The Art of Letting Go
It can be hard to say goodbye, but sometimes a once-loved piece just doesn’t do it for you any more, writes Bea Taylor.
It’s like that birthday gift you appreciate but don’t actually want. A piece of art, maybe gifted to you years ago by a family member, maybe it was purchased during a “phase” (watercolour landscapes?) or simply bought to match the decor in your living room. Whatever the reason, it’s no longer working for you.
“Art is like having an addiction: once you start, the habit continues,” says interior designer Debra Gardien. “Yes it can be very fashionable and so what’s in today can be out tomorrow. You find yourself outgrowing things.”
Following the death of his wife, Warwick Brown no longer found joy or “the buzz” in their personal collection of art. “Instead of looking at my art and thinking of positive memories, I just felt sad,” he says. “I’d lived with that work for upwards of 50 years and after my wife passed away I felt the time had come for a change.”
So what can you do with it?
AUCTION IT
Brown sold his 300-strong collection by auction last year. “Selling it through an auction house is the main means of disposing of art,” he says. “Art & Object in Auckland is the dominant auction house in the country.”
Art consultant Nicky Ryan suggests Bowerbank Ninow, an auction house that pays a resale royalty back to the living artists whose works they sell.
“Send them a photo of the work and they will have it appraised. If it’s junk, they’ll politely tell you so,” she says. “You could also find a dealer who sells your particular artist’s work and see if they want to buy it back.”
TRADE ME
If you’ve sent your piece to an auction house and they’ve “politely told you it’s junk”, your next auction house option is Trade Me.
Brown says: “It’s a waste of time because no serious collectors will look on there to buy art.”
But that’s OK, because you’ve already been told that, you know your market is people who are interested but not particularly serious about curating a collection of art.
DONATE IT
Not looking to make money from it? Ryan suggests donating it to charity or giving it to a school that’s doing a fundraiser.
“A lot of schools now do art sales and are always looking for donations.”
MOVE IT
If you feel like you’ve outgrown a piece of art, Gardien suggests: “Move it to another area of your home. Bedrooms are often neglected in people’s homes and the right piece of art could dramatically change the space.”
She also advises grouping the piece you feel you’ve outgrown with other works in a gallery-like style – “sometimes this is enough to reinvigorate the piece”.
STORE IT
“Art is fashionable,” says Gardien. And it’s a well known rule that what goes out has a way of coming back in. So maybe the piece you’ve outgrown just needs some time in storage, to be brought back out in another house, at another time, for another room.
ART GROUPS
Outgrowing art may be unavoidable – we can’t predict how our tastes will develop and change. But there is a way to test, grow and become more knowledgeable about what interests you: join an art group.
An art group, or an art co-op, is essentially made up of like-minded people who each contribute a set amount of money each month towards buying art items. Over 10 years their collection is established and the pieces make their way around each member’s homes for a couple of months at a time.
“Some pieces you grow very attached to, others you can’t wait to see the back of,” says Ryan. At the end of her last 10-year art group, they sold their collection at auction and Ryan bought three of the pieces from it.
Her new art group runs slightly differently. Each member puts in $50 each month and each take a turn to buy a piece. Like in her last group, these pieces will gradually make their way to each member’s house but at the end, instead of auctioning them off, they will keep the piece they bought when it was their turn.
“This one costs less money and is a much less stressful process, it’s a better model for those wanting to start out.” Check out Homed, the new home of home ideas, on Stuff.