Basics Of Art Purchase: Whether You're A Professional Or Not

Anyone can purchase and acquire art in an informed manner. You're right, everyone. You don't even need to have a degree in art history or prior experience collecting art or knowledge of the art market. The truth is that all you really need is a love and understanding of fine art, a desire to collect, and a willingness to study certain basic principles that will enable you to assess any form of artwork from any era of history, regardless of the artist's identity or nationality.

Anything Goes

There is no right or incorrect kind of art, and there is no right or wrong way to collect or acquire art, despite the fact that you may read certain precise ideas and recommendations regarding particular works of art.

Everyone is free to purchase any things they want to purchase and to gather whatever they want to collect. It doesn't really matter when or where you feel like buying art, why you want to buy it, or how much you want to spend on it. The following advice is not intended for everyone and is instead generally targeted at those who want to spend their money sensibly on quality items.

If you belong to that group, keep reading for some advice on how to become a better art collector.

Four questions to ask while buying art

There are normally four questions that you should ask yourself if you ever come across a piece that you like, whether it's a painting, a sculpture, or a print, to help you with your decision-making.

1. Who’s The Artist?

You have two trustworthy sources—spoken and written information—to respond to this. Spoken information is typically provided by the artist, the gallery displaying the work, or the dealer. Additionally, information may come from other art collectors, acquaintances, family members, and others who are familiar with the work or the artist under consideration. On the other hand, written information can take a variety of formats, including artist career portfolios, catalogues for gallery exhibitions, art reference books, and reviews of exhibitions.

2. How Important Is It?

By just looking at as many of the artist's creations as you can, you can find the solution to this. Try to become familiar with the artist's entire body of work so you can determine where this particular piece fits. You can begin by asking the vendor to show you a selection of the artist's works, whether they are original, prints, or pictures. Additionally, try to see pieces from every stage of the artist's career; doing so can help you learn a lot about the particular piece of art and the artist in question.

3. Where Has It Been?

Third, it's crucial to understand where that specific work of art has been. By compiling all incidental data regarding the work, this is accomplished. It is comparable to creating a biography of the work, beginning with the moment the creators finished it and ending in the present.

This is advantageous because strong provenance and documentation can raise the market value and appeal of an artwork. In the world of art, having a strong provenance is similar to having a strong pedigree for a pet. For instance, a painting that was displayed at a prestigious art exhibition is more collectable than a comparable artwork that wasn't; the same is true of honors and awards.

4. Is The Price Fair?

What the artwork might be worth in the future doesn't really matter for this question because no one can really say. The question you should ask yourself is if the item is currently priced fairly. This is a crucial question since, like other services or products, art can occasionally be quite expensive.