Retail vs. Fine Art:
Do We Know the Difference?

Butterfly Knight by Oliver Gal

Selling vs. Creating

1) Popular Colors

Retail art relies on popular colors. It welcomes bold colors, like strong reds, deep blues, and alluring purples. It leans on common pairings, like blue & gold, blue & red, and black & gold. Retail art says, “They love blue. If I use blue, they’ll love it.” Fine art enjoys but does not rely on safe colors. It asks, “How can I merge blue with interesting subjects, patterns, and materials to make something new?”

High Gloss Marbled Unframed Wall Canvas by Project 62

2) Safe Subjects

Retail art can’t take risks. So it depends on safe subjects that we all like. It’s obsessed with nature, which calms us. It loves scenic locations, which take us around the world. And it’s fascinated with ambiguous people, which become reflections of ourselves.

In fine art, safe subjects are rare and challenging. They’ve been done countless times, and enthusiasts want something new. In response, fine art asks, “How can I show it in a new light? How can I do it better?”

Inner Chanel by Guseul Park

3) Fear of Simplicity

Often, simple compositions make us think, “A kid could do that.” So retail art uses just enough shapes and colors to convince us we’re looking at “art”. It selects subjects with naturally interesting features, like the antlers of a deer. Fine art doesn’t mind simplicity. It’s skilled enough to create captivating yet simple compositions. It can depict a simple triangle with awe-inspiring skill.

Purple Jewel by Winston Porter

4) Missing Fundamentals

Retail art is skilled in color. However, color is only 1 of the 13 elements and principles of design. Retail art is ignorant of the other 12. Most notably:

Contrast – It applies contrasting colors, but that is it. For example, it overlooks contrasting lines, like pairing curved with geometric lines. And it ignores contrasting subjects, like pairing a young girl with a wild bull.

Rhythm – Often, retail art lacks rhythm. When looking at it, our eyes sit static instead of moving dynamically throughout the piece.

Tension – Tension is an uncomfortable sense of expectation. It’s your sibling saying, “I’m not touching you” with a finger in your face. Tension is a powerful technique but an acquired taste, making it a poor ingredient for retail art.

The Lovers by René Magritte

5) Extreme Imitation

Retail art imitates fine art’s influential pieces. However, retail art abandons key details from the original. Fine art is the result of countless interconnected decisions. To appeal to a wider audience and allow for mass production, retail art makes modifications, like color, material, and size changes. These changes break the links holding the original together – ironically ruining it.

Dandelion Barn by Studio Arts

6) Lack of Story

Fine art is a story, and the story makes it collectible. It’s the story of the artist’s life and career. It’s the story of the art world learning from the past and inspiring the future. It’s the story of society’s evolving preferences, discussions, and problems. Retail art is impersonal, uninspiring, and safe. Therefore, it has no story.

7) Lack of Message

Often, today’s fine art has something to say. And its comments on society may be controversial. Retail art can’t afford to offend. So it says nothing at all.

And the Bridegroom by Lucian Freud – Courtesy of Garrett Ziegler (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)