-colored wall or by selecting artwork with colors that stand out from the surrounding environment.
When choosing canvas art, consider the wall art size relative to the wall where you plan to hang it. You may also want to consider the colors and subject matter of the art to ensure that it complements the overall style of your room. From minimalist brush strokes to detailed landscapes, the canvas gives depth and dimension to each piece. It&#;s an essential in the palette of wall art decor ideas!
3. Posters
Who said posters are just for teenagers? Revamp and embrace nostalgia with vintage movie posters, retro ads, or iconic pop culture prints. Posters are a great way to add a touch of personality to your bare wall without spending a lot of money. They are also easy to find and come in a wide variety of styles. Frame them, tack them, or laminate them &#; posters are versatile and capture fleeting moments in time.
When choosing posters, consider the overall aesthetic of your living space and choose posters that complement your existing décor. You can also use posters to create a gallery wall layout, which is a great way to display multiple pieces of art and create visual interest in a cohesive way.
4. Floating Acrylic Art Prints
Modern art aficionados, rejoice! Floating acrylic prints are the epitome of sleek and contemporary. Your chosen print sits sandwiched between acrylic sheets, making bold colors pop and giving an illusion of depth. A true conversation starter!
Floating acrylic art prints add a touch of modern sophistication to your walls. They are also very durable and easy to clean. When choosing a floating acrylic art print, consider the size and scale of the piece relative to the wall where you plan to hang it. Don&#;t forget to consider the colors and subject matter of the print to ensure that it complements the overall style of your room.
5. Metal Wall Art
Metal wall art is bold, durable, and oozes industrial chic vibes. From abstract metallic sculptures to intricate ironwork designs, they lend a touch of edginess and luxury. Perfect for those looking to make a statement.
When choosing metal wall art, carefully consider the style and finish of the metal prints to ensure that they complement each other as well as your other decor.
6. Wood Art
Warm, earthy, and rustic &#; wood art brings a slice of nature indoors. Think carved panels, wooden slats arranged in patterns, or even painted barn wood. The grain and texture provide a tactile dimension that&#;s truly organic.
Wood wall art is a great way to add a touch of warmth and character to your walls. It can also be used to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere. When choosing wood wall art, consider the type of wood, the grain, and the finish.
7. Tapestries
Channel the spirit of bohemian lofts with tapestries. These fabric art pieces drape your walls in stories, legends, and vivid colors. Plus, they double as insulation during chilly months!
8. Woven Wall Hangings
A delightful nod to handcraft and tradition, woven wall hangings are rich in texture and personality. Often made of yarn, they&#;re tactile, playful, and add a cozy touch. They can also create a unique and personal look in your home.
9. Photography
Capture moments, places, and faces with photography. Black and white cityscapes, colorful markets, or candid moments, photography offers a window to another world or time. Photography is a great way to add a personal touch to your walls. Consider framing your prints into consideration to give them a more polished look.
10. Sculptures
3D art on walls? You bet! Wall-mounted sculptures play with light, shadow, and perspective. Be it abstract forms, lifelike busts, or geometric designs, they&#;re a dynamic addition. Wall-mounted sculptures are a great way to add a touch of sophistication and drama to your walls. Make sure to account for the material and finish of the sculpture you choose to ensure proper care and that it compliments the space it is placed in.
11. Mirrors
Mirrors aren&#;t just functional; they&#;re home decor wonders! From sunburst designs to ornate baroque styles, mirrors amplify light and space while adding a touch of glam. Mirrors can create the illusion of more space in a room, which is great if you&#;re decorating a small apartment. They can also be used to reflect light and make a room brighter.
12. Murals
Paint a story across your walls with murals. Be it a whimsical fairy-tale scene or a serene landscape, wall murals transform spaces into immersive experiences.
13. Wallpaper
Wallpaper is back in style! Florals, geometrics, textures, or metallics &#; the options are endless. It&#;s like donning your walls in designer attire. Wallpaper is a great way to update your walls and add a touch of personality without painting the walls.
14. Decals
Easy to apply and remove, wall decals are perfect for those wary of commitment. From witty quotes to silhouettes, they offer a dash of fun without the permanence. Decals are a great way to add a temporary touch of personality to your walls. They are also easy to apply and remove, so you can change things up as often as you like.
Dress Up Your Walls With Society6
The types of wall art to choose from are indeed plentiful. Need help choosing wall art? At Society6, we offer a wide range of wall art ready to adorn your walls. Through our thriving community of independent artists worldwide, you are as good as guaranteed to find a unique wall art design that you&#;ll like.
Whether it&#;s framed prints, tapestries, or wallpaper, you can expect to find everything you need to shore up your space at Society6.
Sprucing up your space is as easy as pie with this expansive list of wall art types. Dive in, mix and match wall art, and let your walls reflect your personality. Remember, your home should tell your story; these different types of wall art ideas are the storytellers. So, what tale will you weave on your walls today? Let your imagination soar, and let the decorating adventures begin.
Sources:
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excludes architecture. Ceramic art, metalwork, furniture, jewellery, fashion, various forms of the textile arts and glassware are major groupings.
Applied arts largely overlap with the decorative arts, and in modern parlance they are both often placed under the umbrella category of design. The decorative arts are often categorized in distinction to the "fine arts", namely painting, drawing, photography, and large-scale sculpture, which generally produce objects solely for their aesthetic quality and capacity to stimulate the intellect.
