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Recently, a customer was shopping prior to a dinner party for a piece of art to fit a specific wall. The painting she loved was the right size but the wrong price. After quite some deliberation, she decided to purchase another painting whose price was right, but did not make her heart sing. We gently discouraged her from doing so because we didn’t want her to rush an important purchase for the wrong reasons. The moral of the story is: buy what you love when you’re ready.
Although it sounds so simple, the key to buying art is to follow your heart. Let your emotions be your guide. How many times have we experienced that flutter of excitement, the intake of breath, that extra beat when we see a painting that we love? Luckily, here at the gallery, we have new works arriving almost daily and our favorite moments are when we unveil the work and utter that little gasp of excitement. Or, when we see a client’s face light up, we know they’ve followed their instinct and they will be happy with the piece no matter where it ends up in their home.
There are so many other components to buying art, and since a collector ultimately has to live with it, we have come up with some brief practical pointers that we hope might be helpful for all of our clients, whether buying to fill a void in their room or to fill a need in their heart.
· You may not know why something grabs you, but if it does, go with it!
· The artist, style, medium and genre are all secondary to the emotional tug
· Don’t expect there to be another one like it; if you love it, and you can afford it, get it!
· Art is completely personal, so don’t expect someone else to love it like you do
· Trust your judgment: If you love it, it will work
· Unless this is a hugely expensive piece, buy it for the love and enjoyment rather than the financial investment
Is it a good investment?
Original art is expensive! Many times people have asked us if we think an artist’s work is a good investment and will appreciate over time. But, like every other investments that we know of, there are no guarantees on the return. In fact, as tempting as it is, we prefer to keep away from saying things like, “This artist’s work will appreciate over time.” We let the client make that call with as much information as we can provide. If you are concerned about your return on investment, we recommend that you ask the following questions as you prepare to buy art: How old is the artist? Where did he train and how long has he been painting? How much longer will he paint? How much does he paint? Where has he sold? At what prices? Who has collected him? Is he in a museum? Has he appeared in any publications? What awards has he received? What justifies the price? You, as a potential buyer, can do more research: the internet is a vast resource for tracking artists and their careers.
As gallery owners, it is our responsibility to know our artists well and stand behind their work. We only represent professional artists whom we think have talent and integrity and whose work we would buy ourselves. We believe in upholding the artist’s published prices. But, for us -- as for our clients -- the most important question is: will I enjoy this painting regardless of its investment worthiness? Because once again, original art is an emotional purchase that is all about that personal connection that tugs at your heart. And that is, to quote MasterCard, priceless!
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