The idea of communicating through art dates back to the stone age โ notions that evolved to produce intricate, highly technical pieces that inspired and nourished, just as much as they abstracted one idea to another. No one really knows how, when, and why an idea will resonate deeply with another, which is why the observation of art is so highly prized as a cultural practice, perhaps even more so than creating it. It then shouldnโt be a surprise that curating a personal art collection can bring a dimension to your home โ and your life โ like nothing else can.
Whether youโre looking to build a personal art collection as a means to genuinely bring life and individuality to your living spaces, or just to curate a certain aesthetic โ or, as a smart investment โ exploring this seemingly endless world invariably yields results. But itโd foolish to dive in unequipped, picking art at random without any knowledge of just how to wade your way through the wide swell of creative expression thatโs waved into existence each day.
So how do you choose art for your home? First, decide why you want to in the first place, and what purpose that art will serve. Do you want it all to fit into a certain theme? Is mismatched more your vibe? Are you strictly going for art as decoration, with a preference towards vibrant colours? Answer these, and then read on, thereโs a lot to discuss.
Tips For Building Your Personal Art Collection
Consider Longevity
The primary focus of your art buying spree should be longevity. According to Sophie Vander of online and physical gallery Curatorial+Co., โit will always go with you โ as you move home, move cities โ so first and foremost, you have to buy what you genuinely loveโ.
Thereโs no use buying something that you arenโt legitimately enthusiastic about, just because it may pop with a certain colour or pair with some furniture. It needs to be able to outlive that furniture. Although if you did want to play the pairing game, go for it.
โPeople say donโt match the painting to the rugโ, says Vander. โBut itโs fine; as long as youโd love the painting after youโve gotten rid of the rugโ.
This also means you shouldnโt be looking at art prints, but originals. Not only are prints bad investments โ an exception being silkscreen prints โ but people tend to get sick of them very quickly. And, thatโs still quite a bit of money you could instead put towards an original. Youโve also got the fact that art prints donโt grow in value, and so make lousy investments.
Play With Scale
This is a big one, but you need to carefully consider the individual scale of your home and how pieces of art are going to fit into that. On that note, I tend to look at design-led boutique hotels, as they typically have largely varied spaces to play around with.
Nic Graham, Creative Collaborator of QT Hotels & Resorts public spaces and style, and Founder of Nic Graham & Associates was the first person I thought of when it came to this topic. He has helped finesse the very specific art collections and themed designs of hotels like QT Sydney and QT Perth, so playing around with a sense of scale obviously comes easy.to him.
โI find a lot of people try to fill a wall with a large canvas they think they should own โ whether it be via recommendation from a friend, or something theyโve seen in a magazine or on Instagramโ, says Graham. โI call that a wall fillerโ.
As he puts it, art isnโt like buying a new pair of shoes. โItโs something that should be collected, exchanged, and added toโ.
His advice is to start small and always opt for quality, because a small piece that can be added to a collection and moved around the house is almost always better than a large piece that you could feel stuck with.
Along those lines, itโs also worth looking at the trend of the โart salon hangโ, which is a collection of mismatched artwork, where each has meaning. For example, you could place your motherโs old oil painting next to some black-and-white baby photos, sitting next to your childโs finger painting. A salon hang is almost always better when it tells a contained narrative.
Graham also recommends that you pair the art with a variety of frames, whether they are from IKEA or your local gallery.
โIf you can fill a wall with a beautiful collection of mismatched family items that make you smile, for me thatโs a much better approach to art in the homeโ.
An example of a salon hang can be seen in the photo above, which Graham curated for the fresh-faced QT Auckland.
Another thing about scale is that you should be making full use of local or online gallery spaces, particularly after youโve bought your furniture first. Itโs better to work the art around existing decor, so after youโve set the room up, take some pictures and measurements and head to your local gallery.
As Vander tells me, many modern art galleries not only have curators that can help you pair each and every detail of your home with the right artwork, but many can digitally mock up art for your wall so you have that sense of scale. Just send them a photo of your home and ask them to work their magic. Of course, visiting the gallery itself armed with your own measurements (bed, shelf, lounge, room etc.) is another effective way to get the scale right.
Look Beyond The Painting
Of course meaning needs to be found within the art. Both Graham and Vander have emphasised that to me, in pretty much the same words. The ability that art has to sublimate our emotional states is profound, and so being able to tattoo your home with meaning, not just colour and texture, makes your personal space feel more lived-in and immersive. Itโs then an extension of you, your ideas and values, and gives guests a way to understand you on a deeper level.
Beyond the painting, Vander thinks you should look for emerging artists who are doing interesting things with materials and pay close attention to them. Even if youโre taking a purely financial approach, getting in on the ground-floor of an artistโs career is a smart move, doubly so if they are looking outside the box of brushstrokes.
โWhen you think of art you traditionally think of paintings in museums or marble sculpturesโ, says Vander, who tells me about a multimedia artist named Daniel OโToole, who was originally a street artist and musician. As she describes, what OโToole does is start with a soundscape, which he then digitises into a video of colour movement โ kind of like what someone with synesthesia would see. He then takes still shots of that screen and paints it, after which he places the painting in a metal aluminum box with an opaque screen and diffuses it so it looks like the screen from the video, but is still just acrylic on canvas.
