Our Criteria for Corporate Art Collections
As corporate art consultants, commissioning artists is integral to Artelier's role when delivering corporate projects. Through decades' of specialist experience in sourcing promising contemporary artists which suit every budget, our corporate art consultants understand how to spot talent in the often daunting art market. In this article, we offer an insight into what we look for in artists when developing a corporate art collection.
In an abundant art market, with a plethora of artists online and countless galleries exhibiting at fairs, it can be daunting to distinguish which artists have the makings of receiving critical acclaim and offer a promising investment. This is especially important for a corporate art collection, where personal preference and subjective interests are less relevant – a corporate art collection should respond to the brand, principles and context of a company, as well as presenting promising longterm value.
It has therefore never been so important to look beyond artists easily found online or recommended by those that represent them, and instead delve deeper to discover talent. Collaborating with trusted art advisors helps clients navigate this art market. With over 20 years' experience in spotting exciting contemporary artists, Artelier's art consultants continue to grow a substantial network of 15,000 artists, and extensive expertise in evaluating artists.
In this article, Artelier's corporate art specialists share our unique set of considerations, which we use internally when sourcing artists for a project and when conducting research for expand our artist network. This presents a perspective for objectively evaluating artworks, and building a corporate art collection with longevity.
Giles Miller – Mixed-Media Mosaic Tile Installation
1) Undiscovered Talent
Finding an artist who shows real promise and is producing exciting work is made even more appealing when they are largely under-the-radar. This means that their work is not being used across many corporate art collections, so they can give something fresh and unique to your corporate space. Under-the-radar artists are also more inclined to charge fairly for their work, rather than adding a premium purely based on their name and reputation. The corporate client therefore receives art that presents new and inspiring ideas for an excellent price, which is suggests a favourable investment opportunity.
2) Emerging Career
An emerging career artist – be they a young recent graduate or have become an artist later in life – can offer an excellent investment. Their work is often sold for entry-level prices, but can have the potential for a significant increase in value. Beyond the possibility of profitable returns, however, emerging artists approach their work in a different way. They often show radical innovation with their ideas and use of materials, and can offer a novel response to a brief. When looking for an emerging artist, our corporate art consultants consider their projected career path based on past growth and potential.
3) Originality
An originality of ideas is the hallmark of a great artist’s mind. While looking for inspiration externally and responding to others’ work is an important element of the creative process, simply copying others’ ideas will trap an artist’s work into being overly derivative. Artists who demonstrate original thought not only use their materials in interesting ways, but explore novel concepts and subtle themes. A broad understanding of the art market allows art consultants to spot originality more easily; by filtering through the work of hundreds of artists each week, the artists who go beyond what others are doing stand out.
Clémentine Brandibas – Embroidery & Textile Wall Art
4) Quality of Ideas
Although an idea may be original, it also needs to be evolved from of a quality of research and line of artistic or conceptual enquiry. When an artist eloquent in demonstrating a richness, depth and subtlety to their ideas, the artworks are distinctly more sophisticated and thought-provoking. An interesting idea has nuances that can be explored in multiple artworks, developing into a lasting line of enquiry that continues to be exciting for viewers across the course of the artist’s career. When each artwork displays a novelty of ideas, the complete curated collection becomes more dynamic and has a stronger identity.
5) Materials
An innovative and intuitive use of materials sets an artist apart. Often, unassuming and ordinary materials and objects can be transformed into the extraordinary through the artist's vision and technical skill. Having an experimental, playful intuition, combined with a deep focus on materiality can often lead to powerfully engaging outcomes. This demonstrates the artist’s pioneering attitude, and willingness to go against the grain of how others use or consider certain materials.