What is the best viewing distance for an artwork?

Let's see which painting size you should order at Paolo Gallery, to get the optimal effect.

The human eye has a horizontal field of vision of 135 degrees and a vertical field of vision of just over 180 degrees. This affects the best viewing angle and, therefore, the minimum viewing distance at which a painting of a certain size can be seen as an artwork instead of "in details."

To calculate the optimum viewing distance range which fits the human eye's ideal viewing angle:

• Measure the Diagonal of the painting from the bottom-left corner to the top-right corner,
• Minimum Viewing Distance = Diagonal x 1.5
• Maximum Viewing Distance = Diagonal x 2

This formula applies to prints, paintings, screens and so on...

For example, an image that is 20 by 30 inch (50 by 75 cm) has a Diagonal of 36 inches (90 cm).

• Minimum Viewing Distance = 36” x 1.5 = 54” or 90 cm x 1.5 =135 cm
• Maximum Viewing Distance = 36” x 2 = 72” or 90 cm x 2 =180 cm

So,

• The 20” x 30” (50 x 75 cm) painting should be viewed from 54” to 72” (135cm to 180cm).
• An 8” by 12” (20 x 30 cm) painting should be viewed from 21.5” to 29” (54 to 72 cm).
• A 40” by 60” (100 x 150cm) painting should be viewed from 108” to 144” (270 to 360cm).