The Best Holiday Gifts for the Art Lovers and Artists On Your List
Shop all the best presents for the art lover in your life.
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When choosing gifts for art lovers, buying original art is probably the ultimate flex. The only problem? Art collectors pour their hearts and souls into their collections, which are often challenging to categorize and almost always highly personal—making it tough to find the perfect painting, sculpture or limited edition print. As an alternative, you might consider taking your giftee on an outing to browse what’s on in the local galleries or surprising them with a consultation with an art advisor.
Or you could put aside the notion of adding to their collection in favor of shopping for art-focused gifts, which is probably the safer bet. There are so many wonderful gifts for art lovers out there at just about every price point on the scale that you can buy for everyone on your list, whether you’re shopping for the hardcore art collector or the culturally curious. Here, we've curated a sampling of some of the best art gifts around from gallery and museum shops to independent artists and more.
Check out all of Observer’s luxury gift guides for the best holiday present ideas for everyone on your holiday gift list.
Observer's guide to the best gifts for art lovers
- Roy Lichtenstein dinnerware set
- Venus of Milo Pop statuette
- AMEN Picasso candles
- Book: 'All the Restaurants in New York'
- Yoshitomo Nara 'Miss Margaret' triptych
- Jenny Saville notecard set
- Book: ‘Making Their Mark'
- Haas Brothers chess set
- The Cultivist membership
- Art Herstory note cards
- Takashi Murakami × Virgil Abloh: “BAG”
- ‘Dancing At The Louvre’ by Ringgold scarf
- Sculpture magazine subscription
- Maison Matisse dessert plate
- John Armleder ‘Ethmosphaera’ belt
- Momentable subscription
- Book: ‘The Guardians of Art’
- ‘A Way of Flying’ espadrilles
- Anna Weyant monograph
- Luxury linen watercolor set
- Nina Chanel Abney jigsaw puzzle
- Book: 'Modern Art Desserts'
- Hand-embellished Frida Kahlo chair
- Book: 'The Art of David Webb'
Roy Lichtenstein dinnerware set
Originally released with Barneys New York, this limited-edition dinnerware set designed by Roy Lichtenstein includes a whimsical dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter plate, soup bowl, cup and saucer glazed with the artist’s now-iconic Benday dots.
Venus of Milo Pop statuette
Scientists only recently discovered that the artists of antiquity outfitted their marble statues in bright—some might say garish—hues, making this flashy reproduction of the Venus de Milo, which stands at nearly a foot high, perfectly appropriate.
AMEN Picasso candles
Lovingly made in France with natural vegetable wax and a reforested wooden lid, this beautifully scented AMEN candle produced in collaboration with Diana Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso for the Musée Picasso Paris comes in a reusable porcelain jar printed with one of four artworks by Picasso (in this case, L'acrobate).
Book: 'All the Restaurants in New York'
For several years, former New Yorker editor and self-taught artist John Donohue has sketched the entryways of hundreds of eateries in New York, Paris and London, creating a trio of art books that celebrate (and in some cases memorialize) urban restaurant culture.
Yoshitomo Nara 'Miss Margaret' triptych
Produced by The Skateroom—an organization that puts art on skateboards to support youth empowerment organizations—this trio of decks featuring Yoshitomo Nara’s Miss Margaret is solid enough for the skate park (wheels not included) but ready to be hung as art.
Jenny Saville notecard set
Originally produced for a multi-venue show of Jenny Saville’s works in Florence curated by Sergio Risaliti, this set of twelve blank postcards features key works from that exhibition, including Rosetta II (2005–06), The Mothers (2011) and Prism (2020).
Book: ‘Making Their Mark'
Edited by Mark Godfrey and Katy Siegel, “Making Their Mark: Art by Women in the Shah Garg Collection” explores the achievements of 136 women artists whose work is in the famed art collection of Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg.
