Browse millions of wholesale art prints from 1+ million independent artists and iconic global brands. Receive 25 - 75% off Fine Art America prices!

Return to Main Discussion Page
Discussion Quote Icon

Discussion

Main Menu | Search Discussions

Search Discussions
 
 

Diana Angstadt

4 Years Ago

Whoever Said Abstract Art Doesn't Sell!!!

Don't believe it!!!!! I work for a real estate agency. If you pick up ANY home decor/decorating/architectural magazine or brochure... you will see NOTHING but beautiful quality abstract art on the walls of homes. It is EVERYWHERE!!! Go check it out if you don't believe me! I personally do not create abstract art.. However, I can tell you that for my own home, I have purchased several abstracts for my personal spaces from artists here on FAA.... SO, I say, CHEERS to those who create this amazing abstracts.. THEY DO SELL.. and they are BIG in the industry!

Reply Order

Post Reply
 

David King

4 Years Ago

I don't think anybody says they don't sell. People have said that they are hard to sell here because they are difficult to describe and keyword, in other words it's hard to make then "findable" by the average searcher. Most abstract artists that sell well do it through marketing, finding their audience rather than hoping their audience finds them.

 

Diana Angstadt

4 Years Ago

David King.. some here on FAA say "it will never sell" but, yeah, you are right somewhat.. but I am posting this because I do not want any "abstract artists" to feel discouraged.. because I found what I wanted for my walls here on FAA easily!!!!! And I was and never have been a part of any of the artist's here who market this "their recruit". It was sheerly my "search criteria" that I just entered "abstract art", where I found all my purchases. I would do a search by "colors"... such as "abstract florals" "abstract florals in pinks and purples", "abstract circles", "abstract landscapes"..I really had no issues at all with searching for abstract art.. I found what I wanted immediately here... I think it just takes a little more honing in on keywords, but they do come freely.

 

David King

4 Years Ago

Sure, you will find abstract art via search here, but it will be art by abstract artists that already sell well.

 

Corinne Carroll

4 Years Ago

Good to know! Sometimes I'll look at some online real estate listings to see what art is in the homes. Usually the art is varied, throughout one home, not just one kind or one look. No matter how nice the home is, it seems the art is surprising- in the lived-in homes. I don't think the art has been staged in those. If so, I would probably see more abstracts.

 

David Bridburg

4 Years Ago

Diana,

One of my sisters has been redecorating. She brought a very large beautiful abstract. Looks great, ties the room together.

Dave

 

Peggy Collins

4 Years Ago

Personally I love abstract art and I can see why it would sell well. Buyers are free to interpret a work however they like and match colors to their decor.

I actually love abstract art so much that I recently did a mixed media workshop, and although it wasn't really about abstract art, I fully realized that's where my interest lies. The instructor said I was "very free with the paint" and I took that as a compliment, ha! Loved doing it and look forward to finding the time to explore it more.

And you only have to look at the recently sold page to realize that abstract art indeed does sell well.

 

Abbie Shores

4 Years Ago

Someone said it in another thread. That means this is thread crossing which would be against the rules. But I'm sure this thread was just too cheer on abstract artists and not to call out a fellow member for a wrong statement.

Abstract is a very big seller for traditional artists as it will go with anything. It's a painting that doesn't normally take over a room, but enhances a room. It lifts colour. Huge seller.

 

Diana Angstadt

4 Years Ago

Yes, Abbie!

 

Philip Preston

4 Years Ago

Despite having photographs that would look nice hanging on my walls, I also like to have abstract art prints, eg, Kandinsky, displayed too, as for some reason, I never get tired of looking at these. For photography prints, no matter how good they are, I seem to lose interest in them visually after a period of time. Abstract prints certainly get my vote.

 

GONE FISHING

4 Years Ago

It's a tough sell. True abstract, rather than abstracted reality, even tougher.

But, my AW site here on FAA is Just Another Exhibition Space (JAES), alongside the many other JAES virtual spaces I occupy. Links via REVAD.COM.

I gave up on expecting sales many moons ago, the occasional sale being enough to pay for this space.

