Art lovers, listen up! There’s a new(ish) startup in town, and they’re changing the way we buy art. Backed by City of Sydney, Art Money have been around since 2015 and are in the business of loaning people money for art’s sake.

Here’s how it works: Art Money provides interest-free loans to prospective buyers, with only an initial 10 per cent deposit paid by the buyer directly to the gallery where they are making the art purchase. The outstanding amount is then paid off in nine monthly instalments, direct debited from the buyer’s account. That means you can walk away from an exhibition with your new art baby, having only paid a small fraction of its total cost!

Testimonial 1 comes from Darlinghurst resident Nathan White (pictured above), who used Art Money to purchase Sydney artist Annalisa Ferraris’ painting ‘Party’s Over’ from China Heights gallery in Surry Hills. ‘I’ve always wanted to purchase art for my home and support local artists, but I’ve recently changed careers, so it would be risky for me to invest a large sum of money all in one go,’ explained Nathan. ‘When a friend told me about a new program offering interest-free art loans, I thought there must be a catch – but the more I learnt, the more comfortable I felt about being able to buy art without busting my budget, and the process was so easy…’

What we really LOVE about this startup is that it totally opens up the art market to more people. Forking out a few hundred (or thousand… or million??) dollars on a piece of art is inaccessible to many of us, and the idea of paying smaller amounts over a longer period time ushers in a new opportunity. AND, if more people are buying art, that means more local artists and galleries will be getting paid – win-win!

Art Money have partnered with over 400 galleries (including our in-house TDF Collect Gallery very soon!) across Australia, New Zealand and the US. Visit their website to find out more.