A guide for business owners
Art for cafés, practices and offices: buy, rent or borrow?
In short: buying pays off when a painting is meant to stay. Renting brings variety and service, but costs money every month. You can borrow from art libraries, which mostly cater to private individuals, or directly from artists, sometimes even free of charge.
This guide compares all the options: costs, pros and cons, and the questions to settle before anything goes on the wall.
Buying: pay once, keep it for good
A painting you buy is yours. You pay once, it stays, and it shapes the room for years. Originals by emerging artists often cost just a few hundred euros; mine range from €50 to €300.
The downside: the wall no longer changes on its own, and if a painting stops fitting after a refit, that is your risk. For the tax side of a purchase, it is best to ask your tax adviser.
Renting: variety and service for a monthly fee
Art rental companies advise you, deliver, hang and swap the pictures on request, and some also insure them. In return you pay every month; at the providers compared here, the minimum term is usually twelve months or longer.
At three providers in Berlin, Cologne and Munich, prices in September 2026 ranged from €15 to €95 per painting per month. One charges 4 to 5 percent of the sale price per month: after 20 to 25 months you have paid the full price once without owning the painting. Some providers credit rent already paid if you buy later.
Sources: prices published by Galerie ARTprotect (Berlin), Kunstvermittlung Klement (Cologne) and kunst-mieten.de (Munich), as of September 2026; some prices exclude VAT.
Art libraries: almost free, but rarely for businesses
Art libraries, called Artotheken in Germany, lend art the way libraries lend books. In Berlin, the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek lends artworks free of charge for 84 days with a library card, and the Artothek of the Kommunale Galerie charges two to ten euros per work.
For business premises this rarely works: the Kommunale Galerie only lends to private individuals living in Berlin, and the pictures go back after a few weeks or months. To find out what kind of art you like, an art library is still ideal.
Sources: Artothek of the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin and Artothek of the Kommunale Galerie Berlin, as of September 2026.
A loan from the artist: art in exchange for wall space
Some artists lend originals directly to businesses. You get art on your walls; the artist gets exhibition space and contact with potential buyers.
This is how I do it: the loan is free and runs for at least two years. You choose the paintings, and I bring them over or send them. A small sign with title, price and QR code hangs next to each one. If a guest buys a painting, I handle everything and you get a new original.
Five questions to settle first
Whether you rent or borrow, get these points confirmed in writing.
- How long does the agreement run, and when can you end it?
- Who delivers, who hangs the pictures, and who pays for it?
- Who is liable if a painting gets damaged, and is it insured?
- What happens if a guest wants to buy a painting?
- Is the spot right? Direct sunlight, steam from the kitchen and hot air from radiators are bad for any painting.
What suits your business?
- Buy if a particular painting should become a permanent part of the room.
- Rent if you want to change things regularly and can budget for ongoing costs.
- Art library if you would like to try out privately what kind of art you like.
- Loan if you want to start at no cost and support artists.
Written by Dan Sax, painter in Berlin. As of September 2026.