Evaluating and Buying Art for Absolute Beginners
The Very Basic Guidelines for Viewing and Purchasing Art
Oct 20, 2009
You are ready to embark on your art collecting journey and fill your home with artworks you love. After deciding on a budget and knowing what you like to buy, you start to shop around only to find yourself overwhelmed by the number of choices available out there.
When it comes to buying art pieces, one has to become very selective. Learning to view artworks critically enables one to separate the remarkable from the regulars and avoid impulse buying; because along with the buyer’s remorse, a bad purchase will serve as a testament of your poor taste and lacking in aesthetic judgment.
How to Spot Good Art
What constitutes good art is as subjective as individual preferences for subjects portrayed. Generally, a good artwork is like a good song, poem or novel. It makes a statement and evokes certain feelings; going beyond depicting the subject, flashy techniques and bold colors.
For example, anybody who has the time and patience to acquire painting skills can produce a detailed still life arrangement in oils. However, it takes an artist with extra creative vision to tell a story or evoke mood with the arrangement of a few selected items and using skills to create dramatic visual effects. In other words, a piece should present an individual take on a subject – a different view of the world, so to say – rather than being just another illustration.
Questions to Ask Before Buying
Whatever purchase you are considering, the whole piece itself - subject, technique and artist’s treatment of the subject - should be interesting to you visually, emotionally and intellectually. Art is meant to be felt, not technically analyzed (unless one is studying to become a visual artist). Even so, you still want to make sure your affinity for a piece is justified to avoid paying a high price for a generic only to regret later.
Here are some questions to think about when considering a purchase:
- What is the focal point of the piece?
- What is the piece about? Is there a story, social statement or cultural commentary or is it just a depiction of certain mood, situation or object?
- How does it make you feel when you look at it? What does it remind you of?
- How do you relate to the piece? What makes it different from the rest of the same subject that it particularly catches your attention?
- What aspect of the piece interest and draws you in the most? Could it be the subject, composition, lighting or the bold strokes and colors?
- What color is used or captured the most, and how that affects the overall look-and-feel of the piece? How does that help in conveying the intended meaning of the piece?
- What can you tell about the subject depicted? How would you interpret the piece?
- What is worth taking note of about the piece? If you could talk to people about it, what would you like to point out?
Originals, Prints and Reproductions – Watch What You Pay For!
When paying for art, consider the size, medium and availability. The larger the piece, the more medium involved and the scarcer in quantity, the higher the price. For example, a large painting done in traditional medium would cost a lot more than printouts of digital renders or lithographs.
Once you found a piece you like and is within your means, pay the deserving price for it, especially when it is an original. Few artists can sell enough work to make their art a full-time job.
Beware of frame shops that doubled as commercial galleries, selling ‘limited edition prints’ of existing paintings for hundreds of dollars! These are just overpriced posters, printed on high-quality surfaces and signed by the artist. Also be careful of dealers who talk about artworks with investment potential and offering ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ upon purchase. These are usually meant to push a sale.
The following terms would often come up in art sales pitches, so be sure you know what they mean:
- Original Print – An original image impressed on a surface, created by the artist themselves on a matrix. There are one-of-a-kind originals and multiple originals. It should not be mistaken for a reproduction of an original artwork.
- Matrix – An object on which an image or design has been formed and then used to make impressions on a surface, thus creating a ‘print’. It can be a woodblock, metal plate or stone. The same thing applies to software used to render an original digital artwork from which prints are made.
- Limited Editions – This is a ‘buyers beware’ term; it can mean either originals made from a matrix where no more editions will be produced or limited quantity reproductions. When it refers to the latter, it is usually an excuse for a high price.
- Reproduction – A copy of an original artwork, whether manually created by hand or sophisticated photographic technology that captures every brush stoke to canvas prints, posters and silk-screens. Buying a reproduction is an affordable way to own an image of your liking; especially if the original is either outside of your price range or already sold. However, they should be paid for as a reproduction, which is only a small fraction of the price for an original piece.
Read part 1 of this guide: Collecting Art for Absolute Beginners
For more in depth guide to buying art, check the Art Lady.
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