Paying attention to the process behind the art not only gives you a fascinating story to tell any houseguests, but can add more meaning to a piece, and create a stronger connection with viewers.
โDo your research and talk to the gallerists to find out who is that person thatโs going to grow their practice and get it off the groundโ, says Vander. โIf the foundations are there, you can see growth, and thereโs already support surrounding them, then itโs a good thing to backโ.
Donโt Forget Lighting
Lighting is ridiculously important, and can make a huge difference to how the painting looks in your home. Especially when youโre viewing a winner in a physical gallery space, you have to consider that spotlights are typically being used, so the lighting in your home will be different (unless you are using those same gallery spotlights, of course).
Maybe youโre by the beach and the light that trickles in through the windows is more blue-tinted, as opposed to the light in a gallery which may be more yellow under the spotlight.
โThink about how youโre going to light the work and how it might be viewed within your homeโ, says Vander.
โLighting is very important; it changes artwork. Certain blues and greens in artwork change depending on the light, so itโs important to know the lighting in your home before you go looking for artwork โ or you can get an electrician to put spotlights inโ.
Maximalist Or Minimalist?
You need to decide whether youโre going to have a large personal art collection, or one thatโs just full of enough pieces to permanently place around your home. Usually itโs the bank account that decides that for you, but having a significant collection is certainly the better aspiration.
As Vander tells me, most cities have professional art storing facilities, with climate and lighting control. If youโve built up a sizable personal art collection then you can quite easily store work there and switch things out every couple of months, so you can still collect without necessarily using the artwork straight away.
Minimalism has its place too. As Graham said above, itโs often better to have small mobile pieces rather than a larger wall canvas. You could even pay attention to rooms that arenโt necessarily built for art, like the kitchen.
โOften the kitchen is overlooked as an opportunity to house art because the walls are tiled and cupboards are fullโ, said Graham. โAnd when there is an empty wall, people feel obligated to put something on it, rather than select something with meaningโ.
By meaning he of course isnโt suggesting you put an oil work above a stove โ thatโs a fast way towards bitter disappointment. Graham suggests taking something like an old baby spoon or grandmotherโs tea towel and framing it onto a splash back or adjacent wall.
Framing Matters
If youโve picked up a nice paperwork or photograph, then framing is essential. But it doesnโt have to be the typical raw Tasmanian frame running around your new prize. There are people out there now making a large variety of frames that can be just as eye-catching and meaningful as the work themselves.
But you also have to consider what type of artwork it is before framing. Work on canvas doesnโt necessarily need framing, because the work is already stretched on its own frame. A lot of First Nations art is also not traditionally framed.
Think about aesthetics, but also think about practicality. Photographs must be framed well, and like paperworks should be ideally kept behind UV protector glass thatโs going to help with longevity. Still, donโt hang them in direct sunlight or over a working fireplace.
โFraming can also totally change a workโ, says Vander. โWe often go into homes where they have inherited old collections, so they often have aging frames. We take them to our framing guru and weโd put it in a more contemporary frame; it changes the work dramaticallyโ.
If you donโt necessarily want to mix up forms of artworks and decorate the house with just as many sculptures as paintings, simply switching up the frames also helps with making the house feel more dynamic.
โGo speak to your local framingโ, says Vander. โIf something is feeling tired, framing is a really good way to bring it back to lifeโ.
Do You Need The โWowโ Factor?
If youโve got a house big and varied enough to justify it, itโs well worth taking notes from the more ostentatious and showy pieces in a boutique hotel and having at least one piece that has the โwowโ factor. Or, if weโre being frank โ an โInstagram momentโ.
Over the years working with QT Hotels & Resorts, Graham has become more conscious of creating pieces like this โ one or two that people want to be seen near and photographed in front of. For this, he looks at avenues and sightlines where guests would exit a door, or corridors at the end of which he can place a surprise.
Take QT Sydneyโs state corridors for example. Each floor has an end-of-hallway statement piece, like the above photograph which depicts possibly my favourite chandelier in any hotel Iโve stayed in.
Where To Start Your Personal Art Collection
While there are endless options online for art buyers, not to mention the multitude of physical galleries dotted around major cities, these are some of the best places to start.
Saatchi Art โ The collection of original paintings, photography and fine art youโll find here is vast. Thereโs also scope for a greater range of budgets here, so you can start small and go large.
Artsy โ A New York-based online marketplace for discovering, buying and selling fine art. The database at Artsy is extensive, and has offers the ability to dive in deeper to individual works of art, with a wide knowledge base and an excellent interface.
Curatorial+Co. โ The online gallery Sophie Vander has built, which ships worldwide and regularly showcases interesting Australian artists. As itโs a curated collection thereโs also a stronger sense of customer service, so you can better individualise your needs and get access to advice. They also just opened a physical gallery space in Redfern, Sydney.
For more ideas on where to buy art and start building your personal art collection check out this list of affordable art websites.
