Affordable Paintings: Art Prints Buying Guide by Joel Walsh

The fastest way to bring beauty and style to a room is to put up
prints of beautiful paintings. Here’s what you should consider:

Painting Prints Price Range:

Expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $50-$500 for an
unframed print–anything less than $50 is likely a poster. You
should expect to pay a similar amount to have the print
framed–note that many prints are designed to be exhibited
without frames.

Before art prints were sold online, the only way to get them was
through galleries or museum shops, which had to charge a large
markup. Nowadays, art prints rarely cost more than a few hundred
dollars, and it is possible to find good-quality prints for
under $100. Still, those lower prices generally come on prints
that have been put on sale. Expect to pay more for perennial
favorites like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”.

Selection

There is at least one print of every painting or photograph on
display in a museum anywhere. Thanks to the internet, you can
find the right art print among the tens of thousands in
existence and have it sent to you, regardless of where the
original is located. Since websites will let you browse
thumbnail images of the artwork, it’s easy to find a particular
piece even if all you know about it is the name of the artist or
even just the time period in which it was created.

Painting Print Media

Prints are available in a variety of print stocks.

Prints vs. Original Paintings

If all you’re interested in is a picture to decorate your wall,
rather than in collecting, prints are a better value than
original paintings. Here’s why:

* Expense. Creating an original work of art generally takes
weeks. If you had to employ someone for several weeks or several
months, how much do you think it would cost at even a modest
salary? That’s why original artwork generally costs at least
thousands of dollars. In order to have a real chance of your
work of art having investment value, you need to buy the work of
an artist who is moving up in the art market.

* Questionable investment value. Original artwork only has
investment value if the price goes up eventually. Very often,
the price does not. In short, if you’re interested in investing,
buy stocks–it’s a safer bet. Only buy art because *you* value
it.

* Knowledge. You need to be very knowledgeable about what you
are doing. Make no mistake: there’s plenty of fraud in this
business. There is also plenty of wishful thinking on the part
of art dealers when it comes to a work’s long-term market
prospects.

Ready to make your home more beautiful with prints of great
paintings? You’re already in the right place: the internet has
numerous websites offering an unbelievable array of art prints.
Start looking now.

Article Source: Affordable Paintings: Art Prints Buying Guide