Art print gift guide for the design lovers, style seekers, creatives, and home bodies (and you)
I love gifting and shopping, so making this guide scratches multiple itches at once. There is something so special about finding the perfect thing that you know a person will love and isn’t something they’ll buy for themselves.
Art is also truly timeless. Guides I’ve put together in prior years all still stand (all linked below!) and are great to dig into too in your hunt for the perfect gift.
Today’s guide is part one, which will focus on art prints both - from emerging artists I’m watching and loving to vintage prints and posters from well known artists to add to your collection. Next week, I’ll be back with my recommendations for art and design books and art-adjacent finds, from mugs to sculptures, filled with stories and craft.
Emerging art prints
Top Row
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Night Moves II by Anna Bryant ($80): I first saw Bryant’s work at Horse + Hero, a small art and decor shop in Downtown Asheville when I was visiting over the summer. Everything in the store is incredible and worth a look (notably, most of their inventory is not online but if you find a piece you like you can email them). I love the movement and colors of this piece by Bryant, who is an Asheville based printmaker and muralist.
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Heritage of Memory by Nassima Jalal (Prints start at $40*): Jalal is a Moroccan artist who is a trained psychologist and believe art has the power to heal. She believes painting is a way to express what words cannot. This specific piece I really love as a surrealist still life - there is clear nods to cultural history and motifs with a modern graphic expression.
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Sixties Suns Painting by Anna Marous (Prints start at $46*): Marous is a Canadian abstract figurative artist. When speaking about her process, she shared “It is a dance of encounter with paint — a dance where you get drawn in so deep that you catch the hand of the viewer”. I love this graphic still life that adds a pop of color and structure to any wall. It would be beautiful on its own or paired with Heritage of Memory - each with its own take on a classic still life with graphic pottery.
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Seen By The Sun by Brandy Bourne ($55): Brandy Bourne is another Asheville based artist I found at Horse + Hero that I loved. Bourne is inspired by the Appalachian mountains, folk culture, and the creative communities of the town including Black Mountain College.
Note: Black Mountain College, an avant-garde art school open from 1933 to 1957 and opened as Bauhaus was closed by Nazi-Germany. Iconic professors and students at the college include Josef and Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Elaine De Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, and Cy Twombly. Highly recommend a visit to the museum if you are there and/or check out this wonderful book about the school (have gifted this treasure before too!).
Bottom Row
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En Ce Moment by Aliya Abs ($250, Use Code: LOVEART for 20% off): This collection of prints by Abs celebrate the quiet moments of spring. Abs is a German figurative linear artist whose work is rooted in the idea that life itself is easier to understand in simpler form. Truthfully, there hasn’t been a release since she joined Tappan that I haven’t loved and shared with clients - there is a depth and stillness to her work that stops me in my tracks every time.
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Watercolor Prints by Suyao Tian ($150): Suyao Tian is a Chinese American water-based abstract painter whose work features vibrant colors, fluid lines, and organic shapes. She has shared that her work is inspired by her experience as an immigrant from China and finding flow through the chaos. I love her use of color, form, and texture to create art that is so layered and simple at the same time. She’s incredibly prolific - there’s an amazing ceiling installation she worked on that shows how expansive her practice is.
Note: The best way to purchase her prints are to reach out to her directly and share images of what you like. She has a huge inventory, so I highly recommend connecting with her to see what she has)
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Vermouth & Olives by Laura Brown ($55): Laura Brown’s art is whimsical, joyful, and drops you right into your favorite travel memory - a long winding afternoon at a cafe or bar with no sense of time, just being fully present. I love art that transports you, and as you are dreaming up your big plans for the New Year, what better image to manifest for you and your loved ones?
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Custom Portrait by ($200): I found ’s work from her gift guide on Substack. Custom portraits are such a fun way to memorialize a special person and moment in a way that feels different than just printing a photograph. I’ve seen a lot of custom portraits floating around, but these feel more art-forward and whimsical than a pure “convert a photo to art” filter. Esmeraldo is a multidisciplinary artist from Brazil who now lives in Barcelona; her work is modern, graphic, and fun.
