How to Navigate the World of Original Art Successfully

There are some purchasing moments in life that we’re led to believe are reserved for certain kinds of people - people fancier than ourselves, more knowledgeable, possibly better connected. One of these areas is the world of wine and the other is art. Buy why? Buying wine and deciding what you like is as easy as tasting it - I like this one, I don’t much fancy that one. It’s as valid to the moment of purchase as any other element that you could consider or know about like the region, vintage, barrels or any other factor of which I can’t expand on.

Buying art is the same. All of us have the ability to choose art that we like - we just need to look at a piece of art to know whether we like it or not. And aside from considering the dimensions to ensure it will fit somewhere in your home, that’s about the sum of what you need to consider. Easy. So why does the process of buying original art often leave us feeling inferior and like we don’t belong?

To start with, I think it’s something to do with the atmosphere of a gallery - all hush hush quiet with trendy people wearing cool asymmetrical clothes that look like they were made by a young designer you’ve never heard of. All that space. All of it white and clean. It doesn’t exactly scream ‘come on in!’. And then there is the total cringe of shopping or browsing for something without knowing what the likely cost might be. All of us have been in shops before and spotted something lovely and had to enquire “how much is this?” only to be told it’s about 10 times more than we could ever afford - to avoid looking like we are shocked, we nonchalantly replace said item back where it belongs - but not before we nod sagely like the price isn’t freaking us out while muttering “thank you. I’ll think about it.” Cue a hasty exit.

So…as someone who buys original art I have some tips and advice to help get over any imposter syndrome associated with this purchase.

Know What You Like

Buying art should be as easy as buying an item of clothing for your wardrobe. Most of us don’t struggle with that. We know what looks good, we see other people wearing clothes we like, we see images on social media, we read magazines, we head to the shops and we browse. These data points all lead us to be able to make a fairly confident decision on a new item of clothing.

Art is the same. You have to figure out what you like by doing some research - get some data points.

How to Figure Out What You Like

These days we are bombarded with imagery on social media so start by taking note of artwork that you come across on your feeds - create a folder in IG that is called “Art I Love” and every time you see an image of someone else’s home and they have a piece of art you like, save it. The same for Pinterest or any other social media channel. Even if you don’t know who the artist is. The gathering of images of art will start the process of unearthing what you like. If you read magazines (oh, be still my beating heart, I hope you do - I adore magazines) then take note of art you come across within the pages. Magazines are great for documenting what is within the images - if you have the name of the artist, look them up. Follow them on social media.

An Accurate Place to Find What You Like

While social media is an easy place to start, it could be a bit scattergun to begin with. So, for a more targeted approach to seeing what is actually available in the art world, go online to a gallery’s website. Browse through their digital stockroom. When a gallery shows an exhibition there can sometimes be pieces that are not sold - these are put in their stockroom. And they showcase this work on their website usually under a tab called ‘Stockroom’. It’s like stepping into the back room of the gallery and rifling through what they’ve got. Brilliant. No need to talk to anyone or feel awkward - just take a look on line. Details of the artwork will be listed for you - price, artist, the medium of the artwork (i.e. is it an oil painting? or a photograph?), plus dimensions and if the work is sold already framed (sometimes it is). If you see something you love, message the gallery and enquire. It’s really that easy.

I know What I Like, I’m Ready to Buy

Only buying art from the galleries in your city is too limiting. That would be like only buying clothes from shops in your city. You want to buy something you love, so it’s sensible to cast your net far and wide. Which means you have to get comfortable buying art online. Galleries are used to dealing with clients from overseas. Aside from the professional images on their website, galleries will accommodate requests to see further images and you could always zoom call to see the artwork if you needed.

In my experience, buying art while overseas also doesn’t end up being any more expensive than buying within the city. Taxes are removed from the purchase and the shipping added - and these two elements often end up cancelling each other out, so it’s not necessarily a big deal to ship artwork.

Take Your Time

Let’s say you browse in some stockrooms - literally or digitally, but don’t really see anything you like - bide your time. Hopefully you’ve come across some artists in your gallery browse that have piqued your interest. Email the gallery and ask to be included in their communication when they announce new exhibitions from artists. If they know you are interested in a particular artist, they’ll make a note of it. You can also just be added to their general email database to get regular updates on exhibitions.

From that point, you’re plugged in and it’s just a matter of waiting for a piece to come onto the market that you like. Artists might exhibit once a year, or maybe once every two years depending.

How to Buy Art from an Exhibition

Before a new exhibition opening, the gallery will send out the exhibition catalogue to those on their database - and if you’ve purchased from them before or shown a particular interest in an artist, you will sometimes get a pre-pre exhibition viewing opportunity. Which basically means, by the time the exhibition actually has an opening night, chances are all the pieces will be sold.

Which means that buying original art can sometimes be like buying Taylor Swift tickets. You have to know the date (and sometimes time) that the art is going to be made available. And you have to be ready. If an artist is popular and demand is high, securing a piece will mean sitting at your computer ready to go. For these moments, I suggest you decide a maximum budget with any other decision maker and unless you and the other decision maker are sitting together, one of you has to be given the green light to buy anything that you like. Sometimes there’s time to converse, think about it, send a link to your significant other, but other times you just have to make a quick decision and go for it.

Gallery Chat

My last point is this - when heading into a gallery or an art show, it’s OK if all you know if what you like and not much else. The people at the gallery will have a depth of information that showcases their expertise. In my experience, they love what they do and want to share their passion with you - which is actually really lovely. If we let go of our own awkwardness we get the chance to learn and ask questions - and even if we don’t always understand completely, we still have a point of view which is “do I like it?” and that is all you need.