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Did you say, “You love art and equally love visiting art galleries and exhibition-cum-sale; but…”?

Let me take a guess and complete your sentence:

“…but you don’t like the expensive artwork that these galleries offer.”

Recently, I met a friend at her freshly renovated home. I knew she had a bent towards art, but I could never imagine that she was so much into it that she adorned her entire house with paintings and other artefacts. Seeing me awestruck, she confessed that collecting artefacts for her home was easy.  She took the traditional route to buy paintings for her newly renovated home, but the artworks that art galleries were offering were too expensive for her to afford. Dejected about not finding an affordable original artwork, she opted for buying paintings online and guess what, she was all gaga about her purchase. As we started talking more on her newly acquired passion, she gave me an insight into her newfound hobby and below is her account in the first person.

 “My rendezvous with art dates the back to late 1990s when fascinated with fluorescent popping colours of comic strips, I started collecting them. For hours, I would trace characters from the strips for I wanted to be a sketcher. Well, that did not happen, nonetheless, my fascination with colours grew and brought me closer to visual art. As I could not afford real work, I would often visit local markets and gift galleries to buy posters. However, now things have come of age. With a steady job and decent part-time income, I can think about buying original artworks. So, when it came to decorating my recently renovated home, I thought of adding a sublime flavour to my walls and thus, I decided to buy paintings online”.

“I started visiting art galleries and art-school sales, but the paintings that I liked were very expensive. This time I was adamant about buying an original piece of art. In my quest for affordable art, I started searching the Internet for online art galleries and that was when I came across Indian Art Ideas.  As soon as I saw what this site had to offer, I knew I was in the right place.” “Everything was so lovely and affordable. Though, everything was so beautiful that I wanted to have it all; I was a little sceptical about buying paintings online. I had my doubts regarding the quality of work, frame material, packaging and delivery. My mind was full of “ifs and buts”. Therefore, I ended up contacting the team at Indian Art Ideas. They patiently heard my concerns and assured me about the quality and secure payment gateway. A little research on my part also helped. I read some testimonials and decided to give it a try. As I started exploring the site, I came across a beautiful Ganesha painting by Nitu Chhajer. Just a glance at the painting and I knew it was the perfect piece to mark my new journey of buying paintings online. The artist had painted a dhoti clad Lord Ganesha who wore a turban, held a “modak” in the left hand and showered blessings by raising his right hand—there was something divine about the painting and I knew this was going to be my first original art piece. I immediately ordered the painting and eagerly waited for its arrival. To my surprise, I received my painting fairly quick. It came packed in a sturdy bubble wrap. The painting was framed beautifully. The colours were brighter than I had anticipated. As soon as I hung the painting at the wall facing the entrance, I could sense a divine presence in my home. My mother was elated with my purchase. I was so happy with my purchase that I ended up buying four more artworks—one original painting and three prints from Indian Art Ideas”.

Well, this was Deepti’s quest of buying paintings online

I, personally, feel that with the emergence of online art galleries, the way we look at art has changed considerably. Online art galleries are helping emerging artists sell their work. Art is not expensive anymore. The convenience of buying paintings on a click of a button and home delivery service is definitely wooing in customers who don’t want to visit traditional art galleries. Online art galleries are reviving and fostering Indian artwork. I suggest you too should give online art galleries a try.