What seems like a simple question ends up being quite contentious. Debate rages on about the best height for artwork, even gallery owners have different rules of thumb.  What is obvious is that most people hang their pictures and artwork too high.  The goal is to have artwork balanced at eye level for best viewing.  Given that is more comfortable for the average person to look downwards rather than upwards, the bulk of the artwork should be lower than eye level.  The average height of an American is 64.5 inches (wikipedia), and using the time tested rule of thirds, the upper third should be level with the eye.

So what this means is that there is no standard height for artwork, rather each piece must be looked at for its individual characteristics.  A good starting point, however, is as follows:

Measure the height of the artwork.  Divide by 3.  From the top of the artwork go down that distance to find the "eye level" point.  So if our artwork measures 30" tall, then I divide by 3 I get 10".  My "eye level" point is 10" from the top of the piece.

Now back to looking at the average height of a person, 64.5", and measuring down to the eyes (-5"), we arrive at a best eye level of 59.5".  Our goal is to put the upper third line at 59.5" to get the perfectly balanced artwork (for the average American).

This is easy enough to do - Measure the height of the frame, divide by 3, subtract the distance from the top of the frame to the pulled taught hanging wire, then add this to 59.5"  In our example of 30" artwork, with a 5" gap between top and taught wire, we calculate as follows (30" /3) - 5" + 59.5" = 64.5"  That's where you put in the hanger or nail.

No, if your family is taller than the average, you can tweak the 59.5" number up, or if you are a shorter family, then move it down.  In our case I am 5'11" (71"), and Margaret is 5' 6" (66").  The average for the two of us is 68.5", so we use a baseline of (68.5" - 5") 63.5" for our art.  So for the example above, I would put my hanger in place using the piece as described at (30" /3) - 5" + 63" = 68".

So all of this is very complicated, which is why we decided to build a quick calculator.  Please keep in mind that this program was thrown together in less than an hour, so may have a few quirks.

Picture Height Calculator

See examples of artwork hung using this formula

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this approach.