# Buying Art **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-art/44525 "2000-12-07T19:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-art/44525/1 "2000-12-07T19:13:47Z")
How does one go about buying a piece of original art such as MC Escher? Do I just walk into an art Gallery and say I want to buy such and such, do I have to goto the Museum, if it’s in one, and tell them I want to buy one? I would guess that if a privet person owned it I’d have to talk to them. is there some sort of price guide for art or is it more what I am willing to pay. how does buying art work, especially work from more famous artits like Escher. ---
**Author:** ![Jingo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Jingo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jingo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-art/44525/2 "2000-12-07T19:28:41Z")
Museums do not generally sell art once they have truly acquired it. More often, however, the museum does not actually _own_ the piece, anyway. It would typically be leased or loaned to the museum for a set period of time, or donated with the stipulation that it not be sold. With more prolific artists like Escher, however, you may find a gallery offering a piece for sale. Auctions are more common for unique and valuable pieces, however, thus the how-much-are-YOU-willing-to-pay factor. You may do well to call a local auction house and ask about the availability of your favorite artist. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-art/44525/3 "2000-12-08T01:06:20Z")
You can buy from the artist himself or the family. Next, a reliable dealer. ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-art/44525/4 "2000-12-08T06:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > You can buy from the artist himself or the family. Next, a reliable dealer. Art HERE! Get-cha red-hot art here! Get it while it’s hot! I can honestly say that (reproductions of) my work have been purchased literally hundreds of thousands of times. And most often ::sigh:: thrown away soon after. Ah, the life of a illustrator…