As one of many first girls to cowl shopper electronics again within the Nineteen Nineties, I’ve all the time checked out expertise from a barely totally different angle. It could appear clichéd, however the reality is that ladies are inclined to care extra about issues like design and feng shui (along with image high quality, I’d add). And lots of of them have rather a lot to say about what hangs on the wall in sure household properties. Which is why Samsung’s The Body TV has been on my record of favourite issues since I glimpsed it again in 2017.
Like lots of the finest TVs, Samsung‘s The Body is a QLED 4K tv. When not taking part in your favourite reveals, films or streaming movies, it doubles as a realistic-looking piece of artwork. The Body TV is flanked by magnetized, snap-on bezels that resemble an image body, and, despite the fact that this area of interest system goes for a premium value, it’s beloved by all ranges of design aficionados, regardless of the gender (much more so when it’s on sale for main tentpole holidays).
But, as a lot as I covet the 65–inch 2022 The Body at the moment hanging in my lounge, what I didn’t anticipate was how obsessed I’d develop into with its lesser-known companion digital subscription service, the Samsung Artwork Retailer.
The easy platform, constructed into The Body TVs and now additionally obtainable for all Samsung 2025 QLED and Neo-QLED TVs, permits you to browse and select from over 3,000 totally different works, then show your alternative on the TV for as little or so long as you need. Although there’s a free model, which supplies entry to 30 totally different Samsung-chosen artworks every month, I’ve no drawback plunking down the $50 per 12 months (or $5 per 30 days) for the complete assortment. And for anybody able to bemoan yet one more charge so as to add to your rising subscription dunghill, I’m right here to inform you that it’s completely well worth the value.
The Artwork Retailer is straightforward sufficient to make use of, both immediately in your TV or in your telephone. The best option to entry the platform is to click on the Dwelling button on the distant and scroll to the Artwork emblem on the left aspect of the display. As soon as there, you possibly can browse the thoughtfully organized artwork at your leisure. If you happen to’d quite use your cell Samsung SmartThings app, simply choose your The Body from the record of linked units, click on that very same emblem, and begin looking. And, in case you have been questioning, the expertise doesn’t change if you’re utilizing it on a non-Body TV.
Artwork for artwork’s sake
It doesn’t matter what sort of connoisseur you might be, the Samsung Artwork Retailer has one thing for everybody. From well-known names and classics, like Basquiat and Monet, to Coby Cobb’s majestic images, to design companions like Liberty of London, the scope you’ll discover right here is extraordinary — due in no small half to the gathering’s curator, Daria Greene. Greene began working with Samsung in 2022 and made a degree of discovering a greater option to arrange and editorialize the over 4,000-work assortment for simpler viewing. This, she believes, is what finest drives engagement.
“For me, it’s the concept that you may take the largest actual property in your lounge and alter its worth,” Greene says. “If we embed artwork into folks’s day by day way of life and decision-making, it needs to be like placing Spotify on and deciding what track you are within the temper for. And what evokes you within the morning would possibly change by the night. However we want to have the ability to curate, with sufficient content material and with a cadence and thoughtfulness that lets shoppers discover how they’ll have a private relationship with artwork, all whereas altering how they really feel about that black gap on the wall.”
And engaged I’m. There are days I sit in entrance of my TV and flick by means of dozens of artworks to search out what I’m connecting with at that second. Typically it takes a couple of minutes, however there are occasions I’ll lookup and understand I’ve been sitting there for an excellent a part of an hour. And particularly with screens over 55 inches, it might really feel like your individual private gallery exhibiting.
What you get
Discovering the right piece of artwork on your temper will be difficult, particularly with such a lot of works to select from. Greene’s curations are a wonderful option to be extra conscious about your picks, and most customers will begin their journey in the primary space, which is pushed to the highest of Artwork Retailer.
Right here you’ll discover roughly 4 to 5 totally different collections, that are adjusted each few weeks. That is my favourite a part of the expertise as a result of not solely can it’s organized by thrilling new artists, however you’ll additionally discover issues like newly acquired works, international museums, artwork reveals like Artwork Basil, and even by extra primary groupings, like seasons, shade, and even holidays.
The week I write this, I’ve joyfully been looking by means of the Fall assortment, and have most likely switched out my artwork at the least 5 instances in per week. I swing from nonetheless life work to fantastically shot photographs to the extra summary or surreal pictures. Proper now, each is bursting with the altering autumn colours, however I do know that in only a few weeks, Halloween will kick in, and I’ll get an entire new choice to toggle by means of. In actual fact, vacation collections are one thing I by no means imagined I’d take pleasure in as a lot as I do, and Greene says I’m not alone.
