Misconceptions about art I bet you've believed
I can almost guarantee you’ve believed one of these pervasive misconceptions about the art world…. That sucks. And it’s completely not your fault.
We have been repeatedly fed these stories. Let me start to discredit these beliefs, please, because by buying into them you are keeping yourself from so much beauty and meaning and enrichment.
I see these beliefs pop up time and again when talking with clients and prospective clients.
So. What are they?!
That art collecting breaks the bank
That you need to own your home before you can start buying
That you need to know a lot (or at lease something) about art before you begin
That you just don’t “get” art
That you need to have a large space
Any of those resonate with you? If so read on…
Let’s start with the first and by far most pervasive belief about art.
$$$.
Okay you need to have expendable income to some extent. You can't be worried about whether you can buy groceries. But you don't need to be rich. You don't need to have money sitting and doing nothing. You don't need to be upper class. Not even upper middle class. No way. You just need a little bit of room in your budget. Most new art collectors I would say are going to get started under a three thousand dollars.
But really there's a range. You can start an awesome collection of art for under $500, that you'll have for the rest of your life if you want it. My guess is that's a lot cheaper than you'd thought!
Obviously you can also spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars on art, and you can be somewhere in between there. Think about how much people spend on weddings, or shoes or gym memberships. I
I'm not saying art is more important than all of that, I love my gym membership, just encouraging some perspective on how we spend our money and what it says about our values.
Starting an art collection is a choice, it's a devotion to a vibrant lifestyle of culture and art, but don't get confused here, art is accessible if you know where to find it and how to look.
I work with a lot of clients who have budgets under a thousand dollars, including the fees for my services. It's something I'm well-versed in, and I've found some really wonderful, special pieces for clients. So, shake off that misconception and start collecting.
Second.
That somehow you have to be in a place you’ll never move from?
Look, moving art takes some care, but it is by no means impossible or even hard. Just don’t throw your pieces into a huge box. Why do people feel that if they have plans to move at some point in their lives they can’t buy art now?
I think a lot of it has to do with the way we create a home. In my opinion, your home decor should be led by the art. You’re going to keep your art pieces for a lot longer than the couch, at least if you know what you’re doing when you buy art.
So build your home around the art. If you do this, you can always adapt. You can move houses, completely rearrange, paint the walls a new color without having to get rid of your art collection. Doesn’t it sound absurd when I put it that way? You do not need to be in a home you’ll never move from to own art. You just don’t!
This third one is a big one.
People think they need to know a ton about art before they can start buying, and this is one of the biggest reasons people NEVER buy art.
So let me be clear, you literally do not need to know a single thing about art. The perception that you do has been peddled by the elite who want art collecting to be an exclusive group. F*** that.
Art is what makes us human. Art is about experience and emotion and the soul. You don’t need to know anything to appreciate that. No jargon, no art history, no art criticism.
All you need in order to appreciate art is the ability to talk about what that art does to you, and your capacity to connect that art to your own life and experience.
Now, let me acknowledge that there are a lot of people who do not know how to do this. It’s super foreign and uncomfortable for a lot of people. But it can be learned, really easily and joyfully and gently. Definitely schedule a free consultation with me if you’d like to learn a little more about how you can explore this.
That you just don’t “get” art!
This one is a bit of a reflection of the section above. I think this idea comes from the pressure to be intellectual about art.
It extends a little deeper though, because it also touches on our cultural ability to make meaning, to explore intimacy and sacredness, and generally to be in the realm of poetics//symbolism//archetypes. Which is to say, we don’t do that very well.
Art is a little ambiguous, feeling-based, nuanced, vague. These are uncomfortable spaces for most people to be in.
It’s actually the reason I am so focused on art collections, as opposed to getting people to go to the theater more… The home is a comfortable place to explore. It is the safest place to expand yourself, and my clients have been able to push against their own discomfort around art because of the privacy and sense of belonging of their own home.
Art is at the core of being human. You do get art. I promise. But you probably have a lot in your way. That’s okay, and it can be unlearned so persevere!
This last one is just the silliest.
A large space?
Because art can only be gigantic? We are culturally in a trend right now of huge art. Which is cool! But little art is also lovely and powerful and necessary.
Art can be realllyyyy little. The point is only to have art in your home that moves you. If that’s a two inch painting, wonderful. If that’s a six foot painting, also great. Who cares. Art is art, work with wherever you’re at right now, and don’t let that perception get in the way of you enjoying art in your home.
Did I get you there? Are you over some of those? If so, check out my guide to becoming an art collector, it walks you through the components of art collecting so you can get started this year!