Zatista The premiere source for original art online

Smaller works of art draw the viewer in. There’s no standing back to see the whole image. Details emerge. You’ll want to step closer to get a better look.

"Public Good" by David Opdyke 12" x 12" x 6"

Some smaller pieces of art were never meant to hang on a wall. In fact, many have been created for the eyes of a loved one only. This velvet-lined self-portrait is pocket-sized. It was painted on ivory in 1828 by Sarah Goodridge, for her the man in her life—the famous American statesman Daniel Webster.

Beauty Revealed, Sarah Goodridge, Watercolor on ivory, 2 5/8" x 3 1/8"

Daniel Webster, looking cranky despite the pretty picture in his pocket. Stock Montage/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Other less intimate but equally diminutive pieces work quite nicely on a bookshelf. This one—a 4″-square landscape from New Zealand—graces mine:

4"-square landscape painting by New Zealand artist Lianne Adams-Tull on bookshelf

Some smaller pieces of art really need to be seen on the wall to get their full effect. Look at this close-cropped portrait of Robert De Niro on Zatista’s virtual room to see the great impact even the most diminutive portrait can have:

Heat 2, by Michael Davis, Acrylic, 9.8 ” x 7.9 ”

(Coincidentally, De Niro’s father, Robert De Niro, Sr. was a famous abstract expressionist painter.)

If you like the idea of famous people in small packages, there’s a show of Polaroids shot by Andy Warhol from the 70’s and 80’s of legendary athletes (Pelé, Dorothy Hamill, and Muhammad Ali, to name a few) at Danziger Projects in New York City through December 12.

What tiny works of art appeal to you?

As luck would have it, I happened to be in London visiting my sister during the Frieze and the Zoo Art Fair this year. If you haven’t been to an art fair, they are an amazing way to see a large number of incredible artists/galleries and art all in one go, I highly recommend it. Whether you are there to buy or browse, everyone is welcome. There are fairs all over the country and the world, a couple of my favorites stateside are the Affordable Art Fair (AAF) in New York and Art Basel in Miami.

Here are some highlights from the Frieze Art Fair:

These were a few of Maya Lin’s landscape series, “Altered Atlas” and “Altered Phonebook”. Maya Lin is internationally recognized for her Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC though she has produced a large body of diverse work beyond that. I loved these because she makes you smile in your mind. She has created an alternate sense of topographical dimension out of a 3-dimensional object (the book) made up of 2-dimensional pages, depicting a 3-dimensional landscape. And on top of that, it’s gorgeous to look at. Amazing!

Pietro Ruffo is an artist from Rome. This piece was a very large 3 dimensional work using cut paper with watercolor printed with maps and steel nails.
Photos: thewomensroom

Peter Doig is the artist for the image on the left (Green trees), unfortunately I didn’t get the name of the artist for the mouse and sculpture, so if anyone knows who that is, please let me know!

The Zoo Art Fair is in the East End, a vibrant cultural area of London. Bringing together about 50 arts organizations and artists, it was on a smaller scale than Frieze. Here are a couple of fascinating pieces I saw:

Canoes at Sunriver Oregon by Photographer Michael Axel on Zatista

In most peoples’ minds, the words “art” and “collection” are synonymous with “cash” and “money.” For this reason, many people often put off starting their own art collection because they are afraid it will somehow become more of an expensive hobby than they originally intended. Now, I’m not going to lie to you and say that collecting art is a hobby with a budget similar to that of kite flying (though some of those professional kites can cost more than you think). But starting an art collection is possible for those of us operating under somewhat tighter budgets. In fact, the time to start an art collection is now, as the value of what you purchase can and will appreciate over time. An undiscovered painting purchased today could be part of a famous artist’s body of work tomorrow.

Ready to get started? Here’s how:

Know thyself, know thy art. If you haven’t done this already, get yourself to some local art galleries and figure out what turns you on and what leaves you hitting the snooze button. Are you attracted to the brilliant colors of larger-than-life photographs or are you enraptured by the textures of mixed media? Take notes, keeping track of colors, styles, and sizes that stop you cold and leaving you thinking. Try this several times at various galleries and on Zatista before making your first purchases.

Be clear about your intentions. Are you looking to make some cash on the side or to fill up some blank wall space? Know why you want to plunk down your dollars before you commit your time and money.

Know where you plan to store your new treasures. It’s one thing to fall in love with a massive art installation. It’s quite another to try and fit it into a studio apartment in Brooklyn. If you don’t have a great deal of space to work with, start small. As your collection grows, you may decide to purchase gallery space alone or with a friend.

Decide what you can afford. There’s nothing fun about falling in love with a piece of art that you can’t afford. If you set some budgetary boundaries, you’re always end up playing on a fair field. That’s why on Zatista, we have the option to search by price, whether it be under one hundred dollars or over one thousand dollars.

Don’t pressure yourself. Just because you’ve decided to start an art collection doesn’t mean that you have to start buying right away. Galleries can be high pressure environments that often leave you feeling like you just went to bed with a used car salesman. If you like a specific piece, ask for information and then sleep on your decision. Unless your coveted piece is a one time offer (“only $9.99 plus shipping and handling if you call NOW!”), you’ll feel much better knowing that you’ve given the decision time to marinate. Of course, if you shop online, you can take your time deciding without having to worry about talking to any pesky gallery owners. Brilliant!

