So I am considering getting some art for my flat, but obviously can't afford better known ones, so the question is - should I get reproductions of art I like or is it lame and I should try to find original art within my price range? What's your view on this, in particular on having reproductions on your walls?
I find nothing wrong with having reproductions hanging. The reaction I usually get is 'oh I love that painting' if I get one at all.
That's good to hear. I like some stuff by, say, Dali or Alphonse Mucha and I think it would work well with my decor but I was afraid of "how lame" reactions.
Anyone who says reproductions are lame is being pretentious.
For my new apartment I went with Kandinsky. There's plenty online shops that sell high quality prints.
My white walls are so beautiful that no decoration is necessary.
Quote from: Syt on September 14, 2015, 09:17:12 AM
For my new apartment I went with Kandinsky. There's plenty online shops that sell high quality prints.
Could you recommend any that you have used and turned out fine?
Quote from: Monoriu on September 14, 2015, 09:20:49 AM
My white walls are so beautiful that no decoration is necessary.
White walls... *shudders*
Quote from: Martinus on September 14, 2015, 09:24:07 AM
Quote from: Syt on September 14, 2015, 09:17:12 AM
For my new apartment I went with Kandinsky. There's plenty online shops that sell high quality prints.
Could you recommend any that you have used and turned out fine?
I went with Kunst Für Alle: http://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/ and am happy with the delivered products.
Allposters seems to be widely popular: http://www.allposters.com/ They also have various framing options.
At my new house, the only stuff I have hanging on my walls so far is a framed WWII propaganda poster (Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer and demanding "I want YOU for a war job!") and a portrait of my great-great grandfather in his military school uniform, circa 1880.
Ok, I got the wording slightly wrong... it's this poster:
(https://vepca.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/f4bcf8b0-2f28-47fe-8719-a1b481619a74-large.jpg)
I also have a 'loose lips sink ships' one with a drowned sailor washed up on a beach, but haven't gotten around to hanging it yet.
Find/support those lesser-known starving artists whose style you like. They might be Picasso's someday!
Some repros here, but mostly I just seek out artists I find interesting. So I'm more likely to leave a convention's artist's alley with some prints by someone I found interesting than I am to pick up, say, a Roy Lichtenstein repro (although I considered picking one up last time I saw one at IKEA).
I go with a mix of popular and pretentious movie posters.
Just one man's opinion:
I don't really love getting prints of really famous artists. Stuff like Dali, or Kandinsky, that most people would know immediately is a reproduction or a famous artist. My concern is that it says "I have no taste of my own, so I just got copies of what is popular".
In any city there are plenty of living artists who are locally famous, but not reaching exorbitant prices.
In my case at home we have several numbered prints from Yukon artists (Haven't bought any since coming to Edmonton). They're limited reproductions - only 200, or 500, or whatever are made. Marty you've almost certainly got my disposable income than I do, so you could afford originals from living artists. Go and check out some local Warsaw galleries and see if there's anything you like.
If nothing else, doing it this way means you're supporting living, breathing artists, and not just the talentless heirs of long-dead artists.
Quote from: Caliga on September 14, 2015, 09:36:41 AM
Ok, I got the wording slightly wrong... it's this poster:
(https://vepca.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/f4bcf8b0-2f28-47fe-8719-a1b481619a74-large.jpg)
I also have a 'loose lips sink ships' one with a drowned sailor washed up on a beach, but haven't gotten around to hanging it yet.
I'm surprised you didn't digitally change the wording to "...blow job". :P
Posters for me smack too much of a coffee shop or a teenager's bedroom. :P
My walls have a mixture - mostly originals (several by me ;) ), and a print - specifically because I like the artist and subject a lot (it's a print of Mayan ruins by Catherwood).
My walls are just covered in maps with little red pins in them.
I like some of Dali's religious-themed art (not your typial "clocks hanging on branches" stuff).
I'd also consider something by Blake.
Quote from: Razgovory on September 14, 2015, 09:53:28 AM
My walls are just covered in maps with little red pins in them.
:lmfao:
:ph34r:
Quote from: Razgovory on September 14, 2015, 09:53:28 AM
My walls are just covered in maps with little red pins in them.
I hope there are red threads running between the pins too.
Quote from: Barrister on September 14, 2015, 09:46:20 AM
Just one man's opinion:
I don't really love getting prints of really famous artists. Stuff like Dali, or Kandinsky, that most people would know immediately is a reproduction or a famous artist. My concern is that it says "I have no taste of my own, so I just got copies of what is popular".