“We now have three totally different Halloween collections this 12 months. And I believe that sort of factor was a shock to some of us right here at Samsung once I determined to only mess around and see what occurs if I put a Christmas tree up. You understand, Halloween as a substitute of a Monet,” she says. “And as engagement began to climb, we noticed that we would have liked to broaden our definition of what artwork is, proper? It is scary for somebody who comes from the artwork world, but additionally thrilling.”
Under that, you’ll discover rows of much more curated collections, which could open your thoughts to extra adventurous works. Certain, you’ll all the time have entry to the likes of the Masters, however then you will discover extra playful classes like Books Depicted in Artwork, Now or Nevermore, Love is within the Air or Into the Wild.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve gotten utterly pulled into these every now and then. As an avid museum goer, I just lately determined to peek out of my consolation zone of work and dig deeper into The Artwork Retailer’s images assortment, focusing much more particularly on figurative photographs. It’s been an actual hoot shocking my household with new pictures each few days, and I’m studying extra about what makes me comfortable.
You’ll additionally be capable to personalize your artwork with 5 totally different matting choices in 16 colours. I particularly recognize this characteristic as a result of it provides that much more lifelike contact. Nonetheless, up till my current interview with Greene, I used to be annoyed by how the bevel matting I selected would persistently cowl over elements of my artwork, quite than resize the work to suit.
“I all the time select the final one in that row, which is a float, not a bevel. It preserves the precise form and integrity of the paintings,” Greene reveals. “If you happen to select to bevel, you are going to lose edges and corners, particularly within the extra panoramic ones. However once I use a mat in my house, it is all the time the float choice. And it form of creates a shadow impact, prefer it’s sitting on high, but preserves the precise dimension of the paintings we’re confined to. So, yeah, [if you do go with the bezel] as a substitute of taking the paintings and sizing it in order that the mat goes round it, it simply goes over it.”
And similar to that, I obtained an entire new matting impact with out dropping any edges. You’re welcome.
What to learn about digital artwork
The Body was actually a primary within the new and thrilling class of art-forward TVs, with different firms like TCL, LG and Hisense following go well with and providing variations of their very own. However although you’ll be capable to wow your mates, neighbors and household with its lifelike paintings and neat snap-on frames, some options may use some enchancment.
My largest drawback has all the time been the shortcoming to go looking. Sure, there’s a common search operate on the Samsung Tizen OS, which you will discover by hitting the magnifying glass icon on the left aspect of the TV. Nonetheless, that is for all the pieces on the TV, together with apps, TV reveals, and films. Once I sort in Monet, as an illustration, I get a number of hits, together with a TV present known as Monet X Change; a film known as Water Lilies of Monet, after which a collection of 40 items of artwork. Once I requested Samsung about this, I used to be informed that “my be aware had been taken and handed alongside.”
The realism of a number of the digital artwork is one other criticism. Relying on what I’m displaying and the brightness of the room, a picture can resemble a true-to-life paintings, or it might appear to be a gaudy backlit picture. I’m nonetheless utilizing a 2022 model of The Body, which was the primary mannequin to supply the wonderful matte anti-reflection display. And although that does assist cut back glare and make the displayed artwork look extra lifelike, it gained’t absolutely compensate for the way in which surfaces, paint and light-weight work together on an actual portray. In fact, a number of the enjoyable is toggling by means of all the pieces to see which appears finest in your specific setting.
And lastly, to the above level, I can’t converse to the variations within the 2025 The Body Professional. In line with TechRadar editors who had an opportunity to see this new Professional subsequent to the traditional The Body, the native dimming and added brightness is a “recreation changer” with regards to including extra vibrant, lifelike colours. The most recent fashions embody 4K UHD decision, a 120Hz refresh fee, the Samsung Imaginative and prescient AI processor and a brand new Wi-fi One Join Field for a cable-free set up.
The artwork of The Body
The truth that The Body TV can fill an area that straddles tech and way of life has all the time been a shiny spot for me as a tech reviewer. And having the ability to inform those that the beautiful piece of artwork on my wall is actually my tv by no means will get previous. However the means to additionally use it as a private artwork gallery was not one thing I anticipated to welcome so wholeheartedly, and it’s good to know Samsung is taking the curation of its works so severely. I stay up for seeing what it has in retailer for us sooner or later.
