The Art of Collecting Art

I was reading some great articles on how to collect art and it was really inspiring. I love finding original pieces to add to my collection, and yard sales and auctions are a great way to do it if you don't have the dough to drop at a gallery. Whether you think you're a collector or not, the art you choose to display in your home says something about you. This article here tells you a little about choosing pieces that speak to you, and the importance of the collection as a whole, rather than random pieces. Here's a quote I really like:

What makes a great collector great is his or her ability to separate out specific works of art from the millions of pieces already in existence and assemble them in such a way as to increase or advance our understanding of that art in particular or of the evolution of art in general. In any mature collection, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, the collector comes to be accepted as a respected authority and in exceptional cases, goes on to set the standards, determine the trends and influence the future of collecting for everyone.

I don't think collecting should be intimidating, or have any rhyme or reason beyond the fact that you just like it. Just some fun food for thought before I show you some of my favorite finds, and tips on how we scored them. 

 A pair of antique hunting paintings. 

My husband and I agree these two are our faves!We bought these at an estate sale. They were priced at $80 each. Not that we didn't feel like they were worth that, we just didn't have the money. So we offered $40 for the pair and gave them our name/number. We got a call later that day and picked them up. Tip: most estate sales go to half off at a certain time. You can wait till then and come back, or leave your best offer with the person who runs the sale. Warning: you do run the risk of losing the item, but you might score big if no one else wants it. 

Our stairway collection

Most of my artwork collection was passed down to me from my grandma. Thankfully, I like her most of her art. These three prints were part of a newspaper add she did for a local department store. My aunt has all the originals but was kind enough to make copies of my three favorites.

 The two portraits that have a sepia background were models my grandma sketched, and the other two diagonally are my grandpa when he was in his 20's.

 This black and white landscape we picked up at another estate sale for $75. A splurge for us. It's huge though, and I'm a sucker for oil paintings especially seascapes.

 And finally, the squirrels complete our stairway collection adding a bit of humor. These were drawn by artist Ryan Berkley. We're big fans of animal heads on people's bodies in this family. Our house is laced with personified animal characters and Ryan Berkley's art started this obsession.

Lastly, I give you "David". My grandma's specialty was nudes. Which I find kind of funny because my dad grew up with this artsy mom, and married my mom, who comes from the most conservative family ever. David hangs in the entry way to our stairs and sparks many inside jokes in our family, but you can't argue how amazingly life-like this picture is. And if you've ever tried to draw people, you'll know how difficult a task this was. If our house ever caught on fire, I'd be grabbing this piece on my way out (assuming my husband and kid were already safe, of course). 

My grandma Vera is the second from the right standing next to one of her paintings.
Isn't she groovy? 

So do you collect art? I'd love to see some of your favorite pieces. Feel free to email me pics here and maybe I can throw together some sort of collage of everyone's favorites.