Most people start by buying. You see a work you like, it's finished, and it's yours — that's the simplest and often the best route. But there's a point where the wall, the scale or the subject is specific enough that nothing off the shelf quite lands, and a work made for the space is the better answer. This is a plain guide to the difference: what changes when a piece is commissioned, when to buy instead, and how a commission actually works.
Two ways to put art on a wall
Buying means choosing a work that already exists. You see exactly what you get, the price is set, and it can be on the wall quickly. Commissioning means a work is made for you — to a particular wall, at a particular scale, in a palette chosen for the room. It takes longer and is decided together, but the result is composed for where it will live rather than adapted to it.
What changes when a work is made for the space
A commissioned piece is sized to its wall, not cropped to fit it. Its palette is set against the room's materials and light. Its subject can carry something that matters to you — a place, a memory, a brief only you could write. The room reads as one thing, because the art was composed as part of it rather than added at the end. That fit is the whole reason to commission; if an existing work already gives you it, buy the existing work.
When to buy an existing work
Buying is the right call more often than people expect. Choose an existing work when you need it soon, when you've found a piece that already sits well in the space, or when you'd simply rather see the finished thing before you decide. For finished works ready to ship, Studio Artemist is our online shop — paintings, originals, prints and framed photography, with all-in prices on each product page. If you want an existing work but not from a catalogue, a Bespoke enquiry can also curate one from our network.
When to commission
Commission when the space asks for something specific: a wall nothing off-the-shelf fits, a scale you can't find ready-made, a subject or palette that has to be right, a portrait, or a gift made for one person. A single commissioned piece is Bespoke. A set of works composed across a whole home or property is the Consultancy; for a designer or architect composing across one project, it's The Edit.
How a commission works
It begins with a brief and a conversation, not a blank cheque. We come back with a written scope, a proposed treatment and a price — agreed before anything is made. From sign-off, the work is made by the right hand for the brief, and we share progress at key stages so the piece that arrives is the piece you were expecting. Lead time depends on the artist and is confirmed when the commission is scoped. Installation is carried out by your on-site team, with specifications and guidance from ours.
What to brief us
You don't need to describe the artwork — that's our part. You need to describe the space and what you want it to do:
- The wall and the room. Where the work will live, and what it should do for the space.
- The scale. Roughly the size you're imagining, and the wall it answers to.
- The feeling. The palette, the materials around it, and the mood you're after.
- The occasion. Whether it's for your own wall, a portrait, or a gift made for someone.
- The timeline. When you'd like it in place, worked backwards.
Who makes the work
A commission can be made in our own studio, by an established Indian artist, or by an upcoming one — sourced through galleries and consultants across India — and sometimes the right answer is an existing work curated from that same network. We don't represent artists; we match the brief to the right maker, which is what lets a commission stay about your space rather than any one signature. The studio has worked this way across seven hundred projects, from Kolkata, pan-India.