snowrooster

We recently moved to a new home (well, new to us) and have a dramatic dining room desperately in need of a piece of art. I've purchased a couple of things before when traveling but have trouble finding things we can afford (in the hundreds rather than thousands). Any tips for finding galleries (most are SO expensive) with newer less expensive artists? Do expensive galleries ever have prints available for less or gliches (sp?)? We found a gallery in Maui with paintings by Vladamir Kush that we loved. The originals were SO expensive and they kept pushing "gliches" (pronounced gleeshays) but I don't even know what these are. Any tips, suggestions, info would be much appreicated!!

GoTravel

Check out different frame shops in your area (however I strongly advise you stay away from Thomas Kinkaide). In the phone book, look up artists studios and visit a few of those.

Check out the art departments in any local colleges. The students frequently have art shows.

Good art is expensive. Maybe instead of trying to fill your walls, you may want to collect a piece at a time.

All the big museums sell posters of famous paintings. The problem with that is that the framing will run you over $100.

Cheap art will look like cheap art. Have you thought of painting yourself?

snowrooster

I know what you mean. I'd like to collect a piece at a time but I'd really like to find something for this one particular wall in our dining room. I want to paint & decorate but I don't want to have to find a piece of art to match the decor in the room - I'd rather match the decor to the art, know what I mean?

I guess I really need to start looking around. I don't mind the cost of framing but I'd love to get a print rather than a poster. I'm willing to spend a few hundred, just not a few thousand . There is a part of town in Cincinnati called Over the Rhine where I know I might be able to find something. Just curious about art shopping when traveling. We have a print from New Orleans in our family room I love and I've thought about going back for a visit just to look for something for our dining room as well. We're planning on staying in this house for a long time so I want to get it right!

snowrooster

Oh, and don't worry - no interst in Thomas Kinkade. I prefer something more impressionistic or contemporary and with bolder colors.

kathleen

Some choices for buying art in any city might include local art galleries, local college galleries for both student and faculty work, and local art museums which could be showing juried art exhibitions. These juried shows choose a variety of artists working in various media, so your selection would be great.
The art is very good and reasonably priced, and usually for sale.

Here's a link to giclee prints
http://www.novaspace.com/AUTO/Giclee.html
Kathy

E

One minor point: originals may appreciate in value, while prints never will. Of course, investing in art is horribly risky, so it's not that I'm recommending doing so; it's just that the money spent on prints is down the hole. On the other hand, I believe in buying what I like, period, and some of my favorite things in my house aren't worth anything, except to me! Good luck--and I second the idea of frequenting student art shows. I also know that there's a low-priced art show in Manhattan every year that features good stuff by unknowns and beginners--anyone help me remember the name and time of year??

obxgirl

Good for you snowrooster. Find the art that inspires you and design the room around it.

Adding to GoT and kathleen's suggestions, look for artist co-op's as well as communities, neighborhoods and/or civic groups sponsoring juried shows. There's a fantastic one in Chicago in August, the Gold Coast Art Fair. That just an example, there are shows like this all over the country every week.

Instead of original paintings consider limited edition prints like seriographs, collographs, monotypes, and intaglio prints. They are usually in a more affordable price range but are still handcrafted works of art signed by the artist.

Giclee prints are high quality computer generated images, often printed in limited editions, and typically signed by the artist. The images can be printed on canvas and appear quite "real." Some artists will enhance a giclee print with additional brushstrokes and sell it for a high price than a non enhanced print but still for far less than the original work. If you're buying art as an heirloom you should know the shelf life for giclee prints is unknown.



Ugh. Thomas Kinkade. Give me a farting dog any day.

GoTravel

E, is a print the same as a lithograph? My husband has an original copy of a print that is of a fairway at Augusta National that is now worth quite a bit of money. I think it is numbered?

GoTravel

What I meant by painting one yourself, Laura from Trading Spaces often does original art for her decorating that is very simple and ends up looking very nice.

obxgirl

A lithograph is a type of print taken from a drawing done on a stone or metal plate. All lithographs are prints but not the reverse.

MaureenB

We were in your shoes about 14 years ago-- new home, lots of bare walls. It was fun to fill them.
We found Doug West, an artist who works in serigraphy, so his pieces were usually about $1000. They are beautiful, numbered and signed, scenes of Colorado and New Mexico-- they fit our home perfectly.
We also found lithographs that were affordable, one by Frank Howell that I especially love, "Plains Madonna".
And we found original acrylic and oil paintings by Joann Byrd that are contemporary American Indian visions (Lakota Sioux) and another painter, whose name is Wakpa (Don Brewer, I think is his Anglicized name).
If you look around, you might find a new artist you like whose prices are affordable. We found a favorite estate sale shop where we've found great art-- usually just needing re-framing and loving care to update. Now we need more walls!
Definitely, though, buy art that you LOVE, not that you think will be worth money to someone else in the future. It's a mistake in my opinion to purchase art as an investment.
If you like fabric art, it can be easy to travel with-- like contemporary quilts (the Amish do some pretty ones, of course) or tapestries. There's still a tapestry in Prague I wish I'd splurged on!
Have fun decorating.

