Finding world class art for your walls
You are a person who loves fine art and has an appreciation for the finer things in life but you don’t have any money.
there was all this great art out there that I couldn’t afford
That was exactly my classmates and my situation when I was in art school.
It was kind of weird because I was surrounded by art every day at art school and could not afford one piece of art for the walls of my apartment. Sure I could create something of my own but knowing there was all this great art out there that I couldn’t afford was making me crazy. Most of us back then—just starting out in art school— could barely afford books much less furnishings for an apartment, besides, I wanted work by the masters.
One of my professors at the university gave me and a couple other students access to old art books and magazines she had been saving as a resource for her drawing classes and I had free rain to use them as I wished. Back in those days there was no internet.
One evening as I was cutting out pictures of still life’s to do a collage for an upcoming class, I discovered a whole series of 8x10 plates of Kandinsky’s work. Having always liked Kandinsky’s work, I cut out about 6 of the plates and stuffed them away in my bag.
On my way home from the university I would sometimes alley shop, looking for old discarded furniture or anything else I could find to use in my apartment. One evening I took a short cut through a commercial alleyway and came across a box of old photo frames that someone had thrown out. I had a revelation! I could take some of those Kandinsky prints and mount them in the found frames and I would have my very own Kandinsky art collection on my walls.
As I cropped those photo’s I thought, “I can change them to anything I want”, keeping a fresh collection of work on my walls that would be a source of inspiration. That day I began to collect master painters work that would grace my walls for years. I still have a file folder somewhere that I use to use as reference for my own work— just nostalgic I guess.
I use books or magazines because I like the quality of the paper and the reproduction of the image, I’m just nostalgic I guess.
Here’s the thing, if you want some world class art on your walls go down to a used book store and find an art book with prints—You can buy by them cheap and there is always a great selection. Then go to garage sales and/or Walmart and pick up the least expensive frames you can find—some frames even come with matting. Crop the pictures to the required size and don’t worry about getting the whole image in the frame—most people haven’t seen a real time Kandinsky. Make 5 or six framed pieces, group them together on a wall and wah lah! you have your very own gallery of world class paintings.
I use books or magazines because I like the quality of the paper and the reproduction of the image and I’m also nostalgic.
If you have access to a decent printer and quality paper download them from the internet.
I noticed as I collected more and more reproductions that I was beginning to recognize historical periods in art and artists and was developing my own preferences for specific artists and styles.
The side effect of creating your wall of fame is you develop an appreciation for a variety of artists, styles and techniques that will help you on that day when you decide to spend your hard earned money on an original piece of art .
If you have no Idea where to start I have a few links of Artists and styles below that will get you started.
Styles
If you have any questions about any of these styles or artists or you are looking for something else, drop me a note at grudniski@shaw.ca or simply leave a comment below and I will be happy to help you if I can. Any ideas for future blogs please leave a comment in the section below.
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