Why should my artist website have a minimalist design?

Art galleries and museums worldwide all look the same—art on white walls (sometimes brick or stone) with lighting and nothing else to distract from the work. This is the proven paradigm for how art is meant to be viewed and purchased, established over centuries. Your website should follow this same minimalist principle. Artists often fail by trying to be creative with colors, fonts, bells, whistles, sliders, and music because they understand composition and want to be artistic. But this ‘new’ approach fails—it would be a miracle if anyone actually saw the art through all those distractions. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the proven museum-gallery aesthetic that everyone knows and accepts.

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Asked by artists designing their website · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2026-03-12