How to Buy Art You’ll Love
On one hand, writing a blog on how to choose art is ridiculously easy: choose what you like. However, left unchecked, that is the very same advice that many an incoming freshman employed when decorating his dorm room walls with a poster of Yoda, his own rendition of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, and a Sport’s Illustrated swimsuit calendar. Those art choices may have been great when we counted the tomato sauce and sliced peppers in pizza toward our daily allowance of vegetables. But on the outside chance that we’ve gotten a bit more sophisticated, I’m offering a few ideas that will help us decorate our apartment, condo, house, and office more thoughtfully. I’ve even alliterated the ideas so we don’t have to pull an all-nighter to remember them: fit, feel, and finance.
1. Fit
Consider how the art will harmonize with your existing space’s aesthetics (color, materials, forms, themes, etc.). The trick here is to choose art that fits your space but that doesn’t blend in so well that it gets lost in the space. For example, if your space is “coastal contemporary” – natural materials like wood, rattan, and linen in muted/marine colors – you probably don’t want to choose a painting of a flaming red ’57 Chevy framed in chrome (though that might be very appropriate for a different space!). You may, however, choose a piece that resonates with your existing coastal contemporary aesthetic while offering similar yet more saturated colors and accents of light-reflecting gloss. Such a piece will belong in (or “fit”) the space while contributing some visual interest.
2. Feel
Consider the feelings the piece stirs up in you not just in an isolated moment but that it’s likely to stir up over the long haul. Unless you plan to change out your artwork frequently, you’ll want pieces that elicit life-giving feelings consistently. For me, this means choosing artwork that brings a sense of peace, joy, and calm. Because the art in my home stirs these life-giving feelings, many of them have been installed for a decade or more. And I have no desire or need to change them out. This makes for a happy, wise art investment. If you share your living space with others, or are acquiring art for a public space like a business or health care facility, you’ll also want to consider the feelings the art is likely to stir in others. Your best art choices will bring out emotions in yourself and others that your community values.
3. Finance
This one may seem like a no-brainer: buy what you can afford. True enough. But let me offer a slight tweak: buy the most you can afford. What I mean is that we approach art purchases like we approach purchases for other things we value and want to enjoy for a long time. For example, we could buy cheap sheets that do nothing more than cover our bed. Or, if we value comfort, sound sleep, and an attractive bedroom, we may spend more for color-coordinated, high thread count, soft, quality sheets. In this way, we’re buying the most sheet we can afford and are likely to be much happier with our purchase in the long run.
Art purchases should be like that. Buy the most art you can afford. For example, don’t just buy wall art that “fills that bare wall.” Buy the best quality art that fits and feels great on that wall and in your overall space. This art is likely to delight you and others for the long haul. Original art in general, and commissioned art in particular, is a great way to acquire art that excels at the fit, feel, and finance tests. Visit my commissions page for several examples of my installed artwork that excels at the fit, feel, and finance tests.
Of course, there are other things we might consider when acquiring art. But hopefully the fit, feel, and finance test will help us create truly beautiful and meaningful spaces. In that light, I offer an ironic and humorous confession. It’s that this list might still be used to describe the art-choosing process employed by the pizza-eating, dorm-room-decorating college student we met in the beginning of this blog. After all, it could be argued that his choices met the fit, feel, and finance test. So, forget everything you just read and head down to Spencer Gifts to buy whatever art you like. Or not.