Beautiful art can transport you to Capri or Palm Springs through the image alone. The finished piece doesn't have to travel nearly as far. At The Picturalist, eligible Fine Art Prints, Designer Art Prints and framed artworks are produced in the country where they'll ultimately hang: Canadian orders through our Canadian production, American orders through our U.S. ateliers. That single choice removes a surprising amount of friction from buying art, whether you're a collector choosing one piece or a design firm specifying eighty.
Why Cross a Border the Art Doesn't Need to Cross
Buying art internationally used to be simple. Today it can mean international freight, customs and brokerage, currency exchange, potential tariffs, and the extra handling an oversized framed piece needs at a border. None of that changes the artwork. It just adds cost and uncertainty between selection and delivery.
"Nobody falls in love with a piece of art because of how smoothly it cleared customs, but they'll absolutely notice when it doesn't."
Roy Caro, The Picturalist
The Picturalist's North American production network sidesteps that step entirely for eligible work, producing close to the destination instead of shipping across it.
What This Means, Order by Order
For Canadian clients, eligible artwork is printed, framed and delivered within Canada, avoiding import duties, brokerage steps, international freight, and currency-conversion swings between specification and invoice. For American clients, eligible orders run through our U.S. ateliers and stay domestic. Neither client is asked to import a finished piece from the other's country. The logic runs the same whether the destination is Montreal or Miami, Toronto or New York.
Authentic Photography, Sourced Locally
This matters for iconic photography especially. The Picturalist is an authorized Getty Images Gallery partner for Canada and the U.S., with access to Slim Aarons, the Hulton Archive, and Getty's contemporary photographers, and is currently the only partner listed for Canada on Getty's international Where to Buy directory. Every official print ships with a Certificate of Authenticity, which matters when unauthorized Slim Aarons reproductions circulate widely online.
Six Reasons Local Production Holds Up Beyond Tariffs
Reduced cross-border costs. Domestic production removes tariffs, duties, brokerage, and international freight from the equation.
Fewer currency complications. Canadian clients pay in Canadian dollars, so a budget doesn't shift because an exchange rate moved.
Simpler shipping. Large, fragile, framed work travels a shorter, less complicated route.
More predictable timelines. Domestic delivery reduces the customs-clearance uncertainty that throws off an installer's schedule.
Easier communication. One producer, one point of contact, instead of coordinating several international suppliers.
Greater flexibility. Local production supports Bespoke Wall Art Solutions, from scale to framing to matting, decided with the specific wall in mind rather than a fixed import catalog.
Where the Difference Compounds
A single collector notices convenience. A hotel ordering 80 pieces, a condo development furnishing model suites and common areas, or a design firm outfitting several residences at once feels the difference at the level of a project budget: freight, brokerage, currency exposure and tariffs stop being inconveniences and become line items. The Picturalist's approach to Luxury Art Procurement and Turnkey Art Solutions is built for that scale: we help select the art, determine format and dimensions, coordinate framing, and produce within the destination market whenever the product allows.
"A design firm specifying eighty pieces doesn't have room for six unpredictable shipping timelines. Local production isn't a nice to have at that scale, it's the plan."
Roy Caro, The Picturalist
Explore the Slim Aarons Collection or the Getty Images Gallery to see what's available for local production, or review our Trade Program for Hospitality & Commercial for project-scale sourcing.
This is where a second set of eyes helps. Whether you're choosing one piece for a single wall or specifying artwork across a multi-room project, our art consultants will help you choose a layout, sizing, and framing that fit your specific walls, not a generic template.
Roy Caro, Founder of The Picturalist. Roy is the wall art expert at The Picturalist, where curated fine art and photography are chosen and framed to make a design project succeed: impact, refinement, and fit.
