How to choose and curate your artwork
Procuring and curating artwork and sculptures for your new luxury home is one of the most exciting phases of your interior design project. For over twenty years Interiors by Wanda Michelle has followed the South African, and international art and sculpture markets, creating valuable partnerships with the artists to not only purchase and place art but to commission for our bespoke interiors.
Commission the artist
Many up-and-coming artists we commissioned over a decade ago have gone on to become highly respected and recognisable leaders in their fields and indeed the value of our investments has outpaced traditional financial investment opportunities. If you have the budget to commission artwork, adding this degree of personalisation brings a different level of satisfaction to your bespoke interior design project. Furthermore, when we commission an artist to produce a series of custom-sized artworks, the door opens to negotiate a competitive arrangement for our clientele.
When selecting art, it can often be a daunting task filtering through the numerous galleries that also have their preferred affiliations with their artist base. We like to walk our clients through the portfolio of well-heeled artists that specialise in contemporary and modern artworks and a handful of new, highly skilled individuals entering the art scene. Together we find the pieces that not only resonate with you but also are scaled to the spaces they adorn and naturally have a degree of colour coordination for their environments.
It is always recommended that in selecting art we consider a common theme for your collection, be it techniques, mediums, materials, period, genre, or the like.
Respecting one's budget
It is easy to get carried away when purchasing art, hence we always try and procure a healthy balance of established artists as well as emerging artists.
At Interiors by Wanda Michelle, we will be able to steer you toward emerging artists who currently have lower price points but have the potential to be decent investments over time. At the end of the day, it’s always about what you love and want to live with, but with guidance, we always respect your budget, with there being other cost-saving opportunities such as purchasing prints and keeping framing styles and costs to a minimum.
A few of our favourites:
Candice Berman Gallery
https://candicebermangallery.co.za/
Candice is one of our favourite galleries and her eye and taste provide us with a solid foundation to begin a collection that will complement not only the client’s individuality but also our timeless contemporary and modern interior styles. As Candice says, “At Candice Berman Gallery, we view the world with a curious eye – a curiosity that drives our selection of artists.”
Louise Alman
https://candicebermangallery.co.za/artists/44-louise-almon/overview/
Louise Alman is an established South African artist and has become part of our understated luxury signature design being featured in many of our upmarket residential projects. Almon developed her technique of multi-layered monotypes over many years.
It is a technique of applying oil-based ink onto a large surface of glass and lifting off the colour, layer by layer, allowing the colour to dry between each lift-off.
Cecilia Wilmot Ballam
https://candicebermangallery.co.za/artists/85-cecilia-wilmot-ballam/works/
Ballam works primarily in clay sculpting and bronze casting, and her pieces can best be described as sculptural portraiture, where an accurate representation of physical features and form is balanced finely with the artist’s greater aim of capturing and portraying the soul or essence of the subject.
Buy what you love
As we have said before, embarking on a journey to create your own private art collection can be daunting. One of the golden rules is to trust your interior designer and their experience and not analyse the process. If the artwork works for you, your budget, and the interior space and style, it may form part of your collection. And even if you are buying the art as an investment, buy something that you will love and enjoy for the years ahead until you consider selling it in the years to come.