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Coffee Time by Sojung Kim (Prints start at $40): Korean painter Sojung Kim creates storybook like moments that are so sweet and fun. Her original art works feature distinctive layering and texture-building through various mediums including paint, textiles, and other objects like plastic, buttons, or threads. I love the little moments of joy, silliness, and memory she adds to her works. They read like little nods that break the barrier between artist, subject, and viewer.
Art print tip: For any prints that have an option to print on canvas versus fine art paper, I generally recommend opting for fine art paper. Unless the artist is working with a high-end printer, canvas ends up looking cheaper vs. a fine art print you then frame and mat to give it the gravitas you may want. More framing tips here.
Vintage art posters
Top Row:
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Alexander Calder, From “Mobiles” to “Critters” - Lithography, 1976 ($295): Lithograph by Alexander Calder for his solo exhibition at Galeria Rondanini, Rome. Calder is well known for his mobiles, but his art also carries the same playful simplicity of form and function. Angelenos and LACMA patrons also know him for this famous poster.
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David Hockney, San Francisco Opera, 1982 ($245): David Hockney is a central figure in British pop art for his work as a painter, photographer, printmaker, and set designer. In 1982, he designed the sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rakes Progress” and also designed this poster. The scene here features a madmen reciting, “Leave all love and hope behind. Out of sight is out of mind”.
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Donald Judd, Invitation to Last Editions at Brooke Alexander, 1994 ($300): Opening invitation card for Donald Judd’s exhibit at Brooke Alexander. Judd is an American artist known for his role in the Minimalism movement. Known primarily for his object design (see: Kardashian dupe drama from last year), his art borrows the same rigorous vocabulary around clarity and precision.
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Keith Haring, Into 84 (Tony Shafrazi announcement card), 1983 ($300): Original announcement card for Haring’s exhibit featuring the body of celebrated American choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones. Haring had originally painted Jones head to toe in his London studio and this image, created for the poster and announcement for the exhibit, became a symbol for not just Haring’s work, but the energy of the New York art scene at the time. Haring is known for his art that bridged graffiti street culture with the formal art world. (Note: the larger poster of this is valued at $1,200-$1,350)
Second Row:
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Ernst Trova, Falling Man Screenprint, 1972 ($60): American surrealist and pop artist Trova was known for his Falling Man series depicted in this poster created for Pace Columbus. The Falling Man was a series of works Trova created about “man at his most imperfect.”
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Edward Ruscha, “Standard Station” Offset Lithograph, 1992 ($270): This print is one of Ed Ruscha’s most iconic images with nods to the American landscape and his fascination with consumer culture and roadside architecture. Ruscha came up in the ‘70s pop art movement, and his work is often a deadpan commentary on American culture. This specific piece is from a portfolio of six prints published by the Museum of Modern Art that is now out of print.
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(after) Joan Miró “Art Graphique” Lithograph, 1959 ($100): Spanish artist Miró is one of the earliest artists to present surrealist works. His art style was meant to upset the conventional wisdom and expectations of visual elements, which later went on to define the movement.
Art tip: words to know with vintage posters
Lithograph
A lithograph is a type of print made by drawing an image onto a stone or metal plate, then using that plate to transfer ink to paper. Many exhibition posters and fine art prints from the 20th century are lithographs—it’s a traditional, high-quality printing method.
(after)
When you see “(after)” before an artist’s name—like “(after) Joan Miró”—it usually means the work is based on an original piece by that artist but was not directly created or hand-signed by them. It’s often an authorized reproduction or edition created “after” the original artwork.
Art prints are such a special way to say: I see you, I know your taste, and I want your everyday life to feel a little more like you. I hope you found some that you love.
Part Two of this guide will cover my favorite art and design books and a few art-adjacent pieces with incredible stories behind them. Subscribe to get it in your inbox.
See you next week!
Old LOTA Gift Guides
Note: This post contains some affiliate links, so if you chose to purchase something via a link with an affiliate fee I make a small commission at no cost to you