THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman: Hey, artists. Today I’m breaking down for you. One of the most commonly asked questions I get, which is what kind of art is selling right now? We talk a lot about trends in terms of prices and size, but this one is what kind of art? So is it abstract? Is it figurative? Is it landscape? Is it florals or alert? There isn’t a winning genre, but there are five categories with clear momentum right now. Nature and landscape. Abstract and semi. Abstract. Figurative and portrait. Florals. Still life and food and surreal. Symbolic with story rich work.
Speaker 2: It’s The Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the Inspiration Place podcast, an art World Inside, a podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Hey there. I’m Miriam Schulman, I’m your curator of inspiration. Welcome back to The Inspiration Place podcast. I’m the author of Artpreneur and I’m also founder of the Artist Incubator program. Today we’re going to talk about what work is winning and why we’re going to go across all five of these categories. I’m going to give you clear evidence that supports why it’s selling. I’m also going to break down why I think this is the reason it’s going in this trend. Again, all evidence based and then what you can take away from it. So none of this is going to be, hey, abstract artists, go start painting landscapes. Don’t worry. We don’t do that here. It’s about understanding what is happening in the marketplace so you can plug into that. Let me tell you first how I curated my evidence. I looked at actual purchases. Current best seller lists recently sold work searches, inquiries, fairs, and home trends. Of course, there’s no official worldwide scoreboard for abstract versus landscape versus figurative, but I did notice patterns patterns that kept showing up across my different sources, and I paid very close attention to the market working artists can actually participate in. So in other words, not the blue chip Rothko’s, but the type of art that you, my audience, is selling right now. Let’s start first with landscape, nature and place based work. I’m going to talk about first about what is selling.
Miriam Schulman: So nature is the clearest all around signal that I found. But that can show up in a lot of different ways. It could be a landscape, a seascape, water skies, earth tones, restorative places, and also abstracted nature. All of those are showing strength in the marketplace. The strongest work is not simply scenery, though. It creates calm, escape or memory or sense of belonging to place. Let’s get to the evidence on artsy purchases of work. Tagged earth tones rose 29% and searches rose 19% for landscapes, 30% for nature, 80% for outdoors and 33% for ocean. Six of Art finder’s current top ten best selling artists made substantial landscape, coastal, floral or nature based work, and single arts. Recently sold work includes seascapes, mountain landscapes, marine scenes, and expressive nature paintings. All right, let’s talk about why it’s selling. People just want their homes to feel like a refuge, and nature gives them a visual escape from uncertainty and overstimulation. The other thing is that what’s trending right now is modern cottage collected interiors, vintage warmth, gentle florals, wood moss and natural materials. And they’re all having a resurgence. Plus, the water and blue imagery create calm and Spaciousness. Now, let me put a little asterisk with all this nature and landscape, because abstracted landscapes give buyers something they can recognize while still leaving room for their own memories. Let’s talk about what artists can take away from all this.
Miriam Schulman: Specific is definitely going to be generic. What do I mean by that? This mountain, this weather. This coastline. This memory. So another thing that you should do is organize your nature work into clear series such as coastal dramatic weather specific places or abstracted ecology, and use titles and descriptions to sell the feeling of the place, not just the location. You want to show your artwork in rooms that Reinforce restoration, warmth and spaciousness. Now, I know the temptation is to create small studies, and if you have them, because that’s part of your process anyway. That’s fine. They do create an easy entry point. But really, the larger work is what collectors want and they deliver an immersive experience. And that’s really what they’re looking for right now. Now let’s talk about abstract and semi-abstract work, because that’s all selling really well too. The strongest work has a recognizable palette physical surface scale, emotional intent, or a connection to nature again, and a lived experience. Other details to pay attention to that are selling really well. And if you have these, definitely talk them up. Tactile abstraction. Collage. Relief, mixed media and large room defining work. They’re all especially relevant. The evidence supporting all of these at least eight of Art finder’s current top ten best selling artists use abstraction or abstracted language in a substantial way. The list includes pure abstraction, abstract landscape.
