Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And talking about art….it is very subjective and personal. Any kind of artwork can grab anyone’s attention.
Place where you live does impact you in your creations. After moving to South Florida, the paintings that I have been creating are mainly influenced by the color blue, the ocean and the beaches. And when I lived in Austin, there was something about longhorns that fascinated me.
At one of my art showings, I was specifically asked to show my water themed paintings only. But as an experiment I brought along a couple of other artworks just to test. What I found out in that particular showing, that my seascapes got all the attention than the other two.
There are all kinds of art that people are buying across all demographics and not just limited to water or ocean themed. During my Design Consultancy days, I observed a mixed response. “Snowbirds” who have an additional home here specifically wanted to decorate their places with beachy themed artworks. Whereas there were some who said they were bored seeing them in everyone’s houses.
I wanted to dig into the psychology of an art buyer.
I was curious to know if a geographical location influences people in picking out art. How much a sunshine beachy state of Florida impact the buying behaviors for collecting artworks? Do people go for sandy beaches, water, boat themed art or do they go for what aligns with their personality or do they pick that has a strong message behind it or do they pick whatever they can find a deal on to hang on their walls or do they pick for investment purposes or do they want art to get inspired on a daily basis.
So, in order to do that, I thought let me talk with interior designers and gallery owners in South Florida and see what they have to say from their experience.
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Let’s find out what Interior Designer, ShaRee Antenucci of ShaRee Décor LLChas to say on what are the most important things she considers about art when designing a space? For her, art is the most impactful “accessory” that ties everything together in a space. According to her, people mostly tend to go towards “coastal” which means blues and ocean/beach are prevalent whether it’s a beachfront property or not.
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And when people are shopping for art from art galleries, what kind of art people gravitate towards. Ann Griffith, owner of Studio E Gallery who has been in Art business for almost 25 years and offers “hat for every head” was happy to share with me her impressions regarding the South Florida Art market. She told me that people are usually very clear on what kind of art they are looking for when they visit her gallery. And they don’t look particularly for coastal art, but it could also be figurative or landscape depending on what catches their attention. |
Another gallery owner in South Florida that specializes in Masters and mid-career artists, told me that most collectors come to her gallery looking for specific artists, not necessarily a theme. While sometimes interior designers come in looking for a "theme" like abstract.
Listening to her took me back to my Austin days when I was very new to the Art world. As I was starting out as a professional artist, I visited small, mid, high end art galleries to find out how all of this works. On one of my visits to this high-end gallery, I asked the owner how they curate artists. He put his arm around me and took me to a side. Before I could come to any conclusion and say anything to him, he said that he didn’t want to say anything in front of his business partner. He told me that the thing is that they show artworks of either well established or dead artists simply because they can bring in wealthy collectors to their gallery so that they can make money.
With some, it is not the art itself, it is the name and the achievements of the artist that sell. Because that fulfills the buyer’s psychological need to be praised for their big accomplishments.
However, he ended with an encouraging note saying that there is no dearth of wealthy people out there who likes to own art from “unknown artists.” Probably he saw an emotion of dejection on my face.
It was kind of harsh to hear another painful truth but later on in retrospect I understood his point of view from a gallery owner/business person's perspective.
Anyways, I am a veteran now in taking rejections. That doesn’t stop me from pursuing whatever I want to pursue. They are a part and parcel of life. You learn and move on with an action that can make you better personally and professionally.
But at that point, I wanted to quit art. Then I said to myself, I feel passionate about art and I am going to follow it no matter what. It requires a lot of self-motivation and courage to do that though. I have been fortunate enough to sell many of my paintings but there are some I have seen who keep on creating artworks without selling even one. It is admirable. I salute them. I know I went on a whole different tangent here.
So, getting back to art in Florida, as an artist, my geographical location does influence me for sure. And the same goes for an art buyer, location does have an effect but only to some extent. There are so many other things to factors in.
Owning some type of art has a big role in your psychological well-being. It stimulates your emotions and your brain.
Happy art shopping.
It would be a great pleasure to hear back from you. Email me: serenecompositions@yahoo.com
Feedback from you is always appreciated.
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