Notes on finding, buying and living with art, from the gallery.
Giving a work of art: how to choose for someone else
A work of art is the gift people keep longest, and the one that scares givers most: how to choose for someone else, how it arrives, and how the certificate changes hands.
ByErick González
Of all the things you can give, a work of art is the one most likely to still be there in thirty years. It is also the one that makes givers nervous: what if they do not like it? Here is how people who do this often go about it.
Choose their eyes, not yours
Think of what they already look at: the postcards on their fridge, the photographs they take, the colour of the room they spend time in. A person who photographs plants will live happily with a botanical work; a person whose home is quiet will not thank you for a loud one. Browse the collections as if you were them, save three works, and come back a day later. The one you still remember is the gift.
Size, then price
A small work is rarely a mistake: a drawing, a print, a small painting finds a wall anywhere and travels easily. On every work's page the dimensions are stated, and the delivery to their address is priced before you pay, so you know the whole cost. If you would rather they choose, write to us: a gift can also be a conversation at the gallery, with a budget only you know.
How it arrives
Enter their address for the delivery and yours for the invoice, which comes to your email. At checkout, mark the order as a gift: a handwritten postcard with your words travels with the work, and no prices go in the parcel. If there is a date it must not arrive before, write to us after ordering: a gift can wait at the gallery.
The certificate changes hands
Every work leaves with a certificate of authenticity. It is issued to you, the buyer, and when the gift is given, its ownership is transferred to them: the history stays whole, the work is theirs on paper as well as on the wall, and if they ever sell it the artist's royalty is booked. Ask us for the transfer the day you give it, and it is done in their name.
One small question
What if they really do not like it?
The Returns & delivery page applies to gifts too. It happens less than you fear: people remember who gave them their first work far longer than the work's colours.
If you would like company
This is what we do every day from Mexico City: help people find, buy and live with original contemporary art. Book a free 30-minute call, or simply look at the works available now.
Image: “Río Circular” by Bastián Pino.
This content is for information and education only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice.
Keep reading
- Buying video art: what you actually take home
A video work has no frame and no wall, and that worries people more than it should: what you own when you buy one, how it is shown at home and how it stays safe for decades.
- How to read an edition: 3/25, AP, HC and the rest
The small inscription in the corner of a print says more than it seems: what 3/25 means, what an artist’s proof is, and what a certificate should say about an edition.