Miriam Schulman: There’s that landscape again, textured botanical work and figurative abstraction. Now, single art’s current sold examples also include pure abstract work and several abstract hybrids. And when we look at Saatchi Art’s 2026 forecast that highlights oversize abstraction and handmade surfaces. Let’s talk about why abstraction is selling abstract art changes the atmosphere of a room before the buyer even has to understand what the subject is. Now, how does it do that? It does it through the texture, the layering, the collage, the scale, and all these things feel very valuable in an era when people see an endless series of flat images on the screen, and nature based abstraction combines the flexibility of abstract art with the emotional accessibility of landscape. But here is something I just wanted to let you know that I also came across in my research. And that is the supply problem is real, meaning buyers have an enormous amount of similar looking abstract art to choose between. So generic work is just not going to cut it. So here’s what I want you to pay attention to artists. What’s going to help your art? If you’re an abstract artist, stand out. Among all the other abstract artists is. If your series has a recognizable visual language through recurring colors, marks, shapes, edges, or materials. Also, if you’re really able to talk about the real source of your work a place, a memory, attention, a process, or an emotional question that’s going to help you.
Miriam Schulman: I see too many artists talk about their abstract art as joy, peace giving hope, and oh, please do not let me read one more artist statement where the artist said they’ve been an artist ever since they could hold a crayon. So joy, hope and peace are the three most overused adjectives I see. Okay, here’s some other things that will help you stand out among the abstract artists. Show close ups. Side lighting so you can see what kind of texture there is. Videos on your website that show the process, the edges and the texture so collectors can really feel the physicality of your art, especially if they’re buying it online. And do you want to edit your portfolio until the work feels like an unmistakable world? So if you have an outlier, pull that from your portfolio. All right, let’s move on to the next category. This is figurative portrait and people centered artwork. And yeah, guess what that’s selling too. So figurative work has the strongest rising cultural signal. This type of work is the strongest when it’s psychological, personal, socially charged, or story rich. So what can we include in this category expressive figures, identity based portraits, domestic scenes, relationships, and figurative abstraction. They’re all part of this movement. Let me tell you the evidence I found about this.
Miriam Schulman: Seven of Arts’s ten artists with the biggest inquiry growth make work centered on people, bodies, portraits, or symbolic figures. Another example in the marketplace is Art Paris, that featured roughly 30 artists in a special focus on figurative painting. And two of Art finder’s current top four best selling artists, center figures, personal history and mythic people based imagery. Let’s talk about why this kind of art is selling a face or a figure gives the viewer an immediate point of entry, and collectors use figurative art to express identity, belonging. History, values, and stories that matter to them in their homes. A figure creates a story before we even know anything else. Who is this? What happened? What are they feeling? And recognizable human presence feels emotionally direct in a world filled with polished content and generated imagery. All right, artists, let me tell you what you can learn from all this. The opportunity is not a generic face. It is whose life? Whose body, whose gaze, whose story is this? That’s what makes the art visible. That’s what makes the art memorable. That’s what makes the art marketable. So if you’re doing this, use specificity. Perhaps it’s a real family meal or a neighborhood ritual that’s going to give something much more powerful than an invented, relatable scene. Given a story to create connection while leaving room for the viewer and show the pain handling and the physical decisions that separate your artwork from stock or AI generated images.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, we’re rounding the corner. Now we’re going to talk about florals, still life, food, and tablescapes because florals in still life are also having a meaningful revival. The strongest versions carry ritual, season, abundance, memory, hospitality, or human presence. Large botanicals, expressive flowers, personal objects, food, meals and tablescapes all fit here. Let me share with you the evidence that I found supporting this category on artsy purchases of work tagged food rose 61%, searches rose 28% for meal and 38% for dining. Single arts. Recently sold art includes expressive bouquets, semi-abstract magnolias, and highly rendered flowers with expressionist drips. In addition, four of Art finder’s current top ten best selling artists include substantial floral or botanical work. Let’s talk about why it’s selling. A table or bouquet carries gathering, celebration, grief, family season, and daily ritual. Modern cottage and collected interiors make layered floral vintage objects and handcrafted warmth feel current again. And also the subject is just immediately familiar. While scale cropping palette, surface and object choice makes it feel fresh and new. The still life and florals also work really well at smaller sizes, which can make them an easier first purchase for some collectors. All right, artists, let me tell you what you can take from this. This is a traditional subject matter, but pay attention. The way it’s selling is a very contemporary treatment.
