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where to buy decent art at decent prices?

post #1 of 50
1/7/11 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
anyone have some suggestions for finding decent art without breaking the bank? I live in MA. and have a feeling if I were to go to local Boston galleries it would be quite expensive. I am guessing online may be a better, cheaper alternative to go with, but I am weary about buying art without seeing it in person.

I thought some may have reputable sites they could suggest?
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post #2 of 50
1/7/11 at 7:35pm
huh? what are you looking for? and what are you looking to spend?
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post #3 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:01pm
art isn't the kind of stuff you shop for deals on, man.
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post #4 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:11pm
Local university art departments. They often have end of semester shows for their students to display some stuff. And students will be happy to sell anything.
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post #5 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post
art isn't the kind of stuff you shop for deals on, man.

+a billion, but i'm trying to be nice. Besides, Boston is even worse than San Francisco as far as contemporary art goes, so it's understandable that he'd need help.
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post #6 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mharwitt View Post
huh? what are you looking for? and what are you looking to spend?

mainly paintings or prints, various styles, nothing really specific beyond that. Really whatever catches my eye. Atm my walls are very bare and I would like to add some artwork. As far as money anywhere from $300-$900 per piece. Also, my walls and ceilings are quite large [10 ft.] so pieces that are small dont really look that great, they sort of look out of place and get lost on the wall space.


Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post
art isn't the kind of stuff you shop for deals on, man.

Not looking for deals, just have a set price limit that I dont want to go above, I could care less whether the art is "on sale" or discounted, just want to be within the above stated price range.
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post #7 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by celery View Post
Local university art departments. They often have end of semester shows for their students to display some stuff. And students will be happy to sell anything.

that is a good idea, there are a few art schools up here that I could look into. I knwo there are quite a few galleries around, I was just assumiing that the pieces being sold there would be considerably above my price point.
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post #8 of 50
1/7/11 at 8:27pm
buy a poster at the MFA
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post #9 of 50
1/7/11 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pg600rr View Post
anyone have some suggestions for finding decent art without breaking the bank? I live in MA. and have a feeling if I were to go to local Boston galleries it would be quite expensive. I am guessing online may be a better, cheaper alternative to go with, but I am weary about buying art without seeing it in person.

I thought some may have reputable sites they could suggest?

I would check out the frequent open studios in the south end or fort point for work. i also know schools like risd and mass college of art have student shows from time to time.
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post #10 of 50
1/7/11 at 10:59pm
$300-900 is not a lot of money for original art, aside maybe from photography.

Rather than blankly ask what you can buy, you need to figure out what styles interest you and do some research. Photography? There are places like 20x200.com that have some pretty decent photo editions at affordable prices. I think APUG.org (analog photography) still has people selling their platinum/etc. prints at affordable prices. Printmaking? Ditto - you can get reproduction prints and edition prints at affordable prices, but you need to know what kind of prints you like. Painting - hard to pull off buying decent work (much less large work) at your budget.
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post #11 of 50
1/7/11 at 11:04pm
You really need to narrow down your scope before anyone can be of any help. You can certainly find limited edition prints in the price range you're talking about, but keep in mind that often the framing can be $300 a piece or more. Without an idea what you're looking for though it's hard to help you.
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post #12 of 50
1/7/11 at 11:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark from Plano View Post
You really need to narrow down your scope before anyone can be of any help. You can certainly find limited edition prints in the price range you're talking about, but keep in mind that often the framing can be $300 a piece or more. Without an idea what you're looking for though it's hard to help you.

Good point. A floating frame here in Boston for a painting that is say 18 x 24 will run you 300 right off the bat.
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post #13 of 50
1/7/11 at 11:44pm
estate sales
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post #14 of 50
1/8/11 at 12:24am
I digging the Boston presence in this thread. BU probably has loads of kids in the BFA and MFA programs willing to unload their stuff for chai and espresso money.
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post #15 of 50
1/8/11 at 12:26am
In my opinion the best place to get good deals on good or even great art is at fine art and antique auctions. First, that's where the art is and usually a lot of it. Second, many people are there for the big names or the well-known, listed artists (Benezit, etc) or the obvious gems. Thus many good pieces of art fall through the cracks and are sold reasonably perhaps because there are condition issues or maybe the art is unsigned or signed by a "nobody". Maybe the art's appearance is hurt by a shitty frame. You should also be alert to mistakes -- and a lot are made through mis-attribution (signature or school), poor connoisseurship, or plain stupidity; sometimes you can sneak up on great art just because the piece is so filthy it can't be "read" right (a professional art conservator can help you here; a typical 24 x 36 inch painting shouldn't cost more than a few hundred bucks to have cleaned and varnished -- deals can be had here, too). Of course, this all takes for granted that you know how to identify "decent art". For many that's the catch. To develop an eye you need to look at lots and lots of art at museums and galleries and in books. Good luck.
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