Buying Art in Venezia: Where to Look, What to Ask, What It Costs

Buying art in Venezia: look first

The cheapest way to avoid a bad purchase is to look a great deal before making one. In Venezia the public collections to start from are Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Punta della Dogana, Palazzo Grassi, Ca' Pesaro: that is where you learn which techniques, formats and colours actually hold your eye, before you take one home. The page on where to see art in Venezia puts them in order, and art in Veneto widens the view to the region's other cities.

Three channels, three logics

• Private gallery: you see the work in person and talk to the person selling it. The price is not always displayed; asking is normal and commits you to nothing.
• Fairs and art-academy shows: many artists in little time and generally lower prices, but also little time to decide.
• Online: you can compare technique, format and price at leisure. In exchange you see the work only in photographs, so the written details and the right to return it matter.

What to ask before you pay

The questions are the same everywhere: what technique, on what support; unique piece or edition, and of how many; signed, and where; is there a certificate; what actually arrives, framed or unframed; can it be returned. The guide to authenticity and signatures explains what should be written down, and where.

The works we offer, and their prices

They are not works by artists from Venezia, and we do not claim they are. They are 130 signed prints by 15 contemporary artists, in editions of 25 with a certificate, in 40 × 30 cm and 60 × 40 cm formats:

• Art photography: 65–145 €
• Painting and mixed-media prints: 95–295 €
• Contemporary art: 295 €

The median price is €145. These are catalogue prices, not market estimates. Orders ship to 44 countries, with 14-day returns.

If it is your first purchase

A small format and a technique you already know keep any mistake inexpensive. The first purchase guide sets out the choices in order, from budget to wall.