Buying art can be an expensive and intimidating experience! Especially if it’s your first time buying serious art and you are graduating to gallery pieces. It’s important that the art you buy stays special and continues to be a unique statement in your home over time.
Buying art can be an expensive and intimidatingexperience! Especially if it’s your first time buying serious art and you aregraduating to gallery pieces. It’s important that the art you buy stays specialand continues to be a unique statement in your home over time. Personal tastesin art can be as uniquely different from person to person as a fingerprint, butthere are certain common guidelines to follow when purchasing art that applyacross the board.
In our endeavor to help you buy fabulously individual artwe recommend that you follow these principles when you plan an art purchase.
Love It
Watercolor of white lotuses
Art needs tospeak to you and of ‘you’ at a very personal level. If you absolutely fell fora piece that is not really traditional or conformist, and completely out ofsync with prevailing art trends, buy it anyway because you love it! It willfind a place in your home, and stand out for being anti-establishment.
Research
Research the kind of art that appeals to you
Before youspend big bucks on a famous artist or a limited edition signed print, educateyourself a little about the world of art. Go to the local galleries andexhibitions, talk to friends or relatives that have extensive art collections,shop around! Your forays into the art world will hone your eye, making yourealize what themes and mediums you like and which don’t cut it for you. Is itacrylics on canvas that generally catch your eye or do the watercolors appealto you? Visit design and art websites to familiarize yourself with prices andtrends in the art world.
No Hasty Decisions
A replica of a Raja Ravi Varma
Take your time tochoose your art. Hasty decisions will become long term regrets especially ifthe art that you purchase is uber expensive. Give yourself the time to findyour own taste and style leanings in art. Zero in on something that you canlive with for a long time to come.
Think Long Term
Art should appeal to you personally
Think about what's classic versuspopular or ‘now’ when it comes to buying art.Of the moment pieces may not be in vogue come next year and are therefore a badinvestment. What's practical when it comes to art? Is it worth the purchasecost? Will you still adore it in five or ten year’s time? Serious collectors’ artshould be equal parts investment and personal taste. If you are lucky, thepiece that you love so much will appreciate many fold over time and become anheirloom to pass from generation to generation.
There are no hard and fast rules when itcomes to purchasing art. Whether its copies of Raja Ravi Verma, student artfrom a local fine arts college or you actually go the extra mile and establisha relationship with a gallery owner or the artist themselves, art isfinally a personal statement for your home. Above all enjoy the process ofcurating an art collection for yourself!
