Artwork Description Cards: What to Include, Templates and Examples

An artwork description card is a small label placed beside a work of art. At minimum, it should identify the artist, title, year, medium, and dimensions. You can then add a short description, price or availability, edition details, and a QR code when the setting calls for them.

I used to think these cards were just a finishing detail. At local shows, though, I noticed that people often read the card before asking me anything about the work. A clear art description card gives someone a way into the piece without trying to tell them exactly what to feel.

The best cards are useful before they are clever. They make the practical information easy to scan, then offer one honest idea about the subject, process, or reason the work exists. Below is the format I would use, followed by copyable templates and examples for gallery shows, art fairs, online shops, and commissioned artwork.

If you are also assembling a bio, statement, proposal, or other professional material, I keep those related guides together in my artist resources.

Artwork Description Card Template

If you need a simple format immediately, start with this:

ARTIST NAME
Artwork Title, Year
Medium on support
Height × width × depth

One to three short sentences about the subject, process, context, or central idea.

Price, availability, edition number, or QR code (optional)

For a group exhibition, put your name near the top because visitors may not know whose work they are viewing. At a solo show, the title can lead because your name is already established throughout the room. Either approach works; consistency across every card matters more than one fixed order.

What Is an Artwork Description Card?

An artwork description card is a printed or digital label that identifies one artwork and may briefly explain it. In galleries and museums, you may hear the same basic item called an artwork label, wall label, object label, gallery label, title card, information card, or art placard.

A short label containing only factual details is sometimes called a tombstone label. An interpretive label adds a few sentences that help the viewer understand the work’s context, process, or ideas. For an artist-run show or market, “artwork description card” is a perfectly clear name for a card that combines both.

This is different from an artist statement. A card explains one work in a small space; an artist statement explains the larger ideas and process behind a body of work.

What to Include on an Art Description Card

Information	Include it?	How to write it
Artist name	Usually	Use the same professional name that appears on your website and other materials.
Artwork title	Yes	Use the official title or Untitled. Keep title styling consistent across the show.
Year	Usually	Use the completion year. If the work spans several years, use a range.
Medium	Yes	Name the primary materials and support, such as “graphite and watercolor on paper.”
Dimensions	Yes	List height × width for flat work and height × width × depth for three-dimensional work.
Short description	Optional but useful	Use one to three sentences about the subject, process, context, or idea.
Edition	For editions	Add the edition number and total, such as 3/25, when relevant.
Price or status	Depends on setting	List the price, “sold,” “not for sale,” or leave it for a separate price sheet.
Credit or collection	When relevant	Add “Courtesy of…” or “Private collection” only when permission and context require it.
QR code or website	Optional	Link to the artwork, series, audio, process notes, or purchase page—not merely your homepage.

The card is public-facing, so it should not carry every record you keep about the work. Ownership history, invoices, condition notes, and exhibition records belong in your private files and artwork provenance documentation.

How to Write the Short Artwork Description

I would aim for roughly 40 to 75 words when a card needs an explanation. A title-and-details card can be much shorter. The goal is not to fit your complete artist statement onto a small rectangle; it is to give the viewer one useful point of entry.

Use This Three-Part Formula

1. Name what the viewer is encountering. Identify the subject, scene, material, or visual action without describing every visible detail.
2. Add one piece of context. Explain where the work began, what process shaped it, or what question you were following.
3. Leave room for the viewer. End with the tension, mood, or idea behind the work without announcing the one “correct” interpretation.

For example, instead of writing, “This beautiful painting represents the profound connection between humanity and nature,” be specific: “Built from thin washes and scraped acrylic, the painting holds the shoreline between recognition and abstraction. The plant forms remain visible, but only briefly.”

Specific nouns and active verbs usually do more work than strings of adjectives. If writing about your own work still feels uncomfortable, my guide to how to talk about art offers a simpler way to describe what you notice, how the work was made, and why a choice matters.

Questions That Can Give You the Description

• What first made me want to create this piece?
• Is there a place, observation, memory, or problem behind it?
• Which material or process changed the final result?
• What should a viewer notice that may not be obvious at first glance?
• How does this work relate to the rest of the series?

