20x200: Accessible Art We Can't Stop Shopping For

By Marni Elyse Katz
December 6, 2011

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Jen Bekman, Founder and CEO of 20x200. (Photo: Mike Fernandez, 2011)

If you like art, even a little bit, chances are you’re a fan of Jen Bekman’s site 20x200. Taking a democratic approach to an arena that’s historically been, well, stuffy, pretentious, and intimidating to many, the site proclaims, “Everyone needs art,” and it takes the sentiment seriously. Rather than transferring a gallery of pricey paintings online, Bekman invented an absolutely web-savvy solution.

Launched in 2007, her site offers limited edition prints of artwork, complete with a numbered certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. Purchases also include an artist bio and instructions for care, and in some cases, you can even buy the original artwork. It's a concept that caters as much to new collectors as to the artists themselves in terms of furthering their names.

The works she curates are edgy and appealing, and always accessible in both subject matter and price. Every print is offered in a small $20 version, making it impossible to resist temptation. Very large sizes can go for $2,000 unframed (the company recently added framing services), but there are very affordable options in sizes in between.

20x200 is a study in contemporary art itself, with crisp graphics and bright, clean colors. Its functionality can be applauded; too; we like how it offers multiple browsing options, each one more fun and useful than the last. We can (and do) spend way too much time taking it all in.

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William Wegman, About Four Thirty (top) and The Architects, archival pigment prints. (images courtesy of William Wegman and 20x200)

Curious about the background and collecting habits of a woman with such a great eye, business skills and the ability to gauge the pulse of the art scene (not to mention the online world), we curated some questions for her.

The Inside Source: Were your parents art collectors? Did you hang the requisite kitten and puppy posters, or did you curate the real thing from the start?

Jen Bekman: My parents collected everything but art. My mom's taste runs more towards Royal Doulton figurines, Waterford crystal, and Hermes scarves. (The last item being one of the few instances where our tastes overlap!) With the exception of one large-ish seascape that hung over the couch, our walls were mostly decorated with needlepoints that my mom made. As for me, personally, I didn't have a single thing on my walls before opening my gallery in 2003, and that was a big motivator for me to do so. I thought it was crazy that no one had ever tried to sell me art before!

The Inside Source: What’s the first piece of art you purchased? Where does it hang?

Jen Bekman: It's not the very first piece of art I've ever owned, but the very first piece of art I bought from a gallery is a piece by Andrew Kuo. I was at the opening reception for his show, and I bought it right then and there. I loved it then, and now, and always will. It's at center stage of a big salon wall I hung in my living room.

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Doug and Mike Starn, archival pigment prints (image courtesy of Doug and Mike Starn and 20x200)

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Doug and Mike Starn, archival pigment prints (image courtesy of Doug and Mike Starn and 20x200)

The Inside Source: What was your biggest art splurge?

Jen Bekman: My biggest splurge is surely yet to come, but the biggest one to date is an Ed Ruscha print that I bought from Crown Point Press in San Francisco several years ago. It was well beyond my means at the time, but I had obsessed over it for at least a year before taking the plunge. (And was able to do so because they let me pay it off in installments.)

The Inside Source: Do you collect a specific group of images, like say, female nudes or slices of cake?

Jen Bekman: My first and last rule of collecting is to buy what you love. While I'm really drawn to certain colors (green) or styles (love text art, for instance) I don't collect or display work thematically. In fact, I really enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to make a very diverse array of stuff work well together.

The Inside Source: If you could hang a piece of work from any artist in your home whose would it be?

Jen Bekman: Ruscha is my favorite living artist, so an original painting of his would be absolutely divine. More modestly speaking, there was a Rinko Kawauchi photograph in an Aperture auction several years back that I regret not buying to this day.

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Carrie Marill, A Dream World Glimmers in the Background of the Soul, archival pigment prints. (Image courtesy of Carrie Marill and 20x200)

The Inside Source: How do you choose the artists you feature?

Jen Bekman: I'm always looking for great art, all the time, everywhere. And I'm shameless! I'll ask anyone. I've discovered artists via museum exhibitions and art fairs, in the pages of magazines and, of course, on the Internet. Taking an image that’s famous on the web and turning it into an actual print that people can live with is 20x200 at it's best. I love it when an artist actually gets paid for creating something that people love!

Of course, the Internet can be absolutely overwhelming too, which is why we started our photo competition “Hey, Hot Shot!” back in 2005. We get to review all kinds of amazing work, from all over the world, and we do so in the company of an accomplished array of panelists. It's an amazing tool for our curatorial team; so much so that it's the only way that we review unsolicited photography submissions. The artists who participate get incredible exposure.

The Inside Source: What blogs do you follow?

Jen Bekman: Honestly it's embarrassing how many blogs I follow. I literally have over a thousand in my RSS reader. (I'm an inveterate skimmer.) A few that get special attention are SwissMiss, Art Fag City, From the desk of, Fast Company Design. Plus there’s my Tumblr feed, which is always a visual feast. And then there's Twitter.

The Inside Source: I know you love them all, but which works on the site right now are you absolutely coveting?

Jen Bekman: I absolutely love them all, but if I could have two pieces delivered to my home perfectly framed, it'd be the first Mike + Doug Starn snowflake editions we released, both in the 36"x36" size. They're so stunning. [See images above.]

The Inside Source: What image sold out most quickly and/or was most popular on your site?

Jen Bekman: The aforementioned Starn prints incited a flurry of activity (pun intended), but William Wegman's first release with us, a pairing of one of his iconic Weimaraners with one of his lesser-known but totally great paintings, holds the record for first day sales. [See image at top of article.]

The Inside Source: Do you also often sell the original to someone who found it through 20x200?

Jen Bekman: We often offer the original works, and have sold quite a few. My favorite example was when someone bought Carrie Marill's original A Dream World Glimmers in the Background of the Soul, all because she'd first purchased it as a $20 8x10 print!

The Inside Source: Have you ever hunted for and/or purchased anything on eBay? How about art? What?

Jen Bekman: I'm a new-ish art collector, but I've collected all kinds of vintage stuff over the years. My eBay purchase history, which goes all the way back to 1999, is a chronology of my obsessions: Glidden pottery, Baby Ben clocks, designer clothing, vintage Fire King and Pyrex, the list goes on and on.