What is Original Art?

You can walk into most any mall and find a poster or print shop, and in that shop you can find prints from world famous artists. Anyone can own a Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or, if you like modern abstract art, you can even find a small version of a Jackson Pollock. The funny thing is, that with the cost of framing, even a print can run you a couple of hundred dollars. But, do you know what is even more satisfying than owning a print reproduction of a famous piece of art? Owning a piece of original art.

What does this mean? Obviously, an original Van Gogh is a painting actually painted by Van Gogh, and if you have millions of dollars (perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars) you may actually be able to own one. But the percentage of people who can own a piece of original art of such magnitude is extremely minute. But there are plenty of modern artists who offer wonderful pieces of original art. These artists are not world famous, they probably have just a small following of fans who really like their work, they are still waiting to be discovered. Often, a piece of such work will start in the low hundreds and run on up to thousands of dollars.

Buying such pieces of art should be done because you honestly like the work, not because you are looking for an investment. If you get lucky, the piece of art you purchase may be created by an artist who becomes famous, a household name, and your art is suddenly worth untold sums. But this is highly unlikely, so buy pieces of art that have personal meaning for you.

With paintings, there is obviously only one piece of original art. With sculptures, such as a bronze, there can be more than one piece of original art of a sculpture. When an artist creates a sculpture and has it cast, he will cast a limited number of pieces. In the casting process, the artist may handle each individual piece to add final touches before the final casting in bronze. Each limited edition piece from the first casting is considered a piece of original art. Further castings do not usually have personal touches added to them, and are not considered original. Usually further castings cost less.

Some people have a preference between paintings and sculpture, but most of us have a place in our life for both types of art. There are a lot of wonderful mass produced pieces of art, things that people readily recognize. But wouldn't you rather have a piece of original art, something you are not going to see in the local Hallmark store, or see a piece by the same artist in your sister-in-laws house? Original art is so striking because it is a one of a kind, or very limited. When someone comes into your home and admires original art, they will know that they are looking at something special, something you cannot find just anywhere else.