Collecting art at the Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn wants YOU to collect art.

Pottery Barn is proud to present limited-edition giclée prints of some of the finest photographers in history – artists who have both shaped photography as an art form and redefined what it means to truly see. Each one is printed on thick archival paper and preserved with museum-quality framing – for a lifetime of enjoyment. Giclée – French for “sprayed ink” – is a sophisticated process for making fine art prints from a digital source. The technique allows for extra-fine image resolution, which permits retention of fine detail from the original image. The result is a high-quality print that exhibits the masterful technique of each artist. Each one is printed on archival paper, authorized, numbered and signed by – or stamped on behalf of – the artist. 22" sq. (print size 14" sq.).

Our exclusive new floral print of an original photograph made by Harold Feinstein brings the vibrant color and striking detail of nature into your home. Harold Feinstein is an American photographer best known for his trend-setting in the arena of digital photography and his ability to reveal the beauty in the familiar.

Prices run from $350 to $400.

A couple things about this item bug me. First, I could not find the size of the edition anywhere on the site. So to call it a limited edition, which implies the potential for increased future value, seems a little misleading if we aren't told the edition size. Plus, I assume the edition will be quite large considering it's being sold in the Pottery Barn catalog, therefore, it's not likely that the value will ever increase even if it is truly limited. I guess they stop printing it when people stop ordering it. Not that anyone buys art from the Pottery Barn as a "fine art" investment, but something about the implication rubs me the wrong way. People seem to find the "fine art" designation appealing but what exactly what do we mean by it when we use it in the context of a popular furniture catalog.

Second, and more importantly, not sure why you wouldn't just spend the same amount of money on original art, rather than an apparently uneditioned, mass-produced print of a photograph. For example, I bought a fantastic painting by Senor Tangcito from the Transformer Gallery last year for the same price. Or if you're into photography, why not discover and buy from an emerging photographer at the DCist Exposed show, which will run March 7-16 at Civilian Art Projects. Or for an additional $100, you could buy a super cool piece by Akemi Maegawa (see below), which is in Irvine Contemporary's current group show. There are loads of excellent original art options in DC!