Rent art from an artothèque

IF YOU have an image of the art world as snooty and over-priced, it could be time for a rethink - it is actually becoming easier and cheaper to enjoy art works in your home.

The change is spearheaded by websites offering alternatives to visiting galleries to buy art. For example, the French site www.artactif.com was offering 38,624 pieces by 1,497 artists, when we visited. They range from paintings and sculptures to mosaics and tapestries, with prices from tens to thousands of euros. Artists pay a set fee to show off their work.

Another site www.arteum.com is more selective in the art it sells. Artistic director Ivan Alvarez said: “We make a selection from artists who send us their portfolios or, in other cases, we invite artists that we like.” It also has three Paris shops.

“A lot of people prefer to buy online, but others come and look in person and then buy on the net afterwards - if it’s a print, for example, we’ll have it in all of the shops, though if it’s an original we’ll arrange for the client to see it in a shop,” said Mr Alvarez. Arteum claims that if you do visit in person, its shops are less off-putting than traditional galleries - and cheaper.

“We want to make them accessible - not to give the impression you must be rich or a connoisseur to visit - the prices are reasonable. A lot of galleries put speculative price tags on their art but the prices are fictitious. We discuss the price with the artist and fix a price that is reasonable. In particular, for prints we are able to sell more copies than an ordinary gallery, so we can negotiate a lower price.”

Contemporary art gallery firm www.artgeneration.fr also combines a site and a Paris shop, with around 4,000 works on sale on the site, starting at €60 for original paintings.

As an additional guarantee you have two months to decide whether or not you like a purchase - if not, you can return it and receive a credit to use to buy a different artwork.

The Boucle d’Art gallery (www.boucledart.fr) has an original approach - it offers to create art to order, for example based on your photographs, and using a variety of different media. It says its in-house artist will create “any work of art, that only exists in your head”, including ones in the style of artists you admire.

If you would like to be able to hang on your wall an expensive piece of modern art that would otherwise be unaffordable, investing in art at www.myartinvest.com is a possibility. The site allows you to buy shares in a piece of art by a world famous artist, including names like Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons, from one to 100 shares (you own the piece if you have 100 shares).

The shares can later be resold on the site if you wish, and from five shares bought in a work you get the chance to keep it at home for a month.

An inexpensive option for enjoying art at home - if you do not mind not keeping it for too long - is to use an artothèque; like a library for art. These lend works of art to individuals, firms and schools for a moderate sum. For example the Artothèque de Caen charges individuals €10 per work for two months, or for a yearly subscription of €60, you can have two works every two months. The Médiathèque François Mitterrand in Poitiers charges €16 for locals, €33 for others, for an annual subscription allowing two works of art for 60-day periods. Find one near you at: www.tinyurl.com/Artotheques

Art benefits from low capital gains tax - just 5% - which is paid by the dealer for you if you sell to a professional. Art can also be counted among “furnishings” in the case of inheritance (which can be valued at a set 5% of the rest of the estate). It may also be left out of the tally of your property for purposes of French wealth tax.