A wall hanger is disclosed in which a bow tie arrangement having porous end portions is mounted on the back of a picture to be hung on a wall. The bow tie is made to adhere to the back of the picture by the penetration of adhesive through the porous end portions, thereby to give strength to the hanging system. In one embodiment the adhesive is applied through the porous end portion and onto the picture backing, with the adhesive applied separately. In another embodiment, a bow tie type hanger is made of preformed and stretched nylon. In a still further embodiment, the hanger includes two separated pad portions with a flexible member between the pad portions in which the flexible member is offset from the plane of the pads to permit engagement of a hook when the hanger is adhesively attached to the back of a picture.