The Peck Art Studio Collection: Where to Start

Browsing a gallery becomes tiring when it amounts to scrolling a list from top to bottom. This article makes the collection more legible: what is in it, how the prices are distributed, and which question to start with when choosing a first piece.

Every work in the collection is made by Nazife Ünal Tekin, and each one is singular.

What the collection contains#

There are two families of technique.

Paintings make up the great majority. They include both painted works on canvas and etchings. The range of subjects is broad: from still lifes to accounts of cities and places, from figurative work to more abstract surfaces.

Tufted works are fewer in number but dominant in scale and presence. Textured surfaces behave entirely differently from a painting once hung. I compared the difference separately.

Every piece lists its technique, dimensions, year and price on its own page. That is the first place to look while browsing.

Price bands#

The collection falls into three bands, which tells you where to look for your budget.

The entry band, around a few thousand lira, holds the small-scale paintings. It is the most sensible entry point for starting a collection or buying a gift. Nefertiti and Kabaklar sit here.

The middle band, between five and fifteen thousand, holds mid-size paintings and etchings. This is the centre of gravity of the collection: Arta Kalan, Röprodüksiyon, Salt Galata, Gebe(r) and Tını.

The upper band, twenty thousand and above, holds the large-scale works and the tufted pieces: 1982 Zıvarık and Sssubtle.

One caveat: price relates directly to size, not to quality. A small piece may well have taken longer than a large one.

Original or print#

The collection holds both unique originals and etchings, and that distinction explains much of the price.

An original is a single work from the artist's hand; there is no second one. An original print is a limited number of impressions from a plate the artist made themselves, here printing is not a means of reproduction but the technique itself.

Both are genuine artworks. The difference lies in rarity and in how they are made. I explained how etching works and the difference between originals, original prints and reproductions separately.

Choosing a first piece#

Answer two questions before you look at the gallery, and the choice narrows on its own.

First: where will it hang? The size of the wall, the furniture in front of it and the light in the room set the range of pieces available to you from the outset. The sizing rules are in a separate article.

Second: what do you want the piece to do in the room? Harmonise with the existing palette, or become the focal point? In a neutral, restrained room the second is almost always the right answer. I opened that up in the colour guide.

Once those two are settled, the number of pieces that suit you usually comes down to three or four.

What to look at on a piece's page#

The information shown when you open a piece in the gallery is not incidental; the whole buying decision sits there.

Four things to check:

• Technique. Paint on canvas, an etching, or tufting? Technique determines lifespan, care and price alike
• Dimensions. Photographs mislead about scale; read the centimetres and compare them to your wall
• Year. It tells you which period of the artist's work it belongs to
• Status. Sold pieces remain in the collection, so check availability

Each work also has its own space for a story. Knowing why a piece was made changes what it is like to live with it for years, and gives you something to tell when you give it as a gift.

Works already sold#

Pieces marked as sold remain visible in the collection. They are not removed, because they show the line of the artist's work.

If a piece you like is sold, there are two options: commission something new in a similar approach, or look at other works along that line. Exact copies are not made, each piece being singular is the basic principle of this collection.

If what you want is not here#

The collection is finite and does not cover every size or palette. If the dimensions or subject you want are missing, there is custom production.

You set the size, the price is calculated per square metre, and delivery averages 21 days. I explained the pricing and how the process runs separately.

Where to go next#

The whole collection is in the gallery, with technique, dimensions, year and price on each piece's page.

If the artist's way of working interests you, I would suggest the creative process in the studio; if you want to know what to check before buying, original or print.