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Why art can be a terrible gift, and how it can be a good one
How do you choose a print for someone else? If you’re choosing a gift for them, you probably know them well enough to have a hunch. You know something about their personality, their interests, and the things they enjoy. A painting might bring them to mind before you’ve even thought of it as a gift.
Perhaps they’ve also mentioned an artist they admire, sent you a painting they liked, or stopped to look at something when you visited a museum together. Those clues can help you follow that hunch.
But even when a painting feels right for someone, art can be a difficult gift. A painting I love may be one you would never choose for yourself. And when I give you a framed piece intended for your wall, I’m making quite a personal suggestion about your home. It can feel like I’m asking you to put my taste on your wall.
There’s a practical problem, too. If I give you a print that needs framing, I’m giving you a job along with it. You have to choose a frame, pay for it out of your own pocket, and find the time to get it done. Until then, the print may stay in its packaging.
If I have it framed with glass first, I take on that work and cost, but now I have a more awkward gift to carry and hand over. The recipient has to unpack a glazed frame carefully. Depending on its size, getting it to them and getting it out of the box can become a project in itself.
A more casual format for the art print
We were working on a new format for the art print, a finished piece that needed no additional framing and felt comfortable off the wall. It could lean against a wall beside your books or on your desk.
We had a growing collection in mind. As you add pieces, they stack neatly together on your shelf. You can bring one forward, switch it for another, and return it to the stack when you feel like a change. The format makes it easy to keep several works close by and change what you’re looking at.
That is the format behind Anclude. We make fine art reproductions of paintings by artists such as Monet, Hopper, and Klimt using giclée printing. Each print is part of a sturdy, rigid piece you can move around and keep as part of a growing collection.
You can also hang a piece using the Anclude magnetic mount, which is sold separately and works with the magnets built into each piece. On a shelf or desk, it needs a stable surface and support behind it.
What we realized about giving art
As this format took shape, we realized that its more casual character made it a great gift. The recipient could enjoy the piece without arranging framing or deciding where to hang it. Giving art felt like less of a commitment to a particular place in their home.
Unboxing is part of the fun. They open a finished piece they can enjoy straight away, with no framing bill or trip to a framing shop waiting for them.
Giving someone one or a few pieces can jumpstart their collection. You can choose a work you think they’ll enjoy without also choosing something they need to find wall space for.
They might begin with a piece beside their books or on their desk. Later, they can add works they choose themselves, growing the stack on their shelf and switching pieces around whenever they want. Your gift becomes one part of a collection they can keep adding to, without finding new wall space for every addition.
I like that the recipient can take it from there. The gift gives them a starting point, and they decide where it goes, which work comes forward, and what they want to add next. Over time, their own choices shape the collection.
Where I’d start
I’d still choose from what I know about the person. The format gives them more freedom to place the piece, but I want the painting itself to connect with something they enjoy.
If they’ve mentioned a particular work, I’d begin there. If they’re interested in an artist, I might choose two paintings that show different sides of that artist’s work. When I have little to go on, I’d browse with them and pay attention to what catches their eye.
I’d also include a note about why I chose it. A memory of a museum visit or a painting they once sent me gives the gift a reason that belongs to us. They can decide where it belongs in their home.
