There was a time not long ago when owning art was exclusively a pastime for the rich. It was something you did when you had gobs of money to spend and you didn't know what to do with it. That all began to change around 100 years ago when the Industrial Revolution began to kick off. People started to have more free time since machines did the work they used to do (your great grand mother probably had to wash clothes by hand on a washboard while you probably use an automatic washer and dryer for example) and they generally started to have more money available.
Think about it. Compare people who lived a few hundred years ago with people living today who are both of modest means. In the 17th century, such a person would have been living in what today we think of as abject poverty. They would have had not much more than the clothes on their backs and they would have had to struggle to get enough food to eat. Compare that group of people with today's lower middle class. While many people struggle today, it is not at all uncommon for even people of modest means to own some kind of artwork for their homes, be it simple paintings or original artwork photos from lesser known photographers. In fact, even those of modest means today live far better than those who lived in times of old.
This is called progress and it's a good thing. As we become a better adjusted society and one where everyone has some ability to have leisure time, we begin to appreciate that there is more to life than simply surviving. We begin to realize that owning art is an integral part of the human condition and it makes us into better people when we own artwork.
Of course the other thing about progress is that owning artwork is no longer just the province of the super rich or even the comfortable as it once was. Back then, people who were nobles lived pretty much the way today's middle class lives. However, the “middle class” then was tiny whereas today it's the backbone of most modern countries and even those of lesser means can afford to own art.
Take for example my photo,Blue Pool and Rock. 200 years ago, if you wanted to own something that looked like that, you had to be well off because only the wealthy could afford to spend the money for an artist to make such a picture.
Today however, you can own something of that stunning beauty for as little as £45. Who could have imagined such a thing back in the 17th century?
I therefore invite you to join me in this modern revolution and to own a piece of art that will add beauty to your home and allow you live in a way that people of times past could only dream of.