Complexity is a good thing. While complexity is a headache when it comes to tax returns, it’s a slam dunk in the world of art. When deciding on whether to purchase a piece of art for your new collection, make sure to consider complexity. A valuable piece of art is tireless, always offering a new viewpoint every time you come around the corner.

Take risks. One of the benefits of purchasing art from emerging stars is simple: you get the good stuff for a reasonable price before your artist rises to the top. If you see a piece you love but don’t recognize the artist yet, go with your gut. You may be the first to discover the next Sylvia Plimack.

Get inspired. Still don’t believe you have the financial chops to create a collection worth remembering? Check out the movie Herb & Dorothy if you need some inspiration. The film documents the true story of postal clerk Herb Vogel and his wife, librarian Dorothy Vogel, who together established one of the world’s best personal art collections without the help of a six figure budget. As mentioned above, the couple took risks, buying pieces from artists who had yet to establish themselves.

What caused you to start your art collection? What criteria do you use to determine what pieces will be added to your collection?

In my work as an art consultant curating art programs for high-end hotels, my clients are interior designers who have worked for months selecting everything for a room, from fixtures to furnishings, before the topic of artwork is ever mentioned. OK, wait. To be completely fair, the designer had selected a style of artwork early in the design process, but the actual works of art aren’t selected until the final phase of the project.

This is a world in which art is very much like an accessory that makes a great outfit pop into a WOW outfit. Not considered an afterthought, the artwork is indeed an integral part of the room, it has an integrity of its own, yet it is selected after the overall interior has been established. On rare occasions I’ve seen a hotel space designed around a piece of artwork or seen the art inspire the interior design, but this is not the norm.

My guess is the order mentioned above (first interior, then artwork) is how most of us live. Our homes are already furnished with pieces we either want to keep forever or need to replace eventually, the walls are painted and occasionally re-painted, and the collecting of original artwork follows sometime after we realize that the posters we’ve had since college just aren’t cutting it.

photo: borman818, Fort Lewis College

Whatever the reason, once you’ve decided it’s time to incorporate original artwork into your daily life and living space, start with the art.

You have already established your style at home, so get out there and shop for art for art’s sake. Go to galleries, shop on line, look around and get exposed to art. The more you see, the better. When you see something you like it will stand out. But I beg you, do not select artwork just to match your furnishings or your walls. That would be starting with the furniture. Let’s face it, people move from house to house, furniture gets moved around, and wall colors change. Start with the art and buy what you love.

If you start with the furniture and buy art to match or even coordinate, you will probably tire of the combination in a short time. This equates to buying disposable artwork, and we don’t want that! If you want to invest time and money into original artwork, and I suggest you do, buy artwork you love, don’t try to match the couch. You have a sense of style already and your tastes will draw you to certain artwork. If you trust your visual instincts, your furnishings and your artwork will naturally come together in the end.

photo: John Reed Forsman

I promise you will always find a place in your home for art you love and you will enjoy it for a long, long time. Isn’t that more satisfying than knowing you’ve matched the sofa?

Let’s end the confusion and set the record straight. Pronounced “zhee-clay”, it’s a term based on the French verb, gicler (“to squirt”), and was coined by printmaker Jack Duganne in the early 1990s to mean any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art.

Easy, right? Here’s a little more background…

Originally, the term giclée was meant to distinguish industrial pre-press proofs made for matching color from the fine art prints being produced on the same types of printers. Made by Iris Graphics, Inc. (hence the name ‘Iris printer’ or ‘Iris print’), these complex pioneering printers used a sophisticated print head to disperse the ink on the paper in a fine mist (aka ‘ink jet’ printers).

photo: pictexstudio.com

Decades later, today’s giclée prints are created using professional 8 to 12-color ink-jet printers. These printers employ special fade-resistant “archival” inks which will keep their color for up to 25 years if kept out of the sun. The prints can also be produced on any type of paper. Thanks to modern technology, quality is high allowing these extremely detailed images to be marketed as fine art.

photo: angelinasart.com

From the artist’s point of view, giclées are desirable because any number of reproductions can be ordered at any given time and at a relatively low cost. Gone are the days when an artist faced a large outlay of funds resulting in mass produced images. Now with digital printing, once the scan is made and archived, printing is on-demand and affordable. In addition, these digitally scanned images can easily be customized by adjusting size or the material onto which the print is made (i.e., various papers or canvas).

So you ask, “Should I buy one?”

There’s no right answer, it’s a matter of taste. Personally, I prefer owning an original. While I applaud the innovation and appreciate how digital printing is helping us collect fine art more affordably, it is undeniably special to collect art that no one else has. If you are considering a giclée, be discriminating. Find out if the image is from an edition and how many prints are in the edition. Is the image signed by the artist? Do as much research as you can- a source I recommend is The International Fine Print Dealers Association.

When you have the choice, I’d opt for one of a kind. Your art collection will be unique and, most likely, you will have a better investment for having purchased original art.