Spotlight: Elizabeth Gordon Gallery

The Elizabeth Gordon Gallery is one of KwaZulu-Natal’s leading commercial art galleries, having been founded in 1976.

During its life it has had several homes around Morningside in Durban, but since 2002 it’s been located in a gracious old Edwardian house on the vibrant and trendy Florida Road.

The gallery is well stocked with original works by eminent and emerging South African artists and hosts exhibitions of new works, on a regular basis. Whilst specialising in South African artists, the Gallery also stocks art works from other parts of Africa, including Sudan, Zimbabwe, eSwatini and Mozambique.

The works found in the Gallery are all framed in the workshop on their premises and they concentrate on conservation framing whilst following current trends and suitability to the art work piece.

Tips on Buying Art:

If you are a new art buyer do some homework and look at various galleries and attend art exhibitions. These days we are lucky to have online access to loads of different artworks.

From there, try and establish what your preference is in art. You might also consider what route you want to go whether it is investment art, or purely some decorative prints, so set yourself a budget, as this is an important guideline.

Establish an association with a reputable art dealer or professional gallery owner, someone you feel you can trust in advising you well. Avoid being influenced by friends or neighbours who might advise you incorrectly on an artist who might just be proving popular or trendy at that particular time.

If you have a decent budget and wish to buy some original pieces, be prepared to go over your limit, if it is something that you really love, and have been well advised to purchase. Don’t go overboard though, as that might bring on buyer’s remorse and you will end up disliking the painting !

If you have a limited budget, remember that any form of wall décor adds warmth and interest to a home. A print of a well established artist is worth so much more visually, than a bad original painting.

If you are dealing with a dealer in your area, ask if you may take the art piece on appro to try it in situ – it makes such a difference knowing if it is right for the space. Most dealers will oblige – with all your given particulars !

New Website:

The new Elizabeth Gordon Gallery website now has a section called Featured Artworks, where they’ll be highlighting certain works, artists or themes. Best of all, whatever is featured there will be discounted by 10%. The website also now features prices on all listed artworks, so you will immediately know if it is within reach of your budget. Should anything not be in your budget, you can contact them directly to source or suggest other items.

Want it on Appro?

The gallery encourages you to take paintings, prints or mirrors home on appro, to conceptualise the scheme you are working on. It’s so much easier to see an item in situ, and know whether it will work or not. If correct, you will feel confident and satisfied, and if not right, at least you’ve established that you need to head off in another direction to achieve your goal.

Consultations

The team also offers professional consultations and would love to participate in your décor ideas, and make suggestions for any particular theme that you may be planning for your home or office area. This is when we are so lucky to be living in the digital age – the team can communicate with such ease via cell phone, Whatsapp, Zoom etc so if you don’t see it on the site, they can show you a visual alternative.

Deliveries

The gallery offers deliveries in the Durban area for a reasonable fee, and anything further afield, they have a well established relationship with a tried and tested freight company to do those deliveries.

So, enjoy browsing the new site and find everything you need to know over at www.elizabethgordon.co.za.