Buying, hanging and living with erotic art

Notes from the studio

Buying erotic art and not sure where to start? Honest answers on choosing a painting, where it goes on your wall and what arrives at your door.

59 articleswritten in the studio in Boekel

Where to start

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A matt black cordless drill on an oak floor with wall plugs, brass hooks and a folding rule, the brass hooks and wall plugs circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words the wall decides, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHow to hang a canvas: wall types, fixings and no-drill options The back of a stretched canvas, its wooden keys and staples visible, the wooden keys and staples circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words this gives it away, by Willem van der Krieken Buying erotic artIs it really hand-painted? How to check before you buy A bright apartment living room with a slate blue sideboard and a dusty pink chair, the empty wall circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words adults supply the awkwardness, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workChildren and a painting of a woman Marker drawing of four overlapping ovals labelled fine art nude, boudoir, erotic art and sensual, showing how the four terms overlap, by Willem van der Krieken Buying erotic artBoudoir, erotic, fine art nude: what the words mean A lived-in living room with a long linen sofa and a completely bare plaster wall above it, the wall above the sofa circled in open black marker, a marker arrow running to it from the handwritten words two thirds of that, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workWhat size painting works above a sofa? A bright apartment living room with a slate blue sideboard and a dusty pink chair, the empty wall circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words three sentences, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workWhat do you say when someone asks about the painting? Marker drawing of a wall and floor line with an empty upright canvas on it, a dashed line through its centre and an arrow measuring that height from the floor, by Willem van der Krieken Living with the workHow high should a painting hang? A single nail left in a bare plaster wall, fresh dust below it, the nail circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words mostly a first painting, by Willem van der Krieken Buying erotic artWho actually buys erotic art? A plain cardboard postal tube lying on an oak tabletop, the postal tube circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words a reprint takes it back, by Willem van der Krieken Prints and editionsWhy a closed edition is never reprinted A stretched canvas standing in a studio with its face turned to the wall, only the stretcher bars visible, the canvas turned to the wall circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words it stops asking, by Willem van der Krieken How the work is madeWhen is a painting finished? A small stack of uncoated printmaking sheets on an oak table with a graphite pencil across them, the stack of printmaking sheets circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words nine of them exist as a print, by Willem van der Krieken Prints and editionsWhat you get for €35 A sheet of photographic paper lying face down on a studio table beside a magnifying glass, the sheet lying face down circled in open black marker, an arrow from the handwritten words what it left out, by Willem van der Krieken How the work is madePainting from a photograph: the objection, and the answer

What is holding you up?

  1. I can't tell whether this is art or pornography.
  2. I want to buy one, but everything I find online looks mass-produced.
  3. I'm not sure I'm the kind of person who buys something like this.
  4. I don't dare hang it where visitors can see it.
  5. I don't know how high to hang it, or what belongs next to it.
  6. I don't know whether it will fit above the bed.
  7. I don't want the delivery driver to see what I bought.
  8. I recognise the woman in the painting and want to know how she ended up on a canvas.
  9. I don't know what I actually get for 35 euro.
  10. I want to know whether one person really paints all of these by hand.

Paint Your Idol

Break one open yourself.

The painting of the day sits behind a wall of stone, and you break it open a cube at a time. Everyone who plays gets 20% off any painting, and every canvas you play builds up credit for the shop.

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