Discover large abstract wall art you'll love living with.
We love a gallery wall as much as the next person, but sometimes you just need to go bold, and go big with an abstract painting on canvas. If you’ve been craving a giant canvas to adorn your home, you’re not alone. It looks like 2024 will be the year of the large-scale painting - big canvases are a super simple way of making your home look fabulous.
A breathtaking original artwork will be the focal point of any interior; challenging perceptions of space and size. Oversized art makes a statement without clutter, and you don’t need to scour the internet or galleries for numerous pieces. Instead, one extra large canvas wall art says it all. Let’s delve into how this trend came to be so huge.
Our Homes Have Become Our Offices, Too
WFH became the acronym of 2020, as thousands of businesses adapted to a new way of working. The home went from a place you spent time in post-commute and on the weekends, to an office, a lunch space, or a school where children played and learned. Our homes became somewhere for entertainment and for work. Now millions of people have stayed working from home, remote work is on the rise (plus the gradual encroachment of the 4 day week) there’s a huge demand for vibrant interiors and playful, oversized art. Why settle for a small-scale work when you can dazzle your guests with an enormous canvas? When your living room becomes your conference room, your home needs to be exciting.
Plus, with cultural venues shutting their doors in March 2020 and some not reopening for six months or more, the home became the focus of cultural entertainment. For those that were sick of their screens (which we definitely were!) art became an escape. With all the classic money-draining experiences now off limits, people had more money to spend on art, too. More time to think about their interiors, and decide how they’d truly love to decorate their homes.
The art market opened up, too: nearly 50% of art buyers from Sotheby’s in 2021 were first-time bidders. These first-time bidders were looking for focal pieces, for the kind of art that makes you walk in a room and say ‘wow!’. They weren’t interested in diminutive pieces that need to be viewed through a microscope; they wanted fun, playful art that shouts, rather than whispers.
The WFH movement has also fed into the trend for playful interiors. We’re moving away from the all-white, Scandi-inspired minimalism that dominated the last few years. What’s come out of the pandemic is a trend towards vibrant, colourful interiors, with a large-scale piece as the main focal point. This vibrant Rothko-inspired print is a bold statement in green and orange tones. It comes ready to hang, so you can simply put this 90x120cm canvas print straight on the wall. Eco-conscious? No need to worry, we’re a 100% plastic-free gallery. Our canvas artwork range is handcrafted, using 100% cotton canvas and solid wooden bars. If you change your mind, we even offer 30 day returns!
Embrace Maximalism
We’re feeling super inspired by this incredible Brooklyn loft, designed by renowned American interior designer, Brandi Howe. Like a flea market come to life inside an apartment, it’s bursting with colourful styles and patterns - from Chinese screens to a carousel horse as a centrepiece. She wanted to create an art-as-experience feel, a sensation that each room represented her client’s personality, her client’s life experiences, and that the art really took you on a journey.
The apartment’s oversized art and fabulous furnishings tell a story through colour, and through image. Before, it was a blank canvas of white walls and exposed brick - now, it’s a riotous celebration of eccentricity and art.
You might not fancy going as eclectic as that apartment, but what stands out here is the huge art, and the use of maximalism to highlight each room’s potential. It’s fun, it’s joyful, and it’s bound to get guests talking. We love the use of bold, large scale art to really make the rooms pop. Maximalism is set to be big in 2022: energetic and eclectic are the new buzzwords for our post-pandemic world.
Andy Warhol’s Pop Art Pieces
We can’t talk about large-scale art without mentioning Andy Warhol. The undisputed king of pop art is the figurehead of the 1960s movement, creating mass-produced art that spoke about celebrity culture and consumer goods. He worked in many different artistic mediums including photography, filmmaking, and sculptures, but his most famous works are his silkscreen prints.
Art as business is now commonplace (think Damien Hirst and his team of artists, or Jeff Koons’ large scale sculptures) but in the 60s, fine art was a serious undertaking, and the art world wasn't the same place it is today.
Warhol’s huge scale work ‘Marilyn Diptych’ personifies his bold, unique style. He made the painting shortly after Marilyn Monroe died from a drug overdose, using two canvases in contrasting colours to emphasise the split between her private and her public life. This enormous set of 2 canvases measures 2 metres by 1.4 metres - just some of the huge scale pieces he created throughout his life. Pop Art embodied a comeback in large art during the 50s and 60s - artists that both embraced and critiqued the commodification of art.
Become inspired by American master Jackson Pollock - famous for his huge scale works, some measuring over 2 metres. His monumental drip paintings changed the face of art forever. He was at the forefront of abstract expressionism, creating textural works where he poured paint straight from a can. Jackson Pollock explored not just how art looked on a canvas, but sought to find new ways of applying it. It’s impossible not to feel moved and inspired by Pollock’s alchemy and his technique of preserving movement and time on canvas.
Inspire and Delight with Prints
If you’re a lover of an art-filled room but aren’t quite ready to splash out on original art (or are adding to an existing and extensive art collection), it’s worth exploring a set of prints. Created from original artworks and then replicated, prints come in limited edition or open edition. Limited edition prints have a selected print run, so only a small number will ever be made - the more unique they are, the higher the price. Open edition means any number of prints can be created - like Andy Warhol’s factory, these prints bring contemporary art to a wider audience, and can be infinitely replicated.
We love a set of captivating prints to really transform a room - something Andy Warhol certainly would have approved of. Why not look for an abstract triptych to brighten up your space?
Printed on 230gsm fine art paper, made using FSC wood and delivered ready to hang, this set of 3 abstract prints make the perfect addition to instantly transform any room. Available in black, oak, grey, or white frames, we love a contemporary triptych to dazzle your guests. The set arrives ready to hang - and it’s handmade in England, by experts with over 20 years experience.
Add Personality to a Modern Interior
We love the architectural trend of vast ceilings and modern interiors. These beautiful luxury homes come as a blank canvas, perfect to add a splash of personality through large contemporary pieces. This example comes from a luxury home in Melbourne, Australia - their white-walled contemporary dining room comes alive with a huge-scale, kaleidoscopic canvas.
Contemporary homes have moved away from the traditional television-as-focal point style of design. Instead, interior designers are looking at art for well-being - art to add joy to your home, and art you can really have an emotional connection with.
These gorgeous pieces enhance any interior, creating a harmonious and balanced home where the art evokes a sense of calm. It’s been proven that art can change your mood and boost your serotonin levels - art has even been credited with supercharging confidence levels, making you feel more engaged and resilient.
Those benefits are even more apparent with a large scale work. Brand new luxury homes can feel a little lacking in personality, before you’ve put your stamp on the place. Soothe your soul and add a touch of sophistication with a unique piece - adorn the dining room with a bold work, or enhance a sun-filled atrium with beautiful figurative pieces.
If you’re searching for original art on a large scale, why not look at original abstract canvases? This textural piece - entitled ‘A Trip Not Far Away’ - commands attention with bold brushstrokes and a real sense of depth.
This abstract expressionist inspired landscape brings to mind a seascape, or mountains. Hand-painted in London by abstract artist Omar Obaid in oils and acrylic, it comes framed and ready to hang - complete with a certificate of authenticity. We love finding artwork to cherish - our selection of original art is designed to inspire.
If you’d love to browse a curated selection, discover more extra large wall art.
We hope you enjoyed browsing our collection. We'd love to hear more about your favourite artwork!
