JOIN JANE CONTINUING TO MAKE SENSE OF ART
And this month Jane is sharing some tips on buying art.
For many people, buying art is a daunting experience – there is so much choice out there with a huge price range.
Over the next couple of months I am going to share some top tips, to hopefully take away the fear, to enable you to find those special pieces that turn your house into your home.
So – the first and probably the most important………
1. Be Yourself.
Your art collection is chosen by YOU and so should reflect YOU – even if you have inherited art from family, it is YOUR choice to display it. You need to buy what YOU like, not what you think you should like! The art in your home needs to feel good as well as look good as your home needs to feel like an extension of you.
Ok – enough of the ‘yous’ – because that is all very well if you live alone, but what about when you have a partner with completely different ideas about art? In fact, very rarely do 2 people share the same tastes. Many couples struggle to find art they agree on – so that occasional piece liked by both is a ‘must have’! The best compromise is to agree to differ and share out the spaces/rooms- this can be quite fun and a talking point with visitors – which room reflects each partner’s personality?
So if you are new to collecting art, what’s the best way to get ideas and inspiration? Art fairs happen all over the country and show a plethora of artists. They can be quite overwhelming but it is a good way to get a sense of what you are drawn to. Then go to some contemporary art galleries, where the owners have curated what they consider to be good art, and therefore worth buying. When you find an artist you like, research them – discover how they work and what inspires them – this will add to your connection with their work.
Here’s a lovely story about connections. I was showing a client a piece of bronze sculpture, ‘Pelican’ by Anita Mandl.
The client absolutely loved it and told me that it reminded him of his early childhood in Ethiopia. His family lived by a lake where flamingoes and pelicans gathered every day to drink. He noticed that the sculptor was born in 1926 and commented that she was exactly the same age as his mother – another connection with the sculpture.
I later Googled Anita Mandl as I knew little about her and discovered that she was one of the 669 Jewish children rescued from Czechoslovakia by Nicholas Hinton at the beginning of the 2nd World War – the subject of the new film ‘One Life’ that I was so moved by last week. This piece had the power to connect us – for my client, to his childhood, and for me – to dramatic historic events.
In summary – to choose art that you will always love, you must be yourself. Follow your gut instinct – and my hard and fast rule? If I dream about it – it is meant to be mine! (That goes for shoes too!!)