Posted on June 3rd,
2009
by Berit Griffin
Art has the ability to transform spaces. Lonely rooms can instantly become habitable with the addition of a great piece. Art also has a way of transforming the moods of the owners of those spaces.
That said, art should be selected carefully, and proper research should be done prior to purchase. This post will provide a few of our favorite sites for buying art and will hopefully put a few homeowners on the path to making a deserted wall feel important again.
Artaissance is an online art reproduction gallery that helps visitors customize artwork to fit their home decorating needs. Its collection spans the art scene — from traditional landscapes to hip, contemporary abstracts — with a continuously updated portfolio full of artists who “offer a unique voice in the art world.” It can put you in touch with a local retailer and offers a try-before-you-buy sample program and a 30-day return policy. There’s also a blog that covers all things related to art in the home and has feature posts that put the spotlight on up-and-coming designers and artists.
Imagekind is a community for creating, buying and selling high-end framed artwork. Visitors can choose from more than 50,000 unique and independent artists of all disciplines, including traditional and digital photographers, painters, digital artists, and illustrators who sell their artwork on the site. A pretty innovative feature allows you to create your own high-end of work based on your own personal digital images.
Art April is a site for finding art that is “easy to use and easy to afford.” It reminds us that prints can be a cost-efficient answer to your lack-of-artwork problems at times. It offers posters, art prints, limited editions, original paintings and photographs with customized frames. Categories include Abstract Landscapes and Abstract Still Life to Advertising Art, Vintage Films and Americana.
So those are three sites that should be of help, but consider this interesting dilemma, addressed on the blog Art Bylt: Should the art fit the room or the room fit the art?
There are people out there who buy a piece of art that they love and then find a place to put it, but the author here points out that arriving at home and finding that the piece of art just doesn’t fit with any room’s surroundings is a very common issue. Therefore, it is suggested to go into buying art with some basic parameters. Consider the size and color. The post points out that for any particular space, art that is too large can overwhelm but art that is too small can get lost and look out of proportion. And the bolder the art, the more room it needs to breathe.
Image courtesy of Artaissance and artist Julie Gross
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