Answer one or two of these questions, then cut anything that repeats information already visible in the title, materials, or image.

Artwork Description Card Examples

The examples below are sample formats to adapt, not records of specific artworks. Notice that each description gives context without trying to explain every mark.

1. Expressive Drawing Description Card

Your Name
Crow Study No. 4, 2026
Ballpoint pen and graphite on paper
11 × 14 inches

Drawn from repeated observations rather than a single pose, this study layers quick lines until the bird begins to emerge from the movement. Dark graphite compresses the body while the unfinished edges keep it unsettled.

Why it works: The description tells us something about the process and points to a visual choice the viewer can find in the drawing.

2. Painting Description Card

Your Name
Low Tide, North Wind, 2026
Acrylic on cradled wood panel
24 × 30 × 1.5 inches

This painting began with the compressed shapes of coastal plants after a storm. Repeated sanding, staining, and repainting leave the landscape partly visible, as if the place is being remembered rather than described.

Why it works: It names the source and materials while allowing the viewer to decide what the obscured landscape means.

3. Abstract Artwork Description Card

Your Name
Weather Pattern II, 2026
Acrylic, graphite, and collage on wood panel
18 × 24 inches

Built from erased grids and translucent layers, this work follows the way a clear structure can slowly break apart. The graphite lines act as a temporary framework while the painted forms push against it.

Why it works: Abstract work benefits from a concrete description of process and tension rather than a list of vague emotional words.

4. Photograph or Limited-Edition Print Card

Your Name
Shadow Through Palms, 2026
Archival pigment print
16 × 20 inches
Edition 3/25

Made in hard afternoon light, the photograph reduces the palms to shadow, grain, and fragments of movement. The image is printed in black and white to hold the heat of the scene without relying on tropical color.

Why it works: The card records the edition and printing method, then explains one intentional visual decision.

5. Short Card for an Art Market

Canopy Study No. 3
Watercolor and graphite on paper
9 × 12 inches
Original — $___

A quick field study built from overlapping leaves, erased pencil, and loose watercolor washes.

Why it works: A busy market rewards speed. The essential sales information is immediate, while one sentence gives the piece character.

What to Put on an Index Card for a Commissioned Artwork

For a commissioned piece, use the same factual structure but make the project relationship clear. Do not print the client’s full name, personal story, address, or other private details on a public display card unless the client has explicitly approved them.

YOUR NAME
Artwork Title, Year
Medium on support
Height × width
Private commission

One or two sentences about the artistic brief, process, or subject that can be shared publicly.

Here is a sample:

Your Name
Juniper, 2026
Watercolor and graphite on paper
12 × 16 inches
Private commission

Created from several reference photographs, this portrait focuses on the subject’s alert posture rather than a perfectly polished likeness. Loose graphite remains visible beneath the watercolor to keep the drawing active.

If the card travels to the buyer with the work rather than appearing publicly, you may also add your contact information and care notes. For an original or limited edition, use a separate certificate of authenticity for the signed authentication record; the display card does not replace it.

How to Format Medium, Dimensions, Edition, and Price

Medium

Name both the material and the surface when it helps someone understand the work: “oil on linen,” “graphite on paper,” “acrylic on cradled wood,” or “archival pigment print on cotton rag paper.” You do not need to list every minor tool or brand unless it is conceptually important.

Dimensions

Use height × width for paintings, drawings, and photographs. Add depth for sculpture, boxed work, or deep panels: height × width × depth. State inches, centimeters, or both, and use the same system throughout the exhibition.

For framed work, the artwork dimensions are usually the primary measurement. If the outer framed size matters to a buyer or installer, label it separately: “Image: 11 × 14 inches; framed: 16 × 20 inches.”

Edition

For a limited edition, include the individual number and total edition, such as 3/25. You can also identify an artist’s proof when relevant. Open editions do not need an edition number.

