Yes, yes, I know it's a van Gough...but does it match the duvet?

Once upon a time (the summer after I graduated from college) in a land far far away (ok, so it was Cape Cod and that's only 2.5 hours away) I worked at a gallery. I thought I would take the summer to "find myself" while selling some art to the summer tourists and figuring out in what career direction to go with my oh-so-valuable illustration degree (the answer, as it turns out, was Office Space -- schlepping in Corporate America for many years while, with the exception of a few hard-to-come-by freelancing gigs, hardly using my expensive education at all. But I digress...)

I had mixed feelings about the "art" sold at this gallery. I won't get into it too much because the gallery would be easily identifiable and otherwise it was a great summer experience. Anyway, my summer job was located on the main street in one of the most touristy Cape towns ever. The clientele was obviously mostly of the tourist assortment, which makes for interesting characters every now and again.

Often, people would come in looking for something to match a specific room in their house. Sometimes they'd bring fabric swatches. On one particularly memorable occasion, two little old ladies dragged in an entire couch cushion (in an enormous hideous floral print) and held it up next to a framed painting! Keep in mind, I was freshly graduated from a highly respectable art college. I was full of pride, and was a little bit of an art snob. Watching those two ladies struggle with a cushion through the gallery made me mortified in a way I can't even describe.

Down the street from my job, there was an adorable little gift shop. They sold Fred Babb t-shirts. All summer long, I wanted to buy the one that said "Good art won't match your sofa".
I don't think they would've appreciated me wearing it to work, however. Especially as the owner of my gallery was making quite a cushy living doing exactly that. So I never bought it.

Fast forward to the present - I have since bought (and have decorated) a home of my own. Though I have never dragged a swatch OR a cushion into a store, admittedly much of the art in my house matches each room's color scheme. Or at least the "theme" of the room. But the wall decor in those rooms was intended as just that. Wall decor. You can find this stuff in the "home decor" area of any little home goods shop. It's certainly not fine art. Especially as all of them are reproductions.

However, I do own a couple original pieces. One small painting by my friend Jen, and the other - an original drawing by Angus Oblong (the illustrator of Creepy Susie and the animated show The Oblongs). Now, these particular pieces don't match anything. And I don't care. Unlike the stuff I bought at the chain home goods stores, that's not the point in owning them. I do think there's a significant difference. If you own an original work of art, and it just so happens to coordinate with one of your rooms, that's cool. But I don't think you should be buying fine art pieces simply because they match your coffee table.

In my own freelancing life, I've been commissioned to do pieces with a theme. This includes either a specific subject, or less frequently, a color. (IE - "She has a pink floral theme for the baby room") To me, those are still fine art. I'm not in the home decor business. No swatches, matching of image to duvet cover, or nit-picking of colors were involved in those commissions. Just a theme, and creative licence.

If you specialize in home decor or interior designing, that's one thing. Your whole job is to design items specifically for a room. That's not what I'm talking about. For a fine artist (or illustrator) to put their heart and soul into a work of art, then to have a couch cushion dragged in next to it in order to judge it's value...well, I still shudder.

It it just me? Do you guys think "Well, a sale is still a sale. Whether I match their sofa or not." Do you think that sort of mentality (on the part of the customer) lowers the artistic value of your work? Am I wrong? Anyone else have feelings on this? I'd be curious to hear back from you guys. Leave a comment for me! (o;

P.S. Especially since I may still buy that Fred Babb t-shirt after all...