Which way round should the dimensions of artwork be listed when providing information about an artwork (i.e. drawings / paintings / prints)
Height and then width OR width and then height?
There appear to be a diversity of views. My own personal view is that it should always be height and then width.
One of my personal missions in life is to persuade all art competitions and open exhibitions to get their forms right and list the dimensions the right way round! Hence this post!
So I decided to take a look to see if I could prove I was correct - having been irritated, yet again, by seeing artwork on a website with the dimensions listed (in my opinion) "the wrong way round"!
I looked for sources of information from:
- leading art galleries and museums
- reputable websites
HOWEVER I also found that there was a different perspective in the graphics and digital image / photography world!
So the answer is "it depends on what your are measuring" BUT
- if you're measuring artwork then there is only one right answer!
- it's different if you're measuring photographs!
According to Art Galleries and Museums
It's height then width and then depth.
I'm listing below the art galleries and museums which were reviewed - with artwork inspected on a random basis. Plus I'm including some images from those websites to prove what I'm saying!
Basically I stopped looking after the National Galleries of the UK and USA plus the Louvre in Paris. I've no doubt there may be some cultural dissension on this matter in places where people read from right to left - but I'm only trying to persuade the organisers of juried exhibitions in the West to get it right. I've not gone for global domination - yet! ;)
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| Dimensions at the National Gallery (London) - height first and then width A Young Woman Standing at A Virginal by Johannes Vermeer 51.7cm x 45.2cm |
Height first - then width
- National Gallery (London)
- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