Good of Diana to encourage us abstract artists, and for others to chip in with their support too.

Appreciated!

FOR YOU

DAVE
REVAD.COM

 

Adedeji Olufemi

4 Years Ago

I've done some of abstract artworks...but at one point in time, I stopped creating more as my spirit demanded because I felt they wouldn't even sell. Glad I saw this post now. It's so encouraging. I'll have to create more and more. And besides, if I create abstract artwork digitally on my iPad pro 9.7, how do I sell them as original? Or should I only be selling them as prints?
Advise me pls

 

Bee-Bee Deigner

4 Years Ago

@Adedeji: you can sell your digital art as prints - due to the nature of digital art you cannot sell it as an original, unless you don't sell the raw file itself (i.e. pdb, xcf and so on), so to speak.

 

GONE FISHING

4 Years Ago

There are options to subvert the idea a digital outcome cannot be sold as original, but they have nothing to do with this thread on the saleability of abstract art. If Adedeji starts a new thread, I'll share my thoughts.

FOR YOU

DAVE
REVAD.COM

Maybe try this post: https://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=3655628

 

Philip Preston

4 Years Ago

REVAD David Riley - "I gave up on expecting sales many moons ago"

David, just had a quick look at a few of your images, and you seem to only have one or two keywords for each image, not even the word 'Abstract'. I guess coming up with keywords for abstracts is a bit more difficult that non abstracts, but suggest you definitely need more keywords, eg, related to colour, shapes, and definitely ....Abstract!

 

GONE FISHING

4 Years Ago

I new someone would jump on my tags 🙃 Thanks Philip. Over the years, I have tried them all. As I said, I gave up selling and yesterday I gave up on keywords. I was not kidding when I described my AW as 'Just Another Exhibition Space'. At this moment in time, if you type 'revad abstract' into the faa search box you will find some of my outcomes. Until the broken faa indexing is fixed that is. Filtering by revad is just to show they are there in the many thousands of abstracts. But keywords are extensively covered elsewhere.

A keyword/tag thread: https://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=4715999

UPDATE: I will be updating my tags to give the outcomes a chance of being found again.

 

GONE FISHING

4 Years Ago

If there is anyone else reading this who shows exclusively non representative abstracts (not abstractions of reality) I would like to see your AW and maybe follow your work. If you are driven by code and language or signal and noise, I'm even more interested.

FOR YOU

DAVE
REVAD.COM

 

Adedeji Olufemi

4 Years Ago

Thanks ma for your reply. It's helpful.. Bee-Bee Deigned. You're the best, ma..

 

Adedeji Olufemi

4 Years Ago

REVAD David Riley, I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'll do as you suggested. I'm sorry once again

And the link sent is helpful. Thanks sir..

 

GONE FISHING

4 Years Ago

No need to be sorry Adedeji. My intention was to inform, not rebuke. I see threads wander off subject a lot and there is a lot of info on your question elsewhere. I found the link I suggested by searching the forum for 'digital original'. If you do the same you may find other threads of interest.

FOR YOU

DAVE
REVAD.COM

 

Adedeji Olufemi

4 Years Ago

You're right sir. Thanks

 

Edward Fielding

4 Years Ago

Abstract art sells all the time. The challenge is to get your abstract art to be seen and to sell.

Photography sells all the time. The challenge is to get your photography to be seen and to sell.

Paintings sell.....

.....

I have a number of abstract prints around the house that I've picked up from local artists. But they are originals or print (like numbered ones).

I think the trick with selling abstract art is that the buyer wants to know the artist is serious and it's not just something that a kid could do. I wouldn't buy an abstract from some random hobbyist person just experimenting. But I would buy an abstract from a full-time artist who understands things like composition and color theory.

.....

Abstracts sell for hotels and offices because they are non-confrontational. It's a nice color decoration that is meaningless i.e. won't cause a problem.

The buyer is buying for the opposite reason that most art sells - no emotional connection. The art is bought to be neutral in a neutral space. While a photograph of someone's childhood hometown is purchased for the reason it connects emotionally with the buyer.

