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5 Tips for How to Buy Your First Piece of Grown Up Original Art
At some point, usually in your mid to late twenties, you start to crave a cultivated space to call your own. Even if that space is a shoebox apartment you pay way too much for, you want your domain to be a reflection of you – your likes, your taste and your style.
As you shed the hand-me-down furniture that helped you survive the first demi-decade after college, you realize that blank walls and polaroids don’t really capture this new era of adult domesticity. In fact, what would really look superb over that new flea market credenza is a piece of original artwork. Buying art is intimidating though, right? It doesn’t have to be.
With Saatchi Art, you can shop for affordable original artwork online, and know the joy of owning something that’s not only one-of-a-kind, but that you really, really love. As the world’s largest online gallery, we currently offer 500k+ original artworks from 60k emerging artists around the world. We’re committed to helping people find art they adore, which is why we offer a free Art Advisory service. Our expert curators will work one-on-one with you to identify art that fits your taste, budget and design needs.
Know what you want, but need a few pointers? Run through our 5 tips below for how to buy your first piece of grown up original art. For a little more guidance, take the Art Advisory Quiz.
1. Set Your Budget
Establish your budget and stick to it. Focusing on artwork by emerging artists is a great way to acquire stunning works at reasonable prices, and find works that don’t break the bank. Buying online is also a very economical way to avoid gallery commissions and be able to view lots of works conveniently in one place.
2. Do A Little Homework
Read art magazines, expand the range of art you are exposed to by going to exhibitions and museums, and attend degree shows at art colleges to help you make informed decisions about what you are buying. The more you research, the more confident you will be in your purchase and the better chance you’ll have of discovering what moves you.
3. Consider Photography
Photography is a great medium for first-time buyers to focus on. Quite often prices are lower for this particularly arresting medium that is easy to fall in love with and to live with. Don’t forget to ask some key questions: Do you love the photograph? What kind of photograph is it? Is it a limited edition? Is it unique?
4. Fall In Love
It is essential that you fall in love with the artwork you are buying before making the purchase. According to a recent survey by University College London, looking at a beautiful work of art impacts the brain in the same way as falling in love with a person.
5. Curating Your Collection… (because you’re about to become a bona fide collector)
This step is simple. The best advice when it comes to acquiring art is: always buy what you love. To help guide you in your search, Saatchi Art has a variety of curated collections with works by our artists for you to explore. Check out how one collector first caught the art bug here!
Start small. Shop Saatchi Art’s Small is Beautiful Collection and take home your first affordable, original artwork.
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