Fine art is the final touch to any home decor scheme.  It’s what draws the eye in and keeps it there.  It creates interest and adds color (yes in more than one way).  Without a doubt, it’s important to any space which you and I are to occupy.  Because it’s so important, the question then becomes how to buy fine art.  We’ve got the answer for you.

How to buy fine art is mostly a question of where to go to buy fine art. Once you’ve found a place to buy fine art, it’s a simple financial transaction to buy the fine art piece of your choice.

Wall art comes in unfinished, matted, framed, canvas, and other forms. These forms may or may not require an additional investment to complete before you hang on your wall.

I have to start by saying that fine art is not those pictures you find at Wal-Mart which are cheaply produced and come already framed for something like $20.  Those may be art, they may even be copies of famous fine art, but they are not fine art themselves.  They are certainly not the art I’m talking about here.  What I’m referring to is art which the artist has had a direct hand in creating, not something mass produced for the public.

When it comes to shopping for and buying fine art, it’s not the easiest thing to find unless you know where to look.  Fortunately, there’s a couple of places you can look quickly and probably find what you are looking for.  These are in an art gallery, an art show, an online market hub, or direct from the artist.

Buying Fine Art at an Art Gallery

An art gallery is considered to be the pinnacle place for an artist to display his or her work.  It’s out in the public, up for sale, and carefully designed to highlight the art it contains with minimal distractions.  Art galleries are also open most business days during the year.  It’s an ideal ground for you to find fine art for sale especially if you are looking for something different or for an up-and-coming new artist.

If you find a piece of art which you would like to buy at an art gallery, there’s staff there to help you.  They will run the transaction for you and might even have bubble wrap or something similar to protect your fine art purchase during the car ride home.  You can walk in anytime that the gallery is open and buy fine art.  This is the major advantage of art galleries.  An art gallery is what you would call a retail setting for buying fine art.

Buying Fine Art at an Art Show

For those who are looking for something a little less costly but still just as unique as what you might find in an art gallery, you might consider an art show.  If you don’t know what an art show is, it’s a public event held for a few days where local artists get together and sell their art.  Art shows will bring in lots of different kinds of artists.  You can find jewelers, painters, sculptors, photographers, and many more selling their art.

Much like an art gallery, you will find people there ready to run the financial transaction for you; only you are buying art directly from the artist so you aren’t paying for gallery commissions in addition to the art itself.  Art shows are also great places to find new and different art at a lower price tag than most art galleries offer.  The downside is you have to wait for the event instead of being able to walk in whenever and buy fine art.

Buying Fine Art Off an Online Market Hub

The internet has permanently changed the game of buying and selling fine art.  What was once only accessible with travel and lots of shopping on foot, with insider knowledge, you can now find with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks.  You can find lots of things for sale on the internet including fine art.  Big websites like Amazon, Ebay, and even Fine Art America offer fine art for sale with a credit card transaction.

While you can enjoy the convenience of not leaving your house to shop for fine art, you can not examine the piece for yourself.  You must rely on the photographs provided by the seller.  Big websites stake their reputations on promoting honest sellers.  Still, you can’t be too careful with big market sites like Amazon or Ebay.  If you decide to buy fine art off one of those sites, you will need a credit card or debit card to make the purchase.  PayPal and Stripe are sometimes accepted as well.  Shipping will be required.

Buying Fine Art Directly From the Artist – Best Option

Perhaps the best option of all is to buy your fine art direct from the artist him or herself.  This means that you won’t have to pay for gallery commissions or listing fees (yes you do pay for those as part of the price of buying anything from a big online retailer).  This means that the price of the fine art you want to buy is lower.  With the artist’s personal reputation on the line, you are more likely to buy a quality piece with this method.

The downside is that local and talented artists can sometimes be difficult to find.  You have to know they exist and what kind of fine art they produce.  While the internet has made it easier to find such people, they still don’t often rank highly for generic search terms like ‘buy fine art.’  They also may not be able to accept credit or debit card purchases.  If the artist isn’t local to you, you will require shipping even with the direct buy from the artist.

What To Do Now That You’ve Found a Place To Buy From

Now that you know where you can buy fine art, naturally you start to ask what to look for when buying fine art.  It’s a good question to follow up with.  Here are some points which you must now think about when buying fine art:

• coordination with you existing decorations
• the quality of materials used
• the reputation of artist
• the size and medium of piece
• limited edition vs. open edition status
• care and maintenance requirements for the piece (if any)

If you would like more specifics about any of these particular points, please check out our article on the subject here.

Conclusion

So that’s it in a nutshell.  How to buy fine art is mostly about knowing where to go to buy it.  You can find fine art easily at an art gallery, an art show, an online market hub, or directly from the artist.  Once you’re there, you’re a simple financial transaction away from owning a brand new piece of fine art for your home or office.

Since you now know that buying fine art directly from the artist is probably your best deal for buying fine art, how about checking out our online store?  You can shop for original fine art in the comfort of your own home, even with your mobile device if you prefer.  You will be buying direct from me, the artist, and you’re guaranteed something beautiful for your walls.