Haas Brothers chess set
This gorgeous board inlaid with black and white stone hides unique, otherworldly chessmen designed by twin brothers and creative partners Nikolai and Simon Haas (better known as the Haas Brothers) in black and gold sculpted brass
The Cultivist membership
The entry-level Cultivist membership tier provides the holder and one guest free admission to major museums around the glove, plus private tour invites and access to expert courses, monthly virtual art talks and other perks geared toward art aficionados.
Art Herstory note cards
These premium A2 format note cards with matching envelopes feature stunning historic artworks painted by notable women from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Takashi Murakami × Virgil Abloh: “BAG”
Takashi Murakami partnered up with Virgil Abloh in 2018 to release a collection of luxe cotton canvas totes featuring both Murakami’s Mr. DOB and the signature arrows of Abloh’s street couture label, Off-White.
‘Dancing At The Louvre’ by Ringgold scarf
Tessuto Editions’ lineup of gorgeous Italian silk scarves featuring work by contemporary artists like Lena Wolff and Francesco Igory Deiana includes a 38” scarf printed with Faith Ringgold’s Dancing at the Louvre perfect for either wearing or framing.
Sculpture magazine subscription
Contemporary sculpture fans can get the latest on what to see and who to watch with an annual subscription to Sculpture magazine, which publishes six issues per year full of artist interviews, trend analysis, exhibition reviews and more.
Maison Matisse dessert plate
Lovely and subtle, these petite plates designed by Marta Bakowski for Maison Matisse put the pictorial motifs present in Henri Matisse's painting La Musique onto tableware made to order in Tuscany.
John Armleder ‘Ethmosphaera’ belt
J. Hopenstand’s Art to Wear line of fine belts includes a very limited run of John Armleder’s ‘Ethmosphaera’ belt, which was inspired by Ernst Haeckel's work Art Forms in Nature and features a delicate golden buckle shaped like an ethereal undersea creature.
Momentable subscription
Digital art enthusiasts and the NFT-curious will love exploring the Momentable platform, which uses A.I. technology to connect artists from around the globe with collectors who will cherish their work.
Book: ‘The Guardians of Art’
Art collector Dani Levinas chronicled his conversations with thirty-four of his fellow collectors—including Aaron and Barbara Levine, Giorgio Spanu, Jan Mulder, Sheikha Al Mayassa, Teixeira de Freitas and Jarl Mohn—in a book that offers deep insights into contemporary collecting.
‘A Way of Flying’ espadrilles
Goya was not just a talented painter but also a highly skilled engraver, and those skills are put on display in these stylish hand-sewn Spanish espadrilles featuring the flawed yet innovative subject of his print A Way of Flying.
Anna Weyant monograph
This first monograph of Anna Weyant’s precise and dualistic work includes most of her paintings to date, including those displayed in her 2022 debut exhibition with Gagosian, “Baby, It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.”
Luxury linen watercolor set
With this portable watercolor set featuring a folding linen pouch from Italy, Fabriano watercolor paper and Schmincke watercolors (among other artistic accessories), the art lover can try their hand at becoming the artist.
Nina Chanel Abney jigsaw puzzle
This 1,000-piece puzzle featuring Nina Chanel Abney’s work, which comes with its own nine-compartment sorting tray, was specially commissioned by MoMA and inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror (1932).
Book: 'Modern Art Desserts'
Art is made edible in this captivating dessert cookbook by pastry chef Caitlin Freeman that transforms familiar works of art from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art into more than thirty sweet treats of varying complexity.
Hand-embellished Frida Kahlo chair
Inspired by Frida Kahlo’s unparalleled use of color and unique personal style, this statement armchair pairs upholstery, velvet and embroidery to create a whimsical world of seemingly magical flora and fauna.
Book: 'The Art of David Webb'
This visually stunning book written by Ruth Peltason explores, through in-depth text and detailed photographs, the close connections between art and the designs of noted American jeweler david webb.
