Why Buy Art?
People buy art to make their house more beautiful, to fill a space or to add colour to a room. These things may be true but you could also do all these things with a poster or a piece of fabric, so why buy original art?
………….because art is beautiful personal and original. The images in this post are all of artwork in my house. Image below shows painting by Michelle Varnevides and painting by Tania Ferrier
Interior Artwork
Handmade
Original art is handmade; I love handmade things in general not just art. While I acknowledge that mass production has brought about more objects, furniture and home-wares at reduced cost for all, in this age of the machine made, handmade objects are much more special. You can feel the individuality of the piece and enjoy the fact that it was the imagination and skill of the artist that created this work.
Tactile
Original art is tactile, it is textured you can see the character of the brush-marks in a
painting the embossing of the plate in an etching the texture of the paper in a watercolour or a drawing it has the personal mark of the artist. (This is not a good photo because its framed under glass but you get the idea.)
Personal
People buy original art for personal association. It reminds them of an event in their life, a holiday they went on, the way they thought in a particular situation. Some people feel a connection to the artist and their response to a colour, mood or place. It’s interesting or intriguing, it makes you think.
As a Present
This painting was my 40th birthday present (my husband and I saw it together at an open studio) it’s by Tania Ferrier she sat on a hill in Italy and painted the town below and even though I have never been to the place that inspired this painting I love the fact that she has taken the essence of that place and created a painting around her experience of it. I really enjoy the spaciousness of it.
My husband and I saw this vessel at an exhibition opening, there were a lot of similar
pieces but we didn’t have the money to get it at the time 2 months later he commented we should have bought one of those porcelains when we saw them. Four months later I went back to get it for his birthday and got something not exactly the same but similar to what we had seen by the same artist. He was really surprised and loved it.
Art is a truly original and personal present. I know a couple who choose a piece of artwork every year for their combined Christmas present. Each year the cost varies. Some years they have enough money to go to a gallery and buy an oil painting they love, other years they go to a student exhibition and buy a small drawing, other years a limited edition print. Each time it is something original. And the choice they make says something about their life at the time and the memory of choosing it together.
Value for Money
Art generally holds its value or appreciates, most other objects you buy will have depreciated as soon as you take them out of the shop. And quality artwork lasts, its something you have for years to come and pass on to your children. A painting will last for 100’s of years. When you look at what you could spend on an item of clothing, an electronic gadget or any other item with a short life expectancy; art can be very good value for money. There is a myth that to buy art you need to be very wealthy, this isn’t true. If you value art and look around you can pick up some great pieces for under $400 (even under $200). Of course if you have more to spend you can buy more well known artwork or a larger piece for more, and get some beautiful pieces too.
The biggest and the best reason to buy art is because you love it, and get pleasure every time you look at it. That is why I buy art, because I love it, it connects me to my essence. I feel good with art around me, its like music for your eyes.
I would have shown you more images but my house is only 50% renovated 🙂 If you have bought art before please leave a comment I would be interested to hear your motivation…….
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Simply because I love it! It doesn’t need to be expensive either (if it was I would have nothing! Of course that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like something more valuable ;0) On my wish list is a collage by my friend Mikaela Castledine and a big mixed media piece by her mum Valerie McDonald….one day… ) Anyway, I have framed handprinted greeting cards and they look just as good next to ‘proper’ art. And I have an ever growing collection of handmade fabric creatures, who I certainly consider to be pieces of sculpture rather than toys.
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Tomorrow I am co-presenting a workshop for the staff in my office. It is at the NGV and I am speaking about Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia. They have fabulous new Asian art exhibition. While searching google for the title of my colleague I found my long lost friend who is a producer or beautiful artefacts, artworks and memories. So good to see you through your work