Tired of looking at that Ansel Adams poster you’ve had since college?
If “real,” affordable art seems like an oxymoron, consider shopping for it at the same stores and websites that come to mind when you need a lamp, a coffee table book, or even a new pair of shoes: Target, Urban Outfitters, CB2 or Room&Board.
Because these days, big-box retailers are selling high-quality art print reproductions in addition to the usual mass-produced posters.
At Urban Outfitters’ online Press Shop, for instance, unframed gallery-quality prints start at $25. And Target shoppers can purchase framed prints by the popular New York-based artist John Derian for $24.99 each.
“He’s looked at as a high-end designer,” Target spokeswoman Jenny Mooney said of Derian, whose original multi-piece wall hangings sell for upward of $800 in the John Derian Co. stores in Manhattan and online at .
Mooney said the John Derian for Target Wall Decor prints went on sale Sept. 5 and will be available at Target only through October as part of a “limited-time only partnership” with the artist.
“His items feel very well-designed,” Mooney said of the series of nature-themed prints. “They are fanciful and add a touch of beauty to the home.”
At Urban Outfitters’ online Print Shop, customers can scroll through 200 art and photography images.
“Select your favorite piece and choose to have it produced as a gallery-quality art print, iPhone skin or laptop skin,” the site says.
Nichole Jones, buyer of wall art for the Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters, said the store teamed up with , an international artist community representing thousands of artists in more than 80 countries, to open its Print Shop in April.
“We’re a creative company and we wanted to find a way to work with a large range of artists,” Jones said.
Every two weeks Jones refreshes Urban Outfitters’ Print Shop with new art from Society6, which has an archives with the work of thousands of artists.
Justin Cooper, co-found of Society6, says his company serves people who “can’t afford an original painting” but appreciate fine art.
“They might have three dozen art prints from their favorite artists,” he said.
“With the Print Shop idea, you can come in, and if you find an artist you love you can have one of their works sent to you for a very very good price and very high quality,” he said.
The print company sells “open- edition art prints,” which means they are not signed or numbered, Cooper said. (Limited-edition prints are more valuable because they are signed by an artist and a limited number are sold. Original prints on paper are one-of-a-kind works of art.)
Urban Outfitters’ Print Shop features an array of contemporary prints ranging from a black and white montage of bicycles titled “Bike Tuneup” to a whimsical print titled “A Deer Wearing Gym Socks.” Prices at the Print Shop are $25 for an approximately 13-by- 19-inch print, $35 for an approximately 18-by-24-inch print, and $55 for an approximately 24-by-36-inch print.
Jones said price is important since the typical Urban Outfitters customer is between the ages of 18 and 30 and attending college or renting their first apartment.
“Our customers shop the Web a lot,” she said. “They’re current on emerging trends and artists.”
“They’re trying to find something that really reflects their individuality and their own creativity. . . in an affordable price range,” she said. “They want something that’s not mass market, that’s not going to be all over the place.”
So far, sales have been brisk at the site, she said. This was the first time we’d done something like this,” Jones said. “Sales have been beyond our expectations.”
Money-conscious Web shoppers can also find decorative prints and affordable art at websites such as and , in addition to direct- sale online print shops such as , which operates under the creed: “Art for everyone.”
The plethora of websites offering art prints raises the question: Do these sites siphon away customers from traditional art galleries?
Bobbi Walker, owner of Walker Fine Art in Denver, said such websites are actually good for galleries because they introduce people to art.
“Work on paper is a really good way to start” collecting art, she said.
“If people get into the habit at a younger age of having art on their walls, it gives them an appreciation of art that will allow them to grow into a collector,” she said. “The more art you see, the more your eye becomes trained and your palette becomes more sophisticated.”
Walker’s gallery focuses on contemporary fine art, mixed media, experimental photography and sculpture. She said art shoppers are often surprised at how affordable fine art can be in Denver.
The cost of an unframed original piece of art on paper at Walker Fine Art ranges from about $300 to $800.
“Your budget is what we work with,” she said. “Anybody can come in and say, ‘my budget is $500’ and I’ll tell them what the choices are in my gallery,” she said. “Most galleries take payments over three months.”
She added that many Denver galleries carry original work by “mid- career” artists that is “very accessible and very reasonable” in price.
One big difference between ordering art online and going to a gallery, Walker said, is that the gallery owner can share information about an artist who made the piece.
Architectural interior designer Vern Yip hosts HGTV’s “Deserving Design.” As part of the show, Yip dispenses design tips with consumer value in mind.
Yip said he sees a pent-up demand for affordable art.
“People really want something on their walls right now beyond Monet’s ‘Water Lilies,'” said Yip, who has previously appeared on The Learning Channels’s “Trading Spaces” and HGTV’s “The Next Design Star.”
He noted, however, that unsigned prints are not original pieces of art.
“Prints are not really meant to replace original art but they’re a great temporary holding place until you actually have the ability to have original art in your home that you love,” he said.
“There is nothing wrong with getting a print from a mass retailer. . . but at the end of the day, ask yourself if this is something you really love,” Yip said.
He advised buyers to do a little exploring in their local communities for art before buying online.
“Look at local galleries, art fairs, art schools — there are lots of options,” he said. “Explore and see if you can stretch yourself (financially), even 3 or 4 times as much as a print, to get something you really love and want to hang on to.”
Yip added that the right piece of art “really feeds your soul. You can have it for a lifetime.”
“Art has that transformative power,” he said, “that ability to change a nice room into being something that you really want to spend time in.”
What about the artists?
What happens to the integrity of an artist who allows work to be sold through a mass-market retailer? Share your thoughts by commenting on this story
