This Is the Secret, Designer-Approved Source You Haven’t Heard About Yet for Art
If you’re a regular France & Son, Scout & Nimble, or Horchow browser or shopper, then you’ve probably stumbled upon Four Hands. Known predominantly for their furniture and other goods, they’re a go-to source for many pro designers looking to furnish clients’ spaces with stylish, substantial pieces that ship in a fairly quick time frame. Well, now that the brand has officially launched their Four Hands Art Studio offshoot, designers — and everyone else! — can now shop approximately 800 ready-to-hang artworks by nearly 200 different independent artists working at the top of their field around the globe.
Part of what makes shopping for art so intimidating is the curation process: How do you find a piece that resonates with you, supports an actual living artist or late artist’s foundation/estate, and doesn’t cost a small fortune? That’s the void Four Hands Art Studio is trying to help fill. In their assortment, the brand has done the legwork to bring museum-quality, ready-to-hang works to market from a wide variety of sources working in different styles across multiple mediums, from watercolor and oil painting to collage and photography.
You’ll find everything from iconic snapshots by Slim Aarons (licensed through Getty Images) to painterly prints from emerging artists that boast rich colors and textures, which rival the originals they’re reproduced from. The frames are all made from American maple, so you know you’re getting something that’s built to last, and the lead time for pieces is about two weeks (not including shipping). Pricing isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s on par with some of the other artist-driven marketplaces you may already know: Tappan, Artsper, Saatchi, or Minted. If you order through Scout & Nimble, which seems to have the largest Four Hands Art Studio assortment right now, know that every artwork ships free regardless of size, which is a nice added bonus.
Pieces come in a wide variety of sizes, and, of course, the bigger you go, the more expensive they get. Four Hands has a decent selection of sizable offerings under $500; some favorites include the work of artist and registered nurse Aileen Fitzgerald, whose framed landscapes hark back to early Impressionism, as exemplified in her 24-inch by 16-inch piece Hillside Haze II (shown above) and artist Kara Buse, who produces atmospheric desert photography, like her work Light Leaks 12.
If you’re looking for art that’ll function more like an exclamation point in a room — and Apartment Therapy’s 2023 designer survey did predict that statement art is about to overtake the gallery wall in popularity — check out the works of artist Alyson Khan. Her 40-inch by 60-inch, mega abstract geometric Agreement Between Things (shown above) is just over $1,000.
In general, art tends to be on the splurgier side of the home purchase spectrum, especially when you’re supporting someone making a living doing what they love (either directly or through a marketplace that’s dedicated to discovering talent). Whether you spend a lot or a little on a piece though, if it truly strikes a chord in you, it’ll bring so much personality to your space that it’ll earn its keep on your walls in spades.