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Size Guide: Measuring for a Renoir Canvas

Almost every regret we hear about is the same one: the painting is too small. A canvas that looked generous on a screen arrives and reads as a postcard on a wall. This guide is here to prevent that. Every piece here is made to order, so the size is genuinely yours to choose.

Measure the wall, not the painting

Start from the space the picture will live in, not from a size you already have in mind.

  • Over a sofa, a bed or a sideboard: the canvas should span roughly two thirds to three quarters of the furniture’s width. A two-metre sofa wants a canvas around 130 to 150 centimetres wide.
  • On an empty wall: aim for about 60 percent of the wall’s width, leaving clear space on either side. A painting needs room around it the way a sentence needs a margin.
  • In a hallway or a narrow space: you stand closer, so you can go smaller; 50 to 70 centimetres reads well at arm’s length.

Proportion follows the subject

A single portrait wants a portrait format, taller than wide, because the head is the subject and everything else is background. A couple or a group wants something closer to square or landscape, so the figures can sit side by side without crowding. A landscape or a river scene wants width; squeezing one into an upright format cuts off the very thing it is about.

If you are unsure, send us the wall measurements and a photo of the space. We will propose a size and a format before anything is painted.

Faces have a minimum size

This is the one rule specific to Renoir. Below about 8 centimetres, a painted face stops resolving into a person and becomes an area of warm colour. That sets a floor on the canvas: a single portrait works from around 50 centimetres, a couple from around 60, a family of four from around 90. Our large format guide works through the arithmetic in more detail.

Hang it lower than you think

The centre of a painting should sit at eye level, about 145 to 150 centimetres from the floor. Most people hang too high, which makes a room feel unsettled without anyone being able to say why. For a portrait, put the sitter’s eyes at your eye level rather than the middle of the canvas; the picture then looks back at you, which is the whole point of a portrait.

Above furniture, leave 15 to 25 centimetres between the top of the sofa and the bottom of the frame, so the two read as one arrangement.

A note on framing

A frame adds to the outside dimensions. If your wall is tight, give us the total space available and say it includes the frame; we will size the canvas so the finished piece fits. The framing guide covers which mouldings suit which subjects.