Life, Art and Business

The Business of Painting

“Serenity,” by Nadine Baurin, 2001. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

The art business is not immune to the sluggish economy.  Baurin attributes her healthy sales to the organic nature of her art business, plus her Web site. “I never know when one of my paintings will ‘speak’ to a buyer,” she says. She accommodated the economic gloom by introducing an interest-free payment plan for her paintings. Lttle of her work is commissioned in advance. “If someone is willing to simply give me a subject matter and a general color, then I am happy to work on a commission,” she says, but “too many restraints and the work loses its essence.” Artistic Influences Born and raised in Buenos Aires,  Baurin grew up surrounded by original art and learned to draw at the elbow of her artist grandmother, Rita Mulhall. While her father would have preferred that she follow a more conventional career path, her mother encouraged Baurin’s artistic side. “The most precious gift I got from my mother was her encouragement to follow my inner guidance and never let go of my dreams,” she says. “I was given every opportunity to try new things, whether it be equestrianism, theater, music, or drawing and painting.” At age 16, Baurin went to Paris and fell in love with the work of the Post-Impressionists. “I’ve been particularly influenced by Van Gogh’s use of quick energetic brush strokes, Willem de Kooning’s gestural abstraction and Turner’s amazing use of light,” she says, adding that artists from her homeland have also affected her deeply: “One of my biggest influences was Argentine artist Primaldo Monaco, whose work hung in every corner of our house in Argentina.” Baurin relocated to the U.S. in 1991 to study fine art at Principia College in Illinois. “Principia made a significant contribution to my artistic development and professional advancement,” she explains. “The professors were working artists, so they brought to the classroom their experience in the field. I believe anyone can learn a technique, but learning firsthand from an artist what it means to be an artist—that opens a whole new world.“