In any city there are plenty of living artists who are locally famous, but not reaching exorbitant prices.
In my case at home we have several numbered prints from Yukon artists (Haven't bought any since coming to Edmonton). They're limited reproductions - only 200, or 500, or whatever are made. Marty you've almost certainly got my disposable income than I do, so you could afford originals from living artists. Go and check out some local Warsaw galleries and see if there's anything you like.
If nothing else, doing it this way means you're supporting living, breathing artists, and not just the talentless heirs of long-dead artists.
This is assuming we're treating the house as a gallery and purchasing art for the sole purpose of impressing others. I have a repro of "Starry Night" not because I give a crap what anybody thinks about my taste, but because I like to have it there to look at without having to go online or go to an art museum (not that I dislike frequent trips to art museums).
Quote from: Martinus on September 14, 2015, 09:54:03 AM
I like some of Dali's religious-themed art (not your typial "clocks hanging on branches" stuff).
I'd also consider something by Blake.
My guide for reproductions: you can't go wrong if you chose a good-quality print of art you personally like.
Quote from: Martinus on September 14, 2015, 09:50:22 AM
Posters for me smack too much of a coffee shop or a teenager's bedroom. :P
I would say it depends on the style of the room. Also, whether the pictures are glued to the wall or if they're in a proper glass frame. I like simple black rimmed glass frames.
Find some youngish, relatively unknown local artist whose work you can stand and then you can get in at price point that's not too bad.
If you're serious about the art and do your research you can find someone who is talented and going to stick with the art as a career and some day your piece(s) might be worth considerably more and hopefully you like their work.
Reproductions & prints are fine, but make sure they're framed properly. A poorly matted Mucha piece, as beautiful as his work is, might come off like you've tacked up a post card.
I'm not a big fan of prints of most famous works / definitely not a fan of auction houses like Christie's selling prints at a high price. What a great scam they have going on.
I just put frame up pictures of my kids but I have some old disney framed posters in my children rooms.
Quote from: Syt on September 14, 2015, 09:58:48 AM
Quote from: Martinus on September 14, 2015, 09:50:22 AM
Posters for me smack too much of a coffee shop or a teenager's bedroom. :P
I would say it depends on the style of the room. Also, whether the pictures are glued to the wall or if they're in a proper glass frame. I like simple black rimmed glass frames.
That's true.
Quote from: Malthus on September 14, 2015, 09:49:15 AM
I'm surprised you didn't digitally change the wording to "...blow job". :P
You know that is a GREAT idea. :hug:
Ever notice how hand job and nose job mean two completely different concepts?
Quote from: Barrister on September 14, 2015, 09:46:20 AM
If nothing else, doing it this way means you're supporting living, breathing artists, and not just the talentless heirs of long-dead artists.
I'd guess most of the artists I like are in the public domain by now.
Some of my favorites on my walls are a couple of Japanese woodcuts by Hiroshige, modern made using the old techniques. :)
If you have the cash to afford original art, buy it. Your patronage can make a real difference to a young artist and keep them in the game. You may not be able to afford an established name - only oligarchs can these days - but that doesn't mean you can't find exciting original pieces to your taste.
Quote from: The Brain on September 14, 2015, 10:41:04 AM
Some of my favorites on my walls are a couple of Japanese woodcuts by Hiroshige, modern made using the old techniques. :)
That's cool. Did they use his original blocks, or were the woodcuts a reproduction?
Quote from: Savonarola on September 14, 2015, 12:40:51 PM
Quote from: The Brain on September 14, 2015, 10:41:04 AM
Some of my favorites on my walls are a couple of Japanese woodcuts by Hiroshige, modern made using the old techniques. :)
That's cool. Did they use his original blocks, or were the woodcuts a reproduction?
I'm pretty sure it's reproduction woodcuts. I don't have the documentation at hand right now.
Quote from: Warspite on September 14, 2015, 12:24:16 PM
If you have the cash to afford original art, buy it. Your patronage can make a real difference to a young artist and keep them in the game. You may not be able to afford an established name - only oligarchs can these days - but that doesn't mean you can't find exciting original pieces to your taste.
There's nothing wrong with Warspite's advice, but the most important thing is to buy something you like, whether it's an original or a reproduction. You're going to be the one who spends the most time looking at it.
Quote from: The Brain on September 14, 2015, 02:08:16 PM
I'm pretty sure it's reproduction woodcuts. I don't have the documentation at hand right now.
That's still cool. I've got a couple woodcuts from the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century and a contemporary one.