Price and Availability

At an artist-run market or studio sale, I would usually place the price directly on the card because making someone ask can create unnecessary friction. A gallery may prefer a separate price list or QR code, so follow the venue’s system. If you are still setting the amount, work that out before printing with a consistent method such as the one in my guide to pricing original art.

How to Design and Print Artwork Cards

• Use one reusable template. Keep the type, spacing, order, card size, and placement consistent across the exhibition.
• Choose a readable typeface. A simple serif or sans serif is safer than script, condensed, or very thin display fonts.
• Make the type large enough for the real viewing distance. Print one test card and read it while standing where a visitor will stand.
• Use strong contrast. Dark text on a light solid background is usually the simplest solution.
• Keep body text left-aligned. Several centered lines become harder to scan.
• Use a matte, non-glare surface. Glossy lamination can reflect gallery lights and make a card harder to read.
• Leave breathing room. A larger card with comfortable margins is better than shrinking the type to fit an overlong paragraph.
• Proof every detail. Check titles, dates, dimensions, prices, edition numbers, and QR codes against your artwork inventory before printing.

There is no universal card size. A 3 × 5-inch or 4 × 6-inch card can work for a small artist-run show, but the amount of text and viewing distance should determine the final size. Ask a gallery for its specifications before designing your own labels.

The Smithsonian’s accessible exhibition guidelines recommend plain language, short sentences, readable type, strong contrast, non-glare surfaces, and a maximum label length of roughly 75 to 100 words. For a small artwork card, I would treat that as a ceiling rather than a target.

Should You Add a QR Code?

A QR code is useful when it gives the viewer something the card cannot: a purchase page, audio description, process video, complete series, translation, or longer story. Keep the essential title and artwork facts in print so the card still works without a phone.

Before the show opens, scan every code on both iPhone and Android, confirm the destination is mobile-friendly, and make sure the page will not disappear when the exhibition ends. A short printed URL beneath the code gives visitors a fallback.

Artwork Card, Artist Statement, Catalogue, or Certificate?

Document	Main purpose	Typical length
Artwork description card	Identifies and briefly explains one artwork beside the piece or listing	Facts plus 0–75 words
Artist statement	Explains the ideas, materials, and process behind a body of work	Usually several paragraphs
Artist catalogue	Presents a complete exhibition, series, or selected body of work	Multiple pages
Certificate of authenticity	Creates a signed authentication record that accompanies a sale	One formal document

The information should agree across all four. I keep accurate title, date, medium, size, edition, and status information in one source of truth, then reuse it when creating cards and a longer artist catalogue.

Common Artwork Description Card Mistakes

• Writing too much. If the type has to become tiny, move the longer story to a handout or linked webpage.
• Using vague art language. Words such as “evocative,” “powerful,” and “unique” mean little without a specific observation.
• Repeating what the viewer can already see. Add context, process, or intention instead of inventorying every color and object.
• Explaining the correct emotion. Invite attention without instructing the audience exactly how the work must make them feel.
• Inconsistent details. A title, dimension, or price that differs from your catalogue or shop creates avoidable confusion.
• Treating branding as decoration. Ornate fonts, textures, logos, and colors should never make the actual artwork information harder to read.
• Using a QR code as the whole card. Visitors should not need a phone to learn the title and basic facts.

Your card can still feel like part of your visual identity. Keep it related to the simple system you use for your website, packaging, and artist business cards, but let the artwork remain the most visually important object.

A Final Checklist Before You Print

• Artist name is correct and consistent
• Title and year match your inventory
• Medium names the material and support
• Dimensions follow height × width × depth
• Description is specific and under the chosen word limit
• Price, availability, and edition are current
• Client or owner information is approved for public use
• Type is readable from the expected distance
• Contrast and lighting make the card easy to see
• Every QR code and link works on a phone

I would save the finished layout as a master template rather than redesigning each card. Then the work becomes a simple record-keeping task: duplicate the file, replace the information, proof it, and print.

A good artwork description card should feel almost invisible: the facts are easy to find, the short text helps someone look again, and the design never competes with the piece. For more practical help with the writing and presentation that surrounds your work, return to my artist resources.