Yes, people can sell Aboriginal art, but it's crucial to do so ethically, ensuring authenticity, proper artist compensation, and respect for culture, often by buying from Indigenous-owned art centres or reputable galleries with clear provenance and Certificates of Authenticity. Selling privately is possible but requires documentation and careful platform selection, like specialist art sites or auctions, to avoid exploitation and support genuine creators.
To sell your Aboriginal art prints, you need to be over the age of 18 and an Australian resident. Your Aboriginal art prints needs to be original, or you can sell signed limited edition prints.
Today, authentic Aboriginal art can only be created by an Aboriginal artist. If a non-Indigenous Australian creates art using Aboriginal symbols and techniques, it is not considered Aboriginal art. Fake Aboriginal art is a huge problem.
Aboriginal art can be a wise investment but one must choose prudently. Works produced by well-known and respected artists has grown in market value considerably over the past few years and can achieve a substantial benchmark for return on original outlay to the vendor.
In the United States, it's illegal to pretend to be Native American to sell Native art (Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990). This means it's pretty straightforward! Native Americans selling Native art will specifically call themselves not just Native, but put their specific tribe or nation.
The standard three-part test for Aboriginality in Australia requires a person to meet three criteria: descent (biological ancestry), self-identification (identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander), and community acceptance (being recognized as such by their Indigenous community). This definition, adopted by the Commonwealth government, is used for many government programs and services, although the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) uses a simpler two-part test (descent and self-identification) for general data collection.
Buying art with a Code certificate gives customers reassurance that they are purchasing art which has been ethically sourced and provides greater certainty of the artwork's origin. The Code provides signatories, Artists and art buyers with a fair, efficient and effective complaints procedure.
The 70/30 rule in art is a compositional guideline suggesting that 70% of a piece should be less detailed "filler" or background, while the remaining 30% is dedicated to the detailed focal point, guiding the viewer's eye and creating visual balance. It's also a time-management strategy, where 70% of your total effort goes to planning (composition, value, color) and only 30% to the final rendering, helping perfectionists avoid rushing.
We have helped over 90 Aboriginal people amass over $1 million dollars worth of property. That doesn't sound like a lot but when we started back in twenty 20, there were apparently less than a hundred Aboriginal property investors in Australia.
Using terms such as "the Aborigines" or "the Aboriginal people" tends to suggest that Aboriginal people/s are all the same, and thus stereotypes Indigenous Australians. The fact is that Indigenous Australia is multicultural.
There's no single DNA test for "Aboriginality" because Aboriginal identity is complex, encompassing culture, community recognition, and kinship, not just biology, and there's a lack of comprehensive genetic databases for diverse Indigenous Australian groups, making reliable commercial testing difficult and ethically problematic, with most tests only showing broad genetic links, not definitive status. DNA testing can confirm biological ancestry but cannot determine cultural belonging, which is defined by Indigenous communities themselves, not genetics.
The 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle) in art means that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts, helping artists focus on high-impact fundamentals like composition, color, and value to improve faster, or structure work with a quiet 80% and an impactful 20% (like details or focal points). It's used to identify vital skills (anatomy, perspective) for learning, prioritize essential elements in a piece (soft vs. sharp areas), and even manage the business side of art by focusing on core marketing efforts for bigger sales.
Art prints are a fantastic choice for buyers and creators like painters and photographers. They are more affordable and accessible to a wider audience than one-of-a-kind pieces, making prints easier to market and sell. Print sales also help you generate passive income, especially when using Print on Demand.
Steps for determining the value of your art:
The "1/3 rule" in painting, more commonly known as the Rule of Thirds, is a compositional guideline that divides a canvas into nine equal parts with two horizontal and two vertical lines, suggesting you place key elements (focal points, horizons) along these lines or at their intersections for more dynamic, balanced, and interesting compositions, rather than centering subjects. It's a beginner-friendly technique to create visual tension, guide the viewer's eye, and avoid static images, working with how people naturally view art.
Abstract Art
This art style is particularly popular because it allows viewers to connect with the piece personally. According to a 2023 Art Basel and UBS report, abstract art accounts for nearly 20% of all art sales worldwide.
Sales Channels
In summary, the principles of art are: balance. proportion. emphasis.
Nowadays, more simply, we use head height as our unity of reference. Total body height is equal to eight times head height. Drawing a man using the following equivalences for each part of the human body: Body = 7 to 8 x head.
The Golden Triangle is a composition standard that divides a composition into four right triangles. These triangles are created by first dividing the rectangle with a main line connecting opposing corners. Extending at right angles from the main line, two additional lines run through the remaining two corners.
Once an Aboriginal painting or sculpture has been purchased from a gallery, dealer, or art centre, any subsequent sale — whether after a few years or a few decades — forms part of the secondary market. Common secondary market channels include: Auction houses. Private dealers.
Yes, authentic Aboriginal art is valuable, recognized globally as a significant art form, and can be a wise investment, with prices ranging from affordable pieces to high-value works by renowned artists, driven by increasing international demand, cultural significance, and a limited supply of genuine, ethically sourced art. Key factors influencing value include artist reputation, authenticity (provenance), style, and whether it comes from ethical community art centers.
The Many Forms of Aboriginal Art