Why Original Art Matters in a Digital Age

By Sebastien Montel

We live in a world where images are everywhere. Art circulates online in seconds, reproduced endlessly on screens. Yet the value of original art has never been greater. As a French artist based in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, I’ve seen how the physical presence of a painting offers something no digital image can replicate.

Texture, Scale, and Presence

A digital image flattens the work. It cannot capture the layered surfaces of mixed media art, the tension of pencil against oil, or the way newspaper texture catches light. In my own expressionist art, these physical qualities are essential to the experience.

Emotional and Psychological Resonance

Emotional art and psychological art rely on presence. Standing before a painting, viewers feel the energy of the brushstrokes, the weight of distortion, the silence in the negative space. These nuances are lost in reproduction but remain unforgettable in person.

Connection in Contemporary Culture

In contemporary art, originality is also about authenticity. Collectors tell me that owning an original work allows them to live with a piece of human expression, not just an image. It is this connection, personal, tactile, emotional, that makes original art irreplaceable.

A Timeless Truth

Digital culture expands access to art, but it cannot replace the intimacy of the original. Original art matters because it carries the presence of the artist, the texture of the hand, and the authenticity of a moment.