Art and interior design
Art and interior design has always been closely linked. Already in the time of the Romans, works of art, as well as sculptures and paintings, were very present in the houses. Then it was a sign of distinction and power. Nowadays, works of art are an investment and a way to specify the finishes and finish defining the style lines of the home. Do you dare to discover the role of works of art in interior design?
Industrialization brought many important technological advances to the development of society. However, it was also the origin of standardization. A phenomenon that affected the construction and design of houses. In response to this homogenization emerged other movements, such as Art Nouveau or modernism. It was about endowing the buildings with soul. Not only introducing pieces of artists in the houses but making the own design of the house a piece of joint art in itself. Art, in any case, plays a crucial role in the history of interior design.
Art and its place inside a house
The piece or the set? This is the main dilemma that to our way of understanding we must face when we are determined to use art pieces in the interior design of our houses and it does not have an easy resolution.
The pieces of art have an obvious aesthetic impact, but at the same time, they have a story to tell. The own message of the work and the own history of the piece and its authorship. We like to take into account the whole set of meanings that they incorporate, leaving nothing aside. It is not just about finding the right piece, like a piece of clothing that combines with another, but something else.
We can always stick to the strict aesthetic functionality. But to what extent are we banalizing art? Although on the other hand, we can glorify and pontificate an artistic piece for its authorship, or its price and try to obviate or modify its aesthetic and emotional impact and its adequacy on the whole.
Identity as a link between art and interior design
The spaces are representative of a certain identity. A city, a store, the offices of a company, and also home are the reflection of the identity that its protagonists want (or can) project. That is why for interior designers, it is so necessary for us to know our clients, as well as connect with them aesthetically. We have to understand that the distance to travel in order to adapt is not insurmountable.
The works of art, perhaps are the pieces that most clearly affect this relationship. They are elements capable of providing a series of determinant inscriptions to the spaces that host them. In the same way that in adolescence we covered the walls of our poster room to make it ours. In a home, the introduction of pieces such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, or even design pieces in furniture or decoration is the most refined ways we have to make our spaces and make them an extension of our identity.
The style of a home
We, as interior designers, have our key places to go to look for special pieces. Certain galleries with which we collaborate and share tastes are places where we like to take our clients to find those pieces with which they connect in an almost inexplicable way, of those who fall in love and become part of life, rather than a single space.
The truth is that art transcends, goes beyond the strictly material, and even transcends the artist’s own work, to connect with something intimate. Sometimes, we find clients who have pieces of art they want to keep in their homes and incorporate the interior design project we do for them. It is another example of this intimate relationship and for us relevant information to understand our clients more deeply.
In any case, the style of the house or space will be impacted irremediably by the pieces that we decide to place. Giving it its proper place and contemplating the joint impact is fundamental. We should always maintain a holistic view of interior design, even if we take into account the entire history that transcends the piece itself.
The Greeks and the Romans were certainly the first humans in the western world who best took advantage of the good relations between art and interior design to obtain interiors with soul, and full of personality. They were the first patrons and those who understood that a work of art is capable of creating a space or destroying it.
The role of art in interior design is foundational and fundamental. There is no interior design, without an artistic conception of space, even if there is no piece of concrete art. The architect and the interior designer are somehow artists. His works: the places we inhabit.
