Western art is more than a finishing touch in a home. It’s a stunning centerpiece that sets the style, palette, and feel of a room. Besides paintings and bronzes, Western art can also be textiles, taxidermy, ledgers, maps, wooden pieces or interesting artifacts like rusty barbed wire.
“A house really isn’t a home without [original] art—it brings so much soul,” says Jerimiah Young of Kibler & Kirch, an interior design firm in Billings, Mont. “Art should be everywhere in your home, and it should surprise and delight you at every turn.”
Young adds that in the best decorated homes, “art is never an afterthought.” It takes planning to showcase a piece of artwork and to achieve harmony with other furnishings.
“We worked on a home that was designed completely around [the owners’] art collection,” says Lindsey McCann, co-owner of Old Main Gallery & Framing in Bozeman, Mont., with her husband, Micah Jastram. “Instead of choosing art that matched the sofa, they pulled accents of color really thoughtfully from their favorite pieces of art and incorporated them into the furniture and finishing touches of the house. It was more meaningful to them and, aesthetically, it created a really nice overall presentation of the house and artwork.”
Whether you’re decorating a new home or freshening up a room, art can interject beauty, color and narratives while expressing your personal style. Here’s how to incorporate Western art into your home in ways that will enrich it for years to come.
Buy Artwork You Love
With so many options, selecting pieces for your home can be overwhelming. You might lean toward choosing artwork that matches the sofa, comforter or wall color, but that’s secondary. Instead, peruse galleries and social media to find an artist, medium, style or even a piece of artwork that resonates with you.
“You need to be personally drawn to a piece of art,” says McCann. “We want a piece to be genuine to the artist and resonate with the buyer. We think of it that way more than from a design and aesthetics perspective.”
Young often uses a client’s art collection as a starting point when designing a home, or he helps them to find pieces they love.
Shannon Lawlor, a Western artist based in Alberta, Canada, believes people should feel a connection with the art they choose for their personal spaces.
“I believe you have to have some connection to the land and the Western lifestyle in order to have meaningful Western art in your home,” she explains. “I think your personal style comes first, and then any room can be complemented with Western art. However, the art can become the focal point of any room or space, and the room can be built around a significant piece.”
Fill the Space
Before buying art, measure the space you want to fill and consider what furnishings will be in the room. A large painting looks great on a mantle or above an oversized sofa or king-sized bed, but it might overpower a small a desk in an office or a bathroom wall.
“Use as big of a piece of art as you can in a space,” recommends Young, adding that in some spaces, such as hallways, grouping several smaller pieces into a “gallery wall” might have the most impact.
Bronzes and other three-dimensional pieces display well on a table or pedestal where they can be viewed from all angles.
“A successful home, from my design perspective, has a great mix of mediums,” says Young. “I also think displaying contemporary art in a very traditional setting is interesting.”
Consider Display Details
There’s an art to displaying artwork, and a piece can take on new meaning based on how it’s framed, displayed and illuminated.
A frame and matting enhance the artwork, while also working with the glass to protect it.
“Framing very much affects a piece, positively or negatively,” says Lawlor. “Framing should not overpower the painting; however, a strong, heavy, ornate frame can become part of the artwork itself.”
When selecting a frame, McCann recommends considering the “finish and aesthetics of the home,” including the wood finish and furniture color, and finding a frame that complements the piece.
“You want your eye to go to the art first and notice the frame later,” she explains.
Young says a frame, or even the entire piece, is akin to a piece of furniture.
“I treat framing seriously and think of it as investing in a quality piece of furniture,” he says.
Works on paper should go under museum or non-glare glass that diffuses reflective light and helps prevent glare.
Ultraviolet glass helps protect the art from UV rays. Matting and other materials used in framing should be archival, acid-free products that won’t damage the work over time and can be removed for reframing.
When it’s time to install a painting, experts recommend hanging it 60 to 65 inches from the midline to the ground.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into a home and the art is hung too high,” explains Young. “You don’t want to look up at art—it’s physically uncomfortable on your neck. You want your eyes to fall at level or just below center to properly experience it.”
Other ways to display paintings include leaning them on a mantle or shelf or placing pieces on a full-sized or table easel.
“I really love big pieces of art leaning on a mantle and sideboard,” says Young. “It doesn’t work all the time, but sometimes angling a painting changes the perspective and a viewer’s relationship to it.”
Wall color also adds impact to a piece of art.
“People try to pull out a color in a painting for wall color, and I don’t think you need to do that,” says Young. “Sometimes people think they need color, but sometimes how a painting contrasts the wall is just as important.”
Why the West?
People are drawn to the West for several reasons: the landscape, ruggedness, people and traditions. Showcasing original Western art created by local or regional artists is a way to celebrate and honor the lifestyle, as well as identify things that are important to you and where in the world you live.
Start an Art Collection
Our experts agree, the most meaningful Western art pieces are originals. While many pieces fetch thousands of dollars, there are affordable ways for emerging collectors to start your Western art collections.
Consider a commission: Peruse galleries and artists’ social media pages and websites to find an artist whose work resonates with you. Then, interior designer Jeremiah Young suggests reaching out to that artist and seeing if he or she would be interested in doing a commissioned piece that fits your home and budget.
Help an emerging artist: Buying the work of up-and-coming artists is not only affordable, but you’re also investing in a piece that could increase in value through the years. It’s easier to acquire their artwork than established artists.
Check out studies: An artist’s study is a drawing, sketch or painting created prior to the finished piece to plan and troubleshoot composition, color, lighting and other details. It’s like a blueprint for the final piece. Studies can have a lot of visual impact and stories as the artist explores the subject matter. This makes them valuable pieces of original art that are often smaller and more affordable than the finished versions.
Mediums make a difference: According to McCann, mediums such as oil tend to cost more than watercolor, printmaking and pencil. She also suggests buying unframed pieces and framing them later.
Start small: A good entry point is whatever your budget allows as an emerging collector, says Lawlor.
“I’ve had emerging collectors start with a small original rather than a decent-size art print, or vice versa. It all comes down to personal taste and if you have the space to accommodate a larger acquisition.”
She also offers fine art prints in color, sepia and black and white to harmonize with personal color schemes and furnishings.
More information:
◆ oldmaingallery.com
◆ kiblerandkirch.com
◆ shannonlawlor.com
This article about western art for the home appeared in the August 2023 issue of Western Life Today magazine. Click here to subscribe!
