Buying erotic art
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A guide page, not an article: the questions people ask before they buy, each answered in full elsewhere.
Buying a nude or erotic painting raises questions that buying a landscape never does. Not just what it costs and whether it is any good, but whether it is the sort of thing you can own without explaining yourself. These are the questions people actually ask me before they buy, each answered in full.
Before you buy
- Erotic art or pornography? Where the line actually sits — the distinction is not about how much skin is visible, and once you see where it really sits, most of the awkwardness goes away.
- Who actually buys erotic art? — the honest answer, which is a good deal less exotic than people expect.
Where to buy
- Where to buy erotic art online without ending up on a print farm — how to tell a working studio from a warehouse that prints anything on demand.
- The twenty-two paintings in the series — the originals themselves, oil on stretched linen canvas, one of each.
- Signed prints from €35 — for when an original is out of reach right now.
After you decide
- How your painting is packed and shipped — what the box looks like and what is written on it.
- Frequently asked questions about buying, framing and shipping — the short version of everything on this page.
Once it is yours
- Living with the work — walls, rooms, heights and sizes.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between erotic art and pornography?
Pornography is made to produce an effect and is finished the moment it has produced it. A painting is made to be looked at again. The practical difference is not how much skin is visible but how long the image keeps rewarding attention — which is why the question of where the line sits is answered by the work itself, not by a rating system.
How much does an original painting cost?
Originals in this studio run from €250 to €900, depending on the size of the canvas and the work in it. Signed prints of a number of the paintings are €35. Every original is one of one: when a canvas is sold, it is gone.
Are these paintings printed or hand-painted?
Every original is oil on canvas, painted by hand, one at a time. The signed prints are sold as prints and described as prints — they are reproductions of a painting that exists, not artwork generated to fill a catalogue.
Do I have to be a collector to buy one?
No. Most people who buy here own very little other art. They saw one specific painting, kept coming back to it, and eventually stopped talking themselves out of it. That is the usual route, not the exception.