Choosing Artwork  

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I buy at auctions,...
I buy at auctions, mostly---and I find that the art I like best is in the same color palette of the rest of the stuff I own (which makes sense), so it all works well together.
I also have some ink comic strip drawings by my brother, which go really well with B&W photos, which look great in pretty much any setting.
I particularly love a certain style of oil portrait:

and my brother's comics & B&W photos
The photo of laughing kids is actually a greeting card that I bought at Target.

D Hopper - Thanks, it's...
D Hopper - Thanks, it's actually an Eames/Modernica rack.

It has never made sense to...
It has never made sense to me that collectors of well designed furniture are not better art collectors. I certainty don?t mean to discount the collections of the previous posters but this forum is dedicated to design which I interpret as the combination of esthetics and providence but the artwork that is suggested has neither attributes in great strength. That being said, I don?t think that this forum is all that different from the rest of the design community. I appreciate the fact that quality visual art is harder to define then quality furniture design but if a person is putting such a premium on one and desires the other it doesn?t make sense to me that they wouldn?t invest the time and thought into it as much as design.
I would like to apologize to anyone who disagrees with me and say that I?m not trying to offend anyone but think that this is an important issue. I know that there are plenty of people that have excellent collections of both and there are also many people that love either design or art but couldn?t care less about the other and just want something that suits the other well.
I need to admit that I am an artist and I may have my own interests in mind in bringing this up but I think it?s a point that desperately needs to be made.

I don't think the two 'afflictions' necessarily co-habit
Been having fun reading this thread.
Adam, I think that the addiction to the design of stuff is not always linked to the addiction for art. Certainly we DA types like things that have a visual component that pleases us, but we don't necessarily feel the same addiction to the 'quality and provenance' as you put it.
I know that I for one don't really care all that much about things that hang on a wall and don't do anything else. Sure, hanging art exists for beauty's sake and as an achievement of human creativity, but it doesn't DO anything. I can't cook with it, sit in it, place my computer on it. I like my 'art' to be functional. Anything I hang on the wall is just for fun.

I Disagree
I buy stuff that is pleasing to the eye (my eye) and fits well in my space/ decorative schemes..
I care little about perceived notions of aesthetics or provenance ( I assume that's what you meant by esthetics and providence?)

Would you care....
To share some of your own work?

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Adam, it's simple! Some of us can't afford to do both!! Hell, I can barely afford one. 😉
I would love to have a large collection of fine art to hang about the house. I have a much greater appreciation for fine works of art than that of fine furnishings or lighting. I could spend countless hours in galleries and museums. Unfortunately I have an affinity for art that happens to typically cost waaaay more than I could afford. So I substitute what I can and when I can.
I find that the hunt for art is as much fun as hunting for fine designs elsewhere, but it seems to come around very rarely at any bargain. Everything I've owned has been a bargain find. And when I find that hidden Miro or Picasso or Klimt, etc., you can be sure it will be hanging here!

Your right Olive, Art and...
Your right Olive, Art and design are very different and you make a good point about the functionality of design and the lack of functionally in visual art. It?s a disappointment thought that a person that has refined enough sensibilities to appreciate good design lacks the commitment to aesthetics as far as what they put on their walls. When you say that art ?doesn?t do anything? I think that you fail to understand that the human mind is as important as the human bottom, and that as much as we need something to sit on when we?re tired we also need something to contemplate when we are idle. No you can?t fry an egg on a painting but if you refuse to sit on a Lazyboy chair then you obviously care enough about your humanity and deserve something beautifully and thoughtful to contemplate when looking at your walls. It?s not that I don?t respect your right to decorate your walls with what you choose; it?s only that I?m a little disappointed with your choices.
Thanks for the clarification Robert, your absolutely right.

But
I find everything I have on my walls beautiful, or they wouldn't be there...
You may be 'disappointed' in my choices and those of others here, but I'm not.
How about a look at your work ?

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Mostly junk art in my space.

here are a few photographs...
here are a few photographs of my work Woodywood, they are drawings.

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Melon, anyone?

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Five O'clock shadow...