The 10 Best Gift Ideas for Art Lovers
It’s pretty hard to buy another person an actual piece of art, but if you’re looking for gift ideas for art lovers that go beyond a subscription to Aperture or a membership to the Met, there are plenty of colorful and creative options. And when you are able to spring for an art piece, here are a few unique ideas for meaningful gifts.
If you couldn’t make it to the V & A’s traveling Bowie show (which arrived at the Brooklyn Museum earlier this year), or if you want to take a little Life on Mars home with you, consider this psychedelic journal, with ample space to unleash your inner Ziggy Stardust. Bowie Tonight Journal; $10; brooklynmuseum.org
For years, the philanthropist and art collector Peter Norton (you may be familiar with his anti-virus products) commissioned an artist to produce upwards of 2,500 pieces of art that he then distributed among his thousands of nearest and dearest around the holidays—items ranging from a Yinka Shonibare dollhouse to a Lorna Simpson wishbone. Didn’t make the list? MOMA has conveniently collected pieces from this uniquely curated collection. You can purchase the whole set, or pick a particular piece that speaks to you, like this Christian Marclay music box. Christian Marclay: Untitled (Music Box); $1,350; www.store.moma.org
Ever since reading Swimming Lessons, I’ve been semi-obsessed with Leanne Shapton’s art, which is both minimalist and poetic at once, her almost abstract shapes conjuring deep wells of meaning. She heightens the poetry in her latest collection for Brooklyn-based gallery Picture Room with a tribute to Victorian poet Christina Rossetti’s most famous work, “Goblin Market,” a poem that manages to be both about Victorian morality and sumptuous, luscious indulgence. Leanne Shapton’s Goblin Market Prints; $2,000 for full set; www.pictureroom.shop
If you follow Permanent Collection’s Instagram account you know that the designers have artistic interests at heart—you’re as likely to see a photograph of artist Perle Fine as their meticulously sculptural coats. For each collection, the company also omissions an artist to develop wrapping paper, like this gorgeously crowded creation from Berkley-based artist Aleishall Girard Maxon. I say skip the tape and scissors and go ahead and frame it. Permanent Collection Artist Designed Wrapping Paper; $37.50 for ten sheets; permanentcollection.com
What could be better than a custom-made portrait? Artist Anamaria Morris will take a photo of your loved one and translate it into a graphite and gouache work. It’s hard to think of a more singular gift. Custom Portrait by Anamaria Morris; price upon request; www.portraitsbyam.com
Ah the travails of framing: the expense, the endless choices. What if you spend all that money and it’s not quite right? To mitigate these anxieties, let SFMOMA do most of the work for you, and customize one of their quality prints with a blessedly limited range of framing possibilities. Custom Framed Diebenkorn print from SF MOMA; $195; https://customprints.sfmoma.org
The box of school-bus-yellow Crayolas will never lose its appeal, but if you’re looking to upgrade your wax-based art supplies, these pleasing bricks are hard to beat. Glassy Retooling Crayons; $59; www.ofakind.com
Seek and ye shall find. While putting this list together I thought, hm, I wonder what Sarah Morris, an artist I adore, is up to, typed her name into google, and lo and behold: She’s collaborated with Helmut Lang on these singular, hand-painted cowboy boots. For those who like to wear their artwork on their feet. Sarah Morris x Helmut Lang Cowboy Boots; $1500; www.ssense.com
The black and white work of everyone’s favorite nanny-turned-world-class-photographer-voyeur is fairly well-known thanks to her comeback a few years ago, but a new book celebrates the artist’s lesser-known technicolor prints. This collection of more than 150 color photographs shows a brighter side of the Vivian Maier, who captured mid-century pedestrian life like no one else. Vivian Maier: The Color Work Book; $80; www.amazon.com
Mid-century designer Lucienne Day (and her husband Robin Day) were responsible—I like to think—for re-injecting color into postwar Britain and inspiring a generation of Etsy designers half-a-century later. The couple’s aesthetically prescient designs are collected in museums around the world, but you can recreate their inimitable style thanks to a collaboration with John Lewis. Lucienne Day Fabric; £45.00 per metre; www.johnlewis.com
