Why Buy Original Art?
Wander with Me 11, small enough to hold in your hands.
An emotional response
About 10 years ago, while studying for my BFA, my husband and I visited the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. I remember seeing Manet’s Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) for the first time and crying.
I’m not often brought to tears and surprised myself with my response to this painting. While I was familiar with this work through my art history studies, it wasn’t a particular favourite, but nonetheless I became emotional seeing it in person. Maybe it was because of it’s prominent position at the entrance to the Impressionists gallery, or maybe because it seemed so much “more” in person than in photographs. Whatever the reason, I was moved to tears.
Art can do this…it can make us feel things. That’s why we want to live with art.
Art can make us experience any number of emotions. It can be thought provoking or challenge us intellectually.
Sometimes the story the artist weaves into the narrative of the artwork, the inspiration or the choices made while creating it, will resonate with a viewer and compel them to want to own it.
Art can act as a kind of souvenir of a moment or a place visited or imagined…a memento, if you will, of an experience or a feeling.
Oftentimes art expresses something that we can’t quite put into words.
When we come across a work that resonates, it can be as simple as “I like it and I want it”. We may respond to the colour or subject matter or the combination of materials used by the artist. Or maybe we don’t know why, but rather we simply feel that emotional connection.
Of personal expression
The art that we buy, and choose to live with, is naturally a reflection of our tastes and interests.
Living with art in our homes is a way to express our own story to ourselves and to others. It’s as if the artwork says in a small way “this is who I am and what I like and what is meaningful to me”.
As art is a reflection of our personal expression, art in our homes can become conversation starters with those around us.
Purchasing original art can signal the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. For some, buying original art is a marker of growing up or expressing the desire to move beyond the massed produced to owning something one of a kind or handmade. For others the catalyst for buying original art might be a move or renovation and a desire to refresh a home.
Moon Garden 4
Moon Garden 2 and 3
Collecting art can be a wonderful journey of self discovery and a reflection of our changing tastes over time.
Connecting to the artist
Not everyone makes art. Making art takes time and energy, interwoven with skill and inspiration.
A healthy dose of curiosity and a considerable measure of bravery are essential. Every artist will use these elements differently and that’s the beauty of it.
Original art expresses the energy of the artist who made it…owning it is a connection to that energy.
Just as our taste in the art that we purchase evolves over time, so does the work of artists.
It can’t help but change as an artist’s interests are developed or discarded over the course of her practice. It can be fun, as a collector, to follow the artistic evolution of an artist over time, connecting with the story of another human being.
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”
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