Quote from: dps on September 14, 2015, 02:13:01 PM
Quote from: Warspite on September 14, 2015, 12:24:16 PM
If you have the cash to afford original art, buy it. Your patronage can make a real difference to a young artist and keep them in the game. You may not be able to afford an established name - only oligarchs can these days - but that doesn't mean you can't find exciting original pieces to your taste.
There's nothing wrong with Warspite's advice, but the most important thing is to buy something you like, whether it's an original or a reproduction. You're going to be the one who spends the most time looking at it.
Yeah. My problem with original "young" art is that I tried looking for something I like and I hate most of it. It seems Polish young artists' favourite style these days is "vomit paint on canvas" - I like stylised surrealist art like that of Dali or William Blake and that just does not seem to be the style de jour.
On top of that, I find that the subject of the work of art is as important to me as whether it is pleasing visually - so I am not just satisfied with, say, a picture of a duck or a tree even if I like it esthetically - it should concern a topic that is of interest to me. That makes finding an affordable original piece of art very difficult.
Certainly there are artists doing some retro stuff, right? We still have landscape painters for Godsake and those stopped being interesting to the artistic community in 1850 or so.
Quote from: Valmy on September 15, 2015, 10:15:19 AM
We still have landscape painters for Godsake and those stopped being interesting to the artistic community in 1850 or so.
Eh? Majority of Dali's paintings are landscapes.
I just find this thread surreal. I mean, I know languish as a whole is rich and Martinus is super rich. But talking about buying original art is just...in the stratosphere. I have no idea how much art costs, but I presume lots and lots and lots of zeros are involved :lol:
Quote from: Monoriu on September 15, 2015, 10:24:00 AM
I just find this thread surreal. I mean, I know languish as a whole is rich and Martinus is super rich. But talking about buying original art is just...in the stratosphere. I have no idea how much art costs, but I presume lots and lots and lots of zeros are involved :lol:
You go to an art fair and pay a few hundred bucks or so. Artists are starving for a reason.
You can get works from unknown local artists easily in the low triple digits here.
Quote from: Syt on September 15, 2015, 10:25:26 AM
You can get works from unknown local artists easily in the low triple digits here.
Yep. I don't think Marty was talking about hitting the auction circuit.
Quote from: Monoriu on September 15, 2015, 10:24:00 AM
I just find this thread surreal. I mean, I know languish as a whole is rich and Martinus is super rich. But talking about buying original art is just...in the stratosphere. I have no idea how much art costs, but I presume lots and lots and lots of zeros are involved :lol:
You can spend as much or as little as you want on original art.
Me personally right now I probably wouldn't spend more than $10,000 on a piece, and I'd have to really like it to spend that much.
I've seen original works by unknown artists selling for less than some quality reproductions of famous paintings.
Quote from: Monoriu on September 15, 2015, 10:24:00 AM
I just find this thread surreal. I mean, I know languish as a whole is rich and Martinus is super rich. But talking about buying original art is just...in the stratosphere. I have no idea how much art costs, but I presume lots and lots and lots of zeros are involved :lol:
What others have said... original art is cheap as long as you buy it from unknowns. We have a wall hanging thing in our bathroom that was done by an original artist and we paid nothing for it... it 'came with' our old house, and Princesca likes it so she brought it to our new house.
Come to London, Mart. I've actually seen a lot of art at affordable prices in galleries in ashore ditch and Bethnal Green.
I've got two original art works, three reproductions and a couple of travel photos that I change every few months.
Like the others said, original art doesn't have to be expensive at all. In fact, mine were not much more expensive than the reproductions.
Like I said, I have no idea. The only time I come across art prices is when the news report that somebody has spent a couple of billion in art auctions. I don't think I have walked into an art gallery before. I'll stick to my white walls :)
Quote from: Monoriu on September 15, 2015, 04:16:37 PM
Like I said, I have no idea. The only time I come across art prices is when the news report that somebody has spent a couple of billion in art auctions. I don't think I have walked into an art gallery before. I'll stick to my white walls :)
Have you checked to see you don't live in some kind of special medical ward?
:P
Quote from: mongers on September 15, 2015, 04:20:18 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on September 15, 2015, 04:16:37 PM
Like I said, I have no idea. The only time I come across art prices is when the news report that somebody has spent a couple of billion in art auctions. I don't think I have walked into an art gallery before. I'll stick to my white walls :)
Have you checked to see you don't live in some kind of special medical ward?
:P
I have my computer if I need to look at anime pictures :P
http://www.thevelvetstore.com