Miriam Schulman: Either unusual scale, tight cropping, negative space palette, a vessel or a surface. It’s not your traditional Dutch still life for food and tablescapes. Paint the social meaning of the meal, not simply a bowl of fruit, and choose objects with real stories. The inherited vase, the family tablecloth. The flower that keeps returning in your work. Now, small artwork can be released in pairs, trios or even seasonal collections without discounting. Show your artwork in contemporary collected rooms so buyers can imagine floral and still life beyond traditional decor. Our fifth category this is surreal, symbolic and story rich work. So let me talk about what’s selling and why I would actually call this a breakout category rather than a volume leader. So this is what’s selling dream logic, recurring symbols, uncanny figures, folk influences, animal and invented worlds. They’re all getting attention. I have evidence of that within my own Artist Incubator program. We’re going to make sure we share as much of that artwork as possible. And that is an example. That kind of art I collected at, I guess it was the end of last year, but still close enough. The strongest artwork in this category combines beauty with something very unresolved underneath it. Let me share with you some of the evidence I found supporting this category. So Artzi’s inquiry data shows strong attention around psychologically strange and symbolic work. Saatchi Arts 2026 forecast points to surreal revival, dream logic, folk references, and childlike sincerity.
Miriam Schulman: Single arts recent sold work includes a symbolic mixed media piece combining animals, nature, myth, figuration and landscape and folklore. Inspired interiors are also bringing flowers, rural symbols, handmade objects, myth, and a darker edge into the home. Let’s talk about why this is selling. I’m going to first just add me as a collector, why I did it. So I’m really into Oracle cards and a lot of the Oracle cards that I like the best have a combination of this symbology. And that is why I collected Catron Wells Stein’s Art, which fits this category very nicely. She also designs Oracle card decks. Dream logic helps artists talk about a world that all already feels irrational symbols, unresolved stories. They reward repeated looking and give collectors something to talk about. Folk and childlike visual language can feel emotionally honest and refreshingly human. So one little warning here AI absolutely can produce random weird imagery instantly. So weirdness by itself is not going to be enough anymore. If you’re selling this type of art, you’re going to want to pay attention to the materials and the process so that your human fingerprints on it is unmistakable. You want to build a personal symbol bank from dreams, family stories, local folklore, cultural objects, private jokes, animals, gestures and places, and repeat those symbols across a series so they become part of a collectible world.
Miriam Schulman: Make sure if you’re creating in this style, that you’re giving viewers 1 or 2 clues without explaining the whole thing. And make every surprising element serve an emotion or the story. So now I want to talk about what’s winning across every category. There are seven elements that we’re going to go over. Number one hybrid work. What’s hybrid work? Abstract. Landscape, floral abstraction, figurative collage, and surreal nature. These are things that combine several of the elements that keep showing up. Number two visible authorship. That means we want to see brushwork, collage, weaving, relief, layering, erasure, and irregular edges to prove that a person, not a robot made this work. Three Emotional clarity. The collectors can quickly feel calm or intimacy, humor, unease, nostalgia, joy or belonging. Four specificity that came up many times. That’s a named place, a private ritual, a recurring symbol or distinctive palette that makes the work harder to substitute number five series coherence. Collectors can recognize the artists world and imagine what the next piece might be. And number six, there’s two useful sizes here that are selling really well that I do want to report to you on. Small work does lower the barrier for collectors to make a first purchase, but the large work is selling really well and it creates an immersive experience, and that is simply the most profitable for you as a working artist to create.
Miriam Schulman: And finally, seven you want a story that leaves a room. Give collectors enough context to connect and enough ambiguity to make the work their own. All right, artists, this is what I want you to ask yourself. What emotional job does my strongest work already, perform restoration, recognition, story atmosphere, or proof of the human hand? Next, what category or hybrid would a collector use to search for my artwork? Does your artwork show one coherent style? Is your art about a real story, a real place, a real person, or a question that gives your art meaning? So to sum up, here’s the kind of art that’s selling right now. Nature and abstraction. Probably the clear winner commercially, but figurative and surreal story rich work are definitely on the rise. Florals and still life are having a revival, and human specificity makes every category stronger. Now. The biggest takeaway, though, is not to abandon the kind of art you’re already making, but see how your artwork already fits what people are demanding, and lean a little bit harder into those areas. Or see perhaps, how you can describe your art a little bit differently so that it shows up in searches where people are looking for your kind of art. All right, my friend, thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired. Bye for now.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on facebook at facebook.com/SchulmanArt, on Instagram @SchulmanArt, and of course on SchulmanArt.Com.
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