The holiday season is almost upon us
Original art and prints are a wonderful thing to purchase for yourself, a loved one, or a friend. There is much good art available online at reasonable prices. If you don’t believe me, check out FineArtAmerica.com, Etsy.com, Deviantart.com, Art.com, and many others.
But are you conscious about your purchase?
Are you going beyond the obvious reasons to buy a piece of art: Collecting, investing, decorating?
Those are good and worthwhile endeavors. I do all three. But when we are about to buy a piece of art, it might be a good idea to step back and transcend the obvious.
Three things to consider when buying art
1 → What will your purchase do for you? A good piece of art will make you feel good almost every time you look at it. You shouldn’t take too much blow-back from your friends over it, but in the end, it doesn’t matter because of rule number one: You like it. A good piece of art might even make you feel better about yourself, just because you feel good about having it. It’s a psychology thing and it works.
2 → Will you feel good about sharing it? Like it or not, the artwork will connect you to a community of people who own or like similar art. It’s like a car, once you buy one, you see lots of them on the road. Car people go to car shows. Art people go to museums (and flea markets). Part of “pride of ownership” is telling your friends and others about it.
3 → Are you prepared for what the artwork says about you? It tells everyone what you like, what you value, and how you lead your life. Heavy stuff. I recommend invoking rule number one.
