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How To Buy Art, Or Almost Anything
By John F. Robertson
It has often struck me that making purchasing decisions these days is a
complicated and difficult exercise. Whether the decision is over wine,
books, art or tangerines, the buyer is faced with almost limitless choices.
When you factor in the Internet, the choices expand even more beyond
mere physical limitations.
Let's consider art. Forget 2,000 years of choices and only look at what is
being produced right now. If one criteria of greatness is withstanding the
test of time, how do you measure greatness against something that was
created yesterday? Look at The New Yorker and observe the number of
shows in galleries all over every borough in the city. It's difficult enough
just to try to make a decision on what gallery to visit, let alone what to buy.
If you're not in New York, and using your trusty E-Bay to navigate
through the art world, how do you choose?
First of all, narrow your field of interest. Narrow it by period, by artist, by
geography or by genre. If you know you like Turner, you know you like
landscapes. What makes a Turner landscape good? How can you take
that criteria and apply it to a contemporary landscape? If you're the
methodical, analytical type, take your aesthetic criteria and construct a
decision matrix. List down one column of your matrix the things that make
a Turner landscape good. Head a second column with the name of a
landscape that interests you. Match the individual criterion of the Turner
landscape to your potential purchase. Now you have at least the
aesthetic criteria justifying your purchase. From there you can evaluate
price, provenance or any other impulse that might spur your purchase.
Harold Bloom always talked about the anxiety of influence in literature.
You can eliminate the anxiety and concentrate on the influences when
purchasing art. The key is to identify what you like, research the artist,
genre or period and then apply the criteria to a potential purchase. It's
okay to say I don't know why I like something, but I know what I like, but
only as a start. Now that you know what you like, determine through some
research the rationale behind your preference. If you're lucky your
purchase will withstand the test of time. Even if it doesn't, at least you
know why you bought it.
All content on this site is protected by copy right and cannot be reproduced in any manner without
written permission of the webmaster.
By John F. Robertson
It has often struck me that making purchasing decisions these days is a
complicated and difficult exercise. Whether the decision is over wine,
books, art or tangerines, the buyer is faced with almost limitless choices.
When you factor in the Internet, the choices expand even more beyond
mere physical limitations.
Let's consider art. Forget 2,000 years of choices and only look at what is
being produced right now. If one criteria of greatness is withstanding the
test of time, how do you measure greatness against something that was
created yesterday? Look at The New Yorker and observe the number of
shows in galleries all over every borough in the city. It's difficult enough
just to try to make a decision on what gallery to visit, let alone what to buy.
If you're not in New York, and using your trusty E-Bay to navigate
through the art world, how do you choose?
First of all, narrow your field of interest. Narrow it by period, by artist, by
geography or by genre. If you know you like Turner, you know you like
landscapes. What makes a Turner landscape good? How can you take
that criteria and apply it to a contemporary landscape? If you're the
methodical, analytical type, take your aesthetic criteria and construct a
decision matrix. List down one column of your matrix the things that make
a Turner landscape good. Head a second column with the name of a
landscape that interests you. Match the individual criterion of the Turner
landscape to your potential purchase. Now you have at least the
aesthetic criteria justifying your purchase. From there you can evaluate
price, provenance or any other impulse that might spur your purchase.
Harold Bloom always talked about the anxiety of influence in literature.
You can eliminate the anxiety and concentrate on the influences when
purchasing art. The key is to identify what you like, research the artist,
genre or period and then apply the criteria to a potential purchase. It's
okay to say I don't know why I like something, but I know what I like, but
only as a start. Now that you know what you like, determine through some
research the rationale behind your preference. If you're lucky your
purchase will withstand the test of time. Even if it doesn't, at least you
know why you bought it.
All content on this site is protected by copy right and cannot be reproduced in any manner without
written permission of the webmaster.
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