Distinction from the fine arts
[edit]The distinction between the decorative and fine arts essentially arose from the post-renaissance art of the West, where the distinction is for the most part meaningful. This distinction is much less meaningful when considering the art of other cultures and periods, where the most valued works, or even all works, include those in decorative media. For example, Islamic art in many periods and places consists entirely of the decorative arts, often using geometric and plant forms, as does the art of many traditional cultures.[1]
The distinction between decorative and fine arts is not very useful for appreciating Chinese art, and neither is it for understanding early Medieval art in Europe. During that period in Europe, fine arts such as manuscript illumination and monumental sculpture existed, but the most prestigious works tended to be in goldsmith work, in cast metals such as bronze, or in other techniques such as ivory carving. Large-scale wall-paintings were much less regarded, crudely executed, and rarely mentioned in contemporary sources. They were probably seen as an inferior substitute for mosaic, which for the period must be considered a fine art, though in recent centuries mosaics have tended to be considered decorative.[citation needed] A similar fate has befallen tapestry, which late medieval and Renaissance royalty regarded as the most magnificent artform, and was certainly the most expensive. The term "ars sacra" ("sacred arts") is sometimes used for medieval christian art executed in metal, ivory, textiles, and other more valuable materials but not for rare secular works from that period.
The view of decoration as a 'lesser art' was formally challenged in the s by writers and art historians like Amy Goldin[2] and Anne Swartz.[3] The argument for a singular narrative in art had lost traction by the close of the 20th century through post-modernist irony and increasing curatorial interest in street art and in ethnic decorative traditions. The Pattern and Decoration movement in New York galleries in the s, though short-lived, opened the way to a more inclusive evaluation of the value of art objects.[4]
Influence of different materials
[edit]Modern understanding of the art of many cultures tends to be distorted by the modern privileging of fine visual arts media over others, as well as the very different survival rates of works in different media. Works in metal, above all in precious metals, are liable to be "recycled" as soon as they fall from fashion, and were often used by owners as repositories of wealth, to be melted down when extra money was needed. Illuminated manuscripts have a much higher survival rate, especially in the hands of the church, as there was little value in the materials and they were easy to store.[citation needed]
Renaissance attitudes
[edit]The promotion of the fine arts over the decorative in European thought can largely be traced to the Renaissance, when Italian theorists such as Vasari promoted artistic values, exemplified by the artists of the High Renaissance, that placed little value on the cost of materials or the amount of skilled work required to produce a work, but instead valued artistic imagination and the individual touch of the hand of a supremely gifted master such as Michelangelo, Raphael or Leonardo da Vinci, reviving to some extent the approach of antiquity. Most European art during the Middle Ages had been produced under a very different set of values, where both expensive materials and virtuoso displays in difficult techniques had been highly valued. In China both approaches had co-existed for many centuries: ink wash painting, mostly of landscapes, was to a large extent produced by and for the scholar-bureaucrats or "literati", and was intended as an expression of the artist's imagination above all, while other major fields of art, including the very important Chinese ceramics produced in effectively industrial conditions, were produced according to a completely different set of artistic values.[citation needed]
Arts and Crafts movement
[edit]The lower status given to works of decorative art in contrast to fine art narrowed with the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement. This aesthetic movement of the second half of the 19th century was born in England and inspired by the writings of Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin and William Morris. The movement represented the beginning of a greater appreciation of the decorative arts throughout Europe. The appeal of the Arts and Crafts movement to a new generation led the English architect and designer Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo to organize the Century Guild for craftsmen in , championing the idea that there was no meaningful difference between the fine and decorative arts. Many converts, both from professional artists' ranks and from among the intellectual class as a whole, helped spread the ideas of the movement.[5]
The influence of the Arts and Crafts movement led to the decorative arts being given a greater appreciation and status in society and this was soon reflected by changes in the law. Until the enactment of the Copyright Act only works of fine art had been protected from unauthorized copying. The Act extended the definition of an "artistic work" to include works of "artistic craftsmanship".[6][7]
Mass production and customization
[edit]In the context of mass production and consumerism some individuals will attempt to create or maintain their lifestyle or to construct their identity when forced to accept mass-produced identical objects in their life. According to Colin Campbell in his piece &#;The Craft Consumer&#;,[8] this is done by selecting goods with specific intentions in mind to alter them. Instead of accepting a foreign object for what it is, the foreign object is incorporated and changed to fit one's lifestyle and choices, or customized.[citation needed]
One way to achieve a customized look and feel to common objects is to change their external appearance by applying decorative techniques, as in decoupage, art cars, truck art in South Asia and IKEA hacking.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]- American craft
- Art Nouveau in Milan
- Art for art's sake
- Arts and Crafts movement
- Applied arts
- Design museum
- Faux painting
- Fine arts
- History of decorative arts
- Industrial design
- Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
- Ornament (architecture)
References and sources
[edit]References
Sources
- Fiell, Charlotte and Peter, eds. Decorative Art Yearbook (one for each decade of the 20th century). Translated. Bonn: Taschen, .
- Fleming, John and Hugh Honour. Dictionary of the Decorative Arts. New York: Harper and Row, .
- Frank, Isabelle. The Theory of Decorative Art: An Anthology of European and American Writings, &#;. New Haven: Yale University Press, .
- Campbell, Gordon. The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. New York: Oxford University Press, .
- Thornton, Peter. Authentic Decor: Domestic Interior, &#;. London: Seven Dials, .
Further reading
[edit]- Auther, Elissa, String, felt, thread: Hierarchy of art and craft in American art, , University of Minnesota Press.
- Childs, Adrienne L., , Ornamental Blackness: The Black in European Decorative Arts, Yale University Press.
- Dormer, Peter (ed.), The Culture of Craft, , Manchester University Press, ISBN ,
