Being an art lover and collector can be expensive, so it is good to know the best places to buy art. There are many places to buy art such as Auctions, art fairs, galleries and exhibitions, online galleries, artists websites, online auction sites like eBay. Even restaurants sell paintings by local artists.
But which of these options is the best place to find the most interesting pieces at the best price? Below, art buyer Wendy Hermann give her two favorite places to buy art from:
For me, the two places I mostly like to buy art from are eBay and private collectors.
Buying Art From eBay
The best thing about buying art on eBay is that you can usually you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg for it. For an art investor, this is good. It means that if he makes a mistake, at least he hasn’t risked a huge sum of money. eBay has become the place to go for good deals so except in rare cases, you get a good deal for your money.
In addition, many artists like to sell on eBay mostly because its one of the rare places where they can have their work seen by potentially hundreds of people. Artists are mostly desperate to have their work seen and because of this, art collectors can often steal works or art from unknown artists before they are discovered.
The negative side of buying art on eBay is the whole eBay art fraud thing.
Some sellers, and no one knows exactly how many, will outright lie about the art they are selling. Theyll state that a piece of art is an original even though it isn’t. Theyll place fake signatures on paintings to make them seem more valuable to the bidders and drive up the bid price. Theyll forge paintings or prints and sell them for whatever they can get with the secure knowledge that they won’t have to pay a heavy price if they get caught.
If you’re a novice art buyer, and you’re thinking of buying an expensive piece of art, eBay is probably not for you.
Private Art Galleries
Private galleries are a great place to buy art. But you don’t want to buy from just anyone. You want to find out who the best dealers are in your particular art niche. For example, if you are interested in Native American art, you want to find the best dealers in that market. Once you find who they are, you want to begin to develop relationships with them. Doing this will not only help you when you get to the price haggling point, it will also ensure that you’re first on their call list when they get a new piece of art in.
In addition, a good dealer can help guide you in your art acquisitions by giving you their expert and honest opinions on which pieces are most likely to appreciate in value and which artists are likely to become more popular in years to come.
Wherever you decide to buy, just make sure that you love the piece you buy regardless of whether it will increase in value or not. That way you will never be disappointed in your purchase.