AHaugeto

obxgirl: "Ugh. Thomas Kinkade. Give me a farting dog anyday."

Word!!! LOL. seconding all the above advice - there are many design schools in many major cities and they often have sidewalk sales, etc., of student art that can be fun to attend. The RISD - Rhode Island School of Design - does this I think twice a year. Don't forget graphic design student art, too, and you can find tons of stuff on ebay for a lot less than gallery prices - you just have to know the artist you're looking for. Have fun!

ejcrowe

My husband is a woodengraver and we collect both original woodcuts and engravings. They're black & white (not the color you're looking for), but many of them are quite bold. I won't list my husband's name here, but if you're interested at all, please contact me directly at [email protected]

I also like to buy art when I travel--though my budget is fairly limited. I have found a few small watercolors that I now enjoy on my wall. I even found a page from a medieval manuscript in a used bookstore one day--beautiful calligraphy and illumination.

TxTravelPro

My family owned a art gallery/custome framing shop for more than 20 years.
They had stacks and stack of books with every print imaginable. When we bought our house a few years back we went through and ordered all the art we wanted and then Dad framed it... oh, how I miss this perk!
We decided to redo a bathroom and headed to a good framing shop and they had all the books.
Thousands of options and surprisingly inexpensive, unless they are limited, signed, etc...

snowrooster

E - Not to argue, but I don't think it's completely true that prints will never appreciate in value. The print we have from New Orleans that I mentioned previously is numbered and signed by the artist (I believe it's from a wood block). I would imagine that a numbered (therefore limited edition) and signed print could indeed appreciate quite nicely. Am I wrong?

suzanne

E-
I think you are referring to the "Affordable Art Fair". It's this weekend in NYC!! All art is priced between $100 and $5000.

http://www.aafnyc.com/

Also, every year in April there's ArtExpo at the Jacob Javits Center here in NY. I go every year and HIGHLY recommend it. There are over 500 artists displaying (from all over the world) and a wide rang of prices. There's other annual ArtExpo shows around the country.

There is also an excellent gallery on Prince Street in Soho (it's far west, I wish I could remember the name) that sells inexpensive originals by students and such. I believe everything was under $500 or perhaps $1000.

I buy TOO MUCH art on vacation. Much more than what can fit on my walls. South America is a goldmine. I bought 6 original paintings in Cuzco (3 of them large) for about $200 total. Wonderful, bright colors.

Snowrooster, you must be referring to "giclees." (pronounced G-clays) These are, basically, printed on an ink jet printer using good quality (non-fading) ink.

dln

We go to juried art fairs. We live in Indianapolis and there's one in September (Penrod), one in Chicago in August (Gold Coast) and one in Louiville in October (St. James Court). I mention this because you talked about the neighborhood in Cincinnati, and all these cities are within driving distance. Art fairs are wonderful places to meet artists and talk about art and buy! If you google "juried art fairs" you'll come up with some good leads.

We also buy art when we're on vacation. Personally, I think Charleston SC is one fantastic place to buy art at reasonable prices (from $500 for framed originals). It might be because the city has so many art galleries, perhaps? One good thing about buying artwork on vacation is that not only is it decorative, it's also a souvenir!

Don't be afraid to walk into art galleries with works that interest you, even if you can't afford the prices. Most art dealers are glad to educate you about their artists. They figure that you might not buy today, or tomorrow, or even the next year, but if you get the art bug, you eventually might become a customer of theirs! And the more you know about different kinds of art, the better off you are.

suzanne

Signed & numbered prints CAN appreciate in value, but nothing like an original. It's all supply & demand.

obxgirl

Of course signed & numbered prints can appreciate in value but, as others have mentioned, not like an original.

I am a snob about these things (as well as a printmaker) but I see a world of artistic difference between a giclee print and a hand pulled print.

snowrooster

Yes, a giclee sounds less appealing now that I understand what it is. I think I'm going to stick w/looking for originals I like by relatively unknown artists (so maybe I can afford them!) and prints. What is a "hand-pulled" print? Does this mean it was done by the artist and is a limited edition versus something computer generated? Everyone here is truly a wealth of information!!