FeltMagnet »Craft» Selling Arts &
What are the most popular themes and subjects selling art? Are these questions important to an artist?
Why would an artist want to know the most popular subject? Will it make a difference on their artistic output? Let's look at the top-selling themes for painting and try to answer some of these questions.
Most serious artists may not be too interested in popular themes or subjects today, thinking that their efforts should reveal "truth" about themselves or their subjects.
But for many people, should we say, recreational artists who want to be able to make a little money from their favorite hobby, that's very interesting. I'm not saying that anyone should paint the subject just to sell it but of course I would not say that this did not happen.
Also, an artist working in a tourist area may find that they can sell local scene paintings, even though they want to paint an expressionist portrait. The local scene will definitely pay their bills while they attempt to make a name for themselves painting artwork in the genre that will put their name on the lights, so to speak.
I've heard that such artists might be better off doing some other kind of work to pay bills, but I will not subscribe to this at all.
It has long been said that the use of red helps sell painting. There is a famous story about Turner that adds a red splash to an already hung painting for an exhibition at the Royal Society.
Was he hooked to add a small color note that caught this attention? Did he think it would make the painting more commercially successful or was it "the finishing touch"? It was actually a rough seaside buoy representation, a small detail he considered important.
