Mary Jo Palumbo / Boston Herald
The scene: A New York art gallery. The player: You.
The chic woman behind the desk raises her eyes in bored disinterest as you walk through the hushed gallery. She returns her attention to an expensive laptop. You glance at a painting: thick swaths of yellow and black paint are smeared across the canvas. The price: $16,000. You gasp. The woman looks up with disdain.
You flee.
Art is for the rich, the sophisticated, the arrogant, you tell yourself.
Not true.
"People read the newspaper, see some astonishing auction results and say, '(Collecting art) is not for me,'" says Barbara Krakow, owner of the eponymous Boston gallery. "But the truth of the matter is there is an enormous amount of work out there that can be bought for under $500."
A recent show at Krakow's Newbury Street gallery featured small artworks priced at $350 to benefit pediatric AIDS projects in Boston.
"There are a lot of misconceptions out there about buying art," says Pam Clark-Cochrane, owner of the Clark Gallery in Lincoln. "We're working hard to break down those misconceptions. This is a vastly creative area, and there is a lot of work out there that's affordable."
But before you take the plunge and buy your very first painting, here are some do's and don'ts to help make your first foray into the art market a successful one:
Don't be concerned if you're clueless about art. Art dealers say that many people know very little about art when they begin collecting.
"Don't be afraid that you have to know something to buy art," says Lorri Berenberg, owner of the Berenberg Gallery on Dartmouth Street in Boston. "As you get involved in looking, you start to learn a lot. Trust your eye. Trust what you're attracted to."
Don't assume that the $20,000 paintings hanging on the gallery walls are the only things for sale. Galleries can often show you other works in the back room, or work by other artists they represent.
"You should be able to go into any gallery and simply say, 'The maximum I have to spend is $200; are there any works you can show me?'" says Krakow. " If they say no, take your hat and leave. Find another gallery."
Do think outside the box. There is a lot of interesting work created by people outside the traditional art market that sells for much less.
For example, Berenberg's South End gallery features contemporary folk art from the Deep South and Appalachia as well as work by persons with disabilities or psychiatric illnesses. Works in the Berenberg Gallery typically sell for $100-$2,000.
Do consider your art purchase an investment, but don't count on it to escalate in value by leaps and bounds. Art investment adviser and collector Arthur Garrity believes more people should think about art as an investment alternative.
"In most cases, paintings hold their value better than stocks," says Garrity, who lectures about diversifying investment portfolios to include works of art.
Garrity, who owns about 100 paintings that adorn his Hingham home, offers several examples of such Bay State artists as Needham native Joseph McGurl and Dedham painter Thomas Dunlay whose works once sold for a few hundred dollars and now garner tens of thousands.
But such a dramatic appreciation in value is not something a collector can bank on.
"I don't advise people to collect art as an investment," says Clark-Cochrane. "Any fine collectable should hold its value. But are you going to find that shooting star that in a few years is worth three times its value? That's not something you can predict."
Don't assume you have to cough up the full amount for a painting right away. "There is no sign (in a gallery) that says 'layaway,' but galleries understand that you might need to put some [money] down now and some later," says Barbara Quiroga, a consultant at the Massachusetts College of Art. "It's a quiet thing that happens in the art world."
Do consider alternative places to buy art. Annual artist open studios events, art auctions and art fairs and expos are also great places to shop.
Joe Giangrasso, 31, of Charlestown started collecting art a few years ago by purchasing works at annual auctions at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University.
"It's easier to start at auctions," says Giangrasso. "It's more anonymous, and there isn't that perceived pressure you can feel at a gallery. It's not intimidating, and you can walk out with a piece for $140."
Don't be swayed by current trends. Don't let anyone else decide what's going to hang in your collection.
"My philosophy is 15 seconds long," says Bruce Dayton, 44, a Boston collector who has purchased about two dozen works from galleries and auctions in the past 20 years. "If I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't.
"Look for something you want to live with. After all, you have to look at it every day."