Shipping large paintings: crates, freight options and real costs

When a painting needs a crate

Large stretched paintings, framed pieces and anything with heavy texture travel best in a custom wooden crate, with foam corner blocks and protective wrap. As a rough guide, stretched pieces around 40 × 60 in and larger are usually crated.

Why freight can exceed the price of the painting

Freight is charged on volume as well as weight. A large crate is heavy and takes up a lot of space, and it may need handling equipment at both ends. For a large, crated painting, that adds up quickly.

Your shipping options

• Express courier, such as DHL: fastest, door to door, best for single pieces and urgent orders
• Air freight: lower cost for larger or heavier shipments, usually delivered to an airport or a forwarder
• Sea freight, by shared container or full container: the lowest cost per piece for large orders, and the slowest

Each is priced separately, and your quote shows the painting and the freight as separate lines.

How to bring freight down

• Roll instead of stretching, and stretch at the destination.
• Frame locally instead of shipping framed.
• Combine pieces into one shipment.
• Choose air or sea freight for larger orders that aren't urgent.

Very large paintings

Paintings more than 13 ft (4 m) wide can be painted, but they need planning: they may be shipped rolled or in sections for assembly, and installed on site by a local installer.