How to choose style for canvas painting's sides?

Question

I'd like to order a canvas painting of dignified men walking in a boulevard. I was told that solid colors on the sides of the canvas won't look good. I saw many samples of canvas on the web where the sides are just continuation of the scene, however I considered having blurred background on the sides (same texture as the edges of the painting, but blurred). Another option was a mirrored reflection.

Just to clarify - with canvas sides I mean the actual canvas fabric that is stretched over the sides of a wooden frame.

Are there any guidelines to this? Which style is the most appropriate for such painting?

Answer 1

I agree that a solid colour on the sides of a canvas looks bad. The reason we started hanging paintings on the wall without frames (since the second half of the 20th century) was to accentuate the paint, the process, the craft, and often leaves the evolution of the painting visible. Covering it up again makes it look like a very cheap alternative to the frame.

A continuation of the scene on the sides of the painting can often be seen when an artist finds out at a later stage during the process that there is a better composition or crop available. Part of the painting gets eliminated this way, but at least remains visible.
This also emphasises the process. If a continuation is painted onto the sides after the framing, however, this will likely be visible. So not something you should (be able to) choose for, in my opinion.

I don't know what exactly you are talking about when you say "blurred background on the sides (same texture as the edges of the painting, but blurred)", but I think this will again seem like a cheap trick, and I would advice against it.

Similarly, a "mirrored reflection" is quite a vague description to me, but idem dito.

The bottom line: if you want to have the edges remain visible, stretch the painting unto a stretcher the way the artist intended, and leave the edges as they are.
If that is not to your liking, you can add a frame to the painting.

Answer 2

Maybe as an addition to Joachims answer I'd like to highlight the different processes how the edge of the canvas gets it's paint. You'll see that it can be an indication of how the artist worked and the overall subjective quality of the painting.

• Bare edges indicate that the canvas was stretched on the same frame while it was painted and the artist simply didn't paint the edges. This has a tendency to look unclean because you cannot stop painting perfectly at the edge. IMO it indicates the work of a hobbyist who didn't think about the edges while painting. It can also be an artist's choice if more of the canvas is left bare (think of abstract paintings that only have some paint splashed at them).
• Solid colored edges are the next step many hobbyists take because the bare edges look weird. It can look good if the majority of the background has the same color, but looks weird if the scene is painted all the way to the edge.
• Mirrored edges are an indication of a print. Digital artists create the image just as it should be on the front of the canvas, but usually neglect to extend the image to allow the canvas to wrap around the frame. The typical workaround to avoid bare edges is to mirror the content at the edges.
• A continuation of the background around the edges is what we typically associate with a handmade, high quality painting. Traditionally the artist stretches the canvas on a frame to paint it, then it's left to dry flat and finally stretched on a slightly smaller frame so no bare parts of the canvas are visible. At the time of painting, the artist doesn't know exactly where the edge of the final frame will start. Alternatively the artist does paint on the final frame and deliberately extends the painting around the edges.

Ultimately, if you want to hire an artist to paint a canvas for you, you should speak to them about such details. They'll be able (from experience) to tell you what they're able to achieve and what looks good.