 

Dan Carmichael

4 Years Ago

In my experience selling to local commercial decorators, abstract, landscapes, and stuff that is timeless now sells very good.

Reason is, I am told, is because large institutions (hospitals, hotels, etc.) have constraints on budgets and they no longer want to have to purchase new art every year or two. They want to hang stuff on the walls that can last a while. So abstracts would fit that category.

 

David Manlove

4 Years Ago

Cheers!

 

Ann Powell

4 Years Ago

Yes they do sell. I just sold one of my brightly colored collage style abstracts today on here as a 36 x 36 canvas. Abstracts are my favorite thing to create.

 

Chuck Staley

4 Years Ago

An art gallery in Florida licensed one of my abstracts to sell. I thought that strange, since the gallery has its own artists.

 

David King

4 Years Ago

I have a few non-objective abstracts, nothing too advanced but they can be fun to make, I'd maybe consider making more but they are so hard to market, they basically have to be your focus and you have to be prolific.

 
 

David Bridburg

4 Years Ago

https://bridburg.com/featured/recent-20-david-bridburg.html

That is what I am talking about......(as my very corrupt stockbroker friend says over drinks)

Dave Bridburg
https://Bridburg.com

 

AM FineArtPrints

4 Years Ago

What i found SUPER difficult with my few abstract artworks is to find the correct keywords to describe them.

 

Mike Savad

4 Years Ago

abstract sells all the time.. the problem is - everyone sells abstract and they are nearly impossible to keyword. abstract fills homes, hotels, etc. they match a decor or something like that. i sell abstract all the time, how they find it is a mystery. if all your work is abstract only, you better have a good advertising method.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

Diana Angstadt

4 Years Ago

When I searched for Abstract art on my walls, I searched by "colors". I knew what color schemes I was looking for. I also searched by "shapes" too. I found exactly what I was looking for, but yes, it is very competitive! Also if I was looking for "floral abstracts"..... nature abstracts, cocktail abstracts, and such and such.

 

Roy Erickson

4 Years Ago

Far be it from me to say it doesn't sell - it sells if you can get the right people to look at it - I've been here since 2009 - not counting cards and one pillow - I think I've sold 4 prints. I have two premium accounts - because I split the photographs off from this one and I had a coupe of photo print sales before.

But anyone who would like to take a peek - here is my mostly digital abstract account: https://1-roy-erickson.pixels.com/art

 

JC Findley

4 Years Ago

The problem isn’t that it doesn’t sell, the problem is getting seen and competing.

It’s like flowers. They sell VERY well but there are millions of them here so how do you get them seen. How do you set yours apart from the masses if you do get seen.

Brooklyn Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge images sell too but not mine.

 

Lise Winne

4 Years Ago

I make semi-abstracts sometimes. The problem for me is that I live in Ye Olde New England where historic homes dominate, so I tend to cater to that crowd much more.

While there are contemporary buildings like hotels, hospitals and office buildings, the art is not usually purchased locally, and the architecture often looks out of place.

 

Jim Whalen

4 Years Ago

I have no problem selling my original abstract paintings in bricks and mortar venues. However, I agree with David King when he said they are difficult to describe and keyword which makes them hard to find on line, and therefore more difficult for a buyer to find them on FAA.

 

Mike Savad

4 Years Ago

yeah, abstract is a sight thing. either you like it or you don't. you need to really see it first. getting those eyes are hard. i find its easier to sell abstract if its themed on something, rather than random blobs of colors.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

Lise Winne

4 Years Ago

Most of the abstract painters I know have a big studio (i.e. not just a bedroom), and they paint large. Also there is usually a cement floor, as really expressive abstract painting entails being a bit messy.

 

Lisa Kaiser

4 Years Ago

Yes, Lise, this is correct. You can destroy a place with abstract painting or repaint your studio every year! I know for a fact, it's very messy.

Do abstracts sell well in galleries?

Yes with the right price, definitely yes! I am having much more luck these days with simple line bird shapes and the like. Even in abstract, certain trends apply.

Follow the trends for sales or follow your heart...hmm...tough choice at times.

 

This discussion is closed.