Art & Decor Trends

Rich or not, author says you can own great art.

I recently read a new book called “Late and Soon” by Robert J. Hughes, a new novel about the fine-art auction world. Robert J. Hughes, art reporter for the Wall Street Journal, delivers an insightful, entertaining and sometimes sarcastic portrait of New York’s art-auction world.

The book intrigued me because the characters live amid art, and while they move in a world where millionaires can buy priceless paintings, they themselves decorate their homes with reproductions. Claire, the heroine of the novel, has reproductions on display. Although she’s an art specialist who advises clients on buying million-dollar paintings, she herself has modest taste, befitting her means. The characters reflect on how art enriches their lives, even though it’s not expensive.

“The point is,” says Hughes, “whatever the cost; art is something that speaks powerfully to people.”

Few people have the budget for an original Renoir or a Picasso, and most people past college age have probably outgrown tacking a poster to their walls. But as Hughes points out; works by major artists can be had for a couple of thousand, even hundred, dollars. The answer, according to Hughes, is to go for the next best thing to original works – handmade reproductions.

You may never own an original piece of art by a master, but according to a man who has made a career of covering the fine art world, you could probably benefit from the next best thing.