African paintings bring color and style to the home. The art forms are varied and range from photographic realism through to the very abstract. African art is still less well known outside Africa and the works continue to create great conversation.
Some painters like Kenyan Joseph Muchini create detailed portraits as well as abstracts which is a rare combined capability. Abstracts are typically both easier and faster to create and so are the more common. As for material, the use of Acrylics and oil is more frequent than watercolors. Oil paint is by far the preferred medium today and it lasts much longer.
It is often best to buy art online because of the wide selection and quick price comparison. When purchasing art online it is important to observe the following:
If you are looking for an investment bare in mind that signatures and dates will assist collectors in the future and therefore increase any future antique value for pieces. Some top east african artists are: Shine Tani, Kamuyu Martin, Ash Uman, Alex Mbugua, Zachariah Mbutha, Lucki Mutebi, Giko (Hosea Muchugu), Peter Githire, and Eliod Babu.
It is unfortunately not so common for paintings to hold a date however, the reason being that many buyers prefer to think they are always getting the "latest" pieces, and a painting with a date might risk the perception that the artist failed to sell the item for many years! – I know it sounds strange, but that is the way it is.
Check the website's credibility. Look for other sites that link to the website. Look at the quality of the site design. Look at the content (for example does it have hundreds of nasty ads?) Advertizy sites exist for the wrong reasons and are always painful to use. Be wary of sites asking for credit card details instead of sending you to a safe site like Paypal for payment.
Obviously keep your eyes open for that single most important thing: "Uniqueness". This is much harder to define, but thorough research in critical, look on other sites for similar items and prices before you buy. Look at other works by the same artist to get a feel for the style (s). Search for any exhibitions that hosted the works of an individual.