3 Reasons You Should Buy a Work of Art

There’s no way around it: a work of art is a luxury product, and you don’t need it. 

That being said, we spend money on luxury products we don’t need all the time, simply because they are pleasing to us. 

Here are three reasons that more people should feel encouraged to, and find pleasure in, purchasing a work of art:

1.     You’re creating value for art in our society

By spending your hard-earned money on a work of art, you are intrinsically giving value to that most basic and important form of human self-expression that is: art. To create objects for creations sake alone, is a luxury that only we humans possess in the animal kingdom. We should take full advantage and uphold this practice in our society; it has been the foundational building block for our many diverse and shared cultures around the world. 

By purchasing a work of art from a gallery or directly from an artist, you are forming the bedrock of an economic process by which our society begins to ascribe value for these purely aesthetic objects. It is necessary for things to have value in order for the institutions in our society to uphold and protect them. Therefore, while it may not come to fruition for any particular work of art you acquire, you are participating and validating a system by which we are able to preserve our cultural output for future generations. 

2.     You’re encouraging the creation of art

Everyone’s an artist, but certain individuals are devoting, or are trying to devote themselves to their artistic creations full time. Every time that you spend your own hard-earned money to purchase a painting, you are affirming for the painter, that what they’re doing is worth their time as well as yours. 

It won’t be possible for everyone striving to be an artist to be successful, that’s just the nature of the world. We all can’t be artists, but shouldn’t there be some? We all need to participate in that financial risk, to use our money (if we’re lucky enough to have some extra), to purchase an object that was created for no reason, except as an expression of self. 

This is important, and if you walk into an art gallery and find that you connect with something, you should consider the positive ramifications of taking that uncomfortable step to purchase it, and to become the owner of that object. If you are able to continue to do this, you will surround yourself with things that speak directly to and about you as an individual.

3.     It’s an investment in your own personal aesthetic 

Like the clothes you wear, the art that you put on your walls in your home is a way of expressing yourself to those you invite into your home. While many of us often have important ephemera and family heirlooms that have been handed down to decorate our living spaces, it is just as pleasing and important to add your own personal touches. The work of art that you hang on your wall should be something you uphold, are proud to display and to live with, and that you value. By investing your money in the purchase of such an object you are re-affirming this value in a quantitative way that re-enforces all of the more important meanings it has for you.