• Whether you're opening a gallery or displaying your personal collection of European paintings at home, you'll want to display the works against a wall color that does not distract or detract from their appearance. The almost infinite variety of wall colors available can complicate the process of choosing one. Rule out all super-saturated, intensely bright colors and focus on some specific possibilities.
  
  

White

• White is a wall color choice for displaying art. White walls will make your room or gallery feel more spacious and bright and will not distract from the art on display. You can choose from a wide variety of whites and off-whites. Begin by deciding whether you'll want a warm or cool off-white; warm off-whites will be more beige, and cool off-whites will be gray.
  
  

Neutral Colors and Earth Tones

• Neutrals and earth tones look great against European paintings. Look at rich browns or neutral violets, blues, greens or mauves. Don't be afraid to choose darker colors as long as you will be able to provide enough lighting for each painting and the overall space. A darker, richer neutral color will make a bolder statement than a pale neutral. Pale, near-white neutrals might merely make the space appear to have an odd, tinted glow.
  
  Look at the dark earth colors the Metropolitan Museum of Art uses in its European galleries. For great images of these galleries, visit bridgeandtunnelclub.com (see References). Scroll down past the white-walled Impressionist and 20th century galleries to see the darker colors in the galleries where Vermeer and Rembrandt are displayed. You can also look at the wall colors at the Getty Center in Los Angeles (see References).
  
  

Red

• Red walls make a dramatic statement and might risk distracting from the paintings. However, if you choose the right red for the right paintings, you might be able to pull it off. As you can see at bridgeandtunnelclub.com, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays Caravaggio paintings against rich red walls. Red works well for this dramatic painter's work, particularly paintings with intense red highlights.