Art & Pictures | Home & Garden Classifieds

Those who have reached this page are doubtless convinced of the benefits of purchasing an original painting. Anyone still entertaining doubts as to the pleasure they give should note the genuine enthusiasm of any serious collector.

Here are some top tips for making that first important purchase:

1. Be clear about the purpose buying a painting.
Try to be clear about your priorities. This is vital in order to make the right choice.
Is the painting intended to fill a particular gap on the walls of home or office?
Should the painting have any personal significance?
Is investment, or at least, resale value, a concern?
Do you simply want a picture you like, for decorative purposes?

2. Decide whether you are decorating your home or starting an art collection.
Even early on, you will know whether you are likely to be bitten by the "collecting bug" or simply trying to improve the appearance of your home.
Based on this knowledge, you should decide whether your first purchase should be:
(a) By a relatively unknown artist, the collection of whose work may be impossible, but seems better value.
(b) By a renowned, more prolific artist, who is collectable, but undoubtedly expensive.

3. Work to a Budget.
You may want to acquire several (say half-a dozen) paintings over a period of time. On purchasing the first, you should know exactly how much you would spend on the last. Don't be tempted to buy all six at once. However, deciding upon two or three is realistic. You may strike up a relationship with an advisor who will give you all the attention befitting a 5-star client rather than an occasional picture buyer. It is always best to overspend initially. It is far more straightforward to trade one high-quality painting for two of lesser quality, than trying to dispose of a large collection of mediocre art.

4. Don't just fill the Most Important places first.
Be flexible, since with the benefit of hindsight, you may regret turning down a picture, with nothing else seeming as perfect. An advisor will guide you to which paintings will be eventually most rewarding. Given some time looking at art as a potential buyer, you should be able to recognise seriously substandard work immediately.

5. Decide which medium you prefer
Oils have the greatest strength of colour and can hang anywhere. Pastels are cheaper, have colouring that is more delicate but require protective glass. Watercolours are the cheapest of the three but also require glass, and are rarely strong enough to act as a centrepiece. Non-reflecting, ultra-violet protected glass removes the problem of reflections and sunlight fading to watercolours and pastels.

6. What subjects to choose?
Many buyers think they want one type of picture and then fall in love with quite another. With experience, you will come to trust your first impression, since by the time you reach a second, the painting may have been sold. There is a tradition for hanging certain subjects in specific rooms: still life in the dining room; landscapes in the sitting room; and nudes / female figures in the bedroom. A far better effect can be produced with some imagination. Quirky subjects can be more eye-catching and rewarding, since obvious ones can prove tiresome. You can buy particularly inexpensively by choosing unpopular subjects, though resale is often difficult. Paintings of middle-aged women generally fetch far less than those of "pretty young things" while portraits of men nearly always fetch less than either. However, you may soon tire of an "ugly old boot" gazing down on you. Any symbol of death can reduce the price of a painting radically.

7. Where should I buy?
There is little difference in buying from a dealer or an auction-house. However, there is no substitute for striking up a good rapport with an advisor, whose taste you like and character you respect. The better U.K. art dealers are bound by the Code of Practice of their association, as well as their natural honesty and decency. If you change your mind about a purchase, a refund or part-exchange against another painting is usual. This reassurance is valuable when spending thousands of pounds.

Buying Art via the Internet

Advantages:

1. Ease of access
The Internet gives access to many more paintings than you could find in your locality. You can find illustrations from virtually all the world's leading galleries, and many thousand minor ones.

2. Comparing Works by a Particular Artist
You should be able to find a number of different examples being offered, giving the opportunity to compare prices, quality, desirability, historical importance and other factors that determine value.

3. No Pressure
You can consider the merits of a painting without an over-eager sales assistant at your shoulder.

4. No Commitment
Galleries make you feel committed to buying at least one picture simply by stepping through their doorway. The ease of browsing on the net removes any possibility of such embarrassment.

Disadvantages:

1. Imagining how the Painting would look at Home
When you are seeing any reproduction of a painting, there are a number of crucial differences. Firstly the sheer size: when an image is reduced in size it becomes denser, loses grandeur and becomes more intimate, and though gaining in detail becomes a little flatter.

2. How Accurate is the Illustration?
Any reproduction differs minutely from the original; check with the gallery if there are any obvious differences. Any images you see on your computer screen are backlit, showing colours at their strongest.

3. Not Dealing Face-to-Face with a Stranger
Computer-literate art dealers can create glamorous websites that disguise the real shabbiness of their business. There are many signs of a truly reputable business. Membership of a major trade organisation helps, though beware: membership qualifications vary between organisations. Members of the British Antiques Dealers' Association (BADA) and LAPADA are expertly vetted, and adhere to a strict Code of Practice.

4. Not being able to Examine the Painting Yourself
As long as you trust the gallery, this is one area where it can be better buying via the Internet. Simply e-mail the gallery, asking them to send you a condition report immediately. They have to put everything in writing, which might help in resale.

Ultimately, the basis of buying artworks well is the trusting relationship between a client and his art advisor. A good advisor will guide a buyer towards those paintings that will prove most rewarding in the long term. There are many advantages to buying a painting on the internet: the access to so many images ability to compare prices; the leisure to weigh up the pros and cons of a particular piece; and the ease with which one can browse without any sort of commitment. But there are also many potential problems and pitfalls for the unwary, arising from not actually seeing the painting nor the person selling it. These can usually be negated, or at least rendered negligible, with a little common sense