r/WhatIsThisPainting Jan 15 '20

GUIDE What is a Decor Painting? How do I know if I have one?

396 Upvotes

What is a “decor painting”?

A decor painting is a piece of artwork created purely for decorative purposes. Purchased not from galleries or artists, but from decor & furniture shops like Pier 1, Homesense, The Brick, websites like AliExpress and OilPaintings.com or from markets & stands on vacation. Tell-tale signs that you have a decor painting are lots of stippling, undefined figures, hurried brush strokes, gradients, cloning techniques and a certain Bob Ross feeling to it.

Common vintage subjects would be European street scenes, landscapes of mountains / forests / lakes & rivers, vases of flowers, Tuscan landscapes, ocean & beach scenes and Asian style boats. See below for examples. They are often rectangular in shape to hang nicely above a sofa, you could even buy them from Sears as a package. Modern versions are more varied in subject.

Black velvet paintings and artwork specifically for tourists as souvenirs share many factors with decor paintings.

Where are they made?

They are produced in massive numbers in painting factories like Dafen Village in China or Mexico. Another article here:

Dafen once produced an estimated 60 percent of all the world’s oil paintings. During its heyday—when the village’s reputation as an art factory rang truer than today—it almost exclusively cranked out copies of paintings in the Western art canon. These canvases found their way into hotel rooms, show homes, and furniture outlets all around the world.

At its peak, Dafen was jam-packed with sizeable, factory-like studios, all employing Huang’s production line process. Individual workers each focused on a specific compositional element—background details, or eyes, or trees—dutifully painting their part and then passing the canvas along the chain.

Who’s the Artist?

While they are "originals" they are not by known artists. Often entire production lines will use the same signature which explains why your research many have founds pieces by the same “artist”. As quoted above, often many people will work on the same piece.

Do they have any value?

Unfortunately, they do not hold much of any value. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t be enjoyed and some are even a bit collectible.

Can I see some examples?

Decor paintings are posted to this sub almost daily, while not definitive, here are some common examples:

Landscape Paintings: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5, Example 6, Example 7

European Street Scene Paintings: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5, Example 6, Example 7

Vases of Flowers: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3 more coming soon...

Beach, Ocean & Boat Paintings: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5, Example 6, Example 7, Example 8,

Other Miscellaneous Vintage Decor Paintings: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4

Modern Decor Paintings: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5, Example 6

Black Velvet & Souvenir Pieces: Example 1, more coming soon...

Please let me know if you see any room for improvement on this post or would like to include other examples. Thank you!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved Northern California landscape purchased at a Berkeley estate sale

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Can't quite make out the signature.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Any clue what this piece is? Thank you

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7 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 43m ago

Unsolved What is this painting depicting? Signed MC Churchill or M Churchill.

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I’m more interested in what the scene actually is than who painted it, as I don’t believe it’s from a well known artist. It’s just perplexing to me…maybe trash on fire in front of a burning building??


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Painting signed by "André"- anyone know who painted this?

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6 Upvotes

We found this piece at an antique store and fell in love. The man who sold it to us only had a guess that it was painted in the 1930s or 40s. The signature is "André" in all uppercase at the bottom right, on the dress. We'd love to know who this artist was!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved I was left this piece and I'm trying to decipher the signature. Usa

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The person who left me this piece had a collection of moderately valuable art. I know it doesn't necessarily mean much but someone apparently spent some money having it matted and framed. Any help would be appreciated.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 2h ago

Unsolved Forest painting

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3 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 32m ago

Unsolved Found this at an Antique store in Maine

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Signed D. White


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Any ideas?

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3 Upvotes

Found it at a thrift store. It’s pretty beat up but I loved it. Just wondering if someone can identify anything about it!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Solved Help identifying artist?

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r/WhatIsThisPainting 23h ago

Unsolved How do I tell if it’s an original?

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118 Upvotes

My grandmother passed away and I have a ton of stuff I'm going through. I've researched this and it's called "Cedars by Moonlight" by James D. Smillie. 1878. My question is how do I tell if it's an original? Wondering if it's a possibility because of what's written on back. The text on the image appears to say: (which was generated by google ai) “Cedars & Stone Rock Moonlight Original Sketch by James D. Smillie No one has touched this 20 proofs were taken by us before No 4. Then the plate D Appleton & Co - Etched ??? “ I purchased a loop and there are no dots. (I realize that's not alwavs a tell tale sign ). I've included 2 pictures of looking through the loop. Any input would be appreciated. Sheri / SmilinShosh


r/WhatIsThisPainting 5h ago

Unsolved Chalk pastel on canvas, signed?

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3 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Does anybody know who painted this rock?

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2 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Watercolor. Framed. Found in goodwill

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2 Upvotes

Been here for a few weeks. Can’t find anything on it on web. Someone framed it.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved An abstract print singed illegible do you know the artist

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2 Upvotes

Trying to find out more about the artist of the print or watercolor


r/WhatIsThisPainting 15m ago

Unsolved Trying to Find More Work From Artist

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I'm trying to find out how to buy work from an artist I saw at an open house. I zoomed into a picture I took while touring the house, so I can't make out the signature... Does anyone recognize this work or know the artist??


r/WhatIsThisPainting 16m ago

Unsolved Curious about an inherited autograph book

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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it's worth a try. This book, which seems like an autograph book, was on my grandparents shelf forever. I believe it has been passed down from family and was owned by a relative who went to art school in the 1890s. We live in British Columbia, Canada, but family came here from Scotland and England. The front of the book says "Brunswick" as the location. I was fascinated by this book growing up and would always look through it. When my grandparents died, it came to be in my possession. It is filled with random sketches, drawings, and poems that are signed and dated. Most are from 1890-1899. I assume they are all just lovely amateur drawings, but am curious if anyone recognizes any of the signatures. It's a treasure to me regardless, I've just been interested in trying to find out more about any of the people who contributed to it. Also if anyone can point me to a resource for how to best care for it! It's been sitting on a shelf forever and I would love to ensure that I preserve the pages the best I can.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 4h ago

Unsolved A painting of people in Central Park unsigned

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2 Upvotes

I am trying to find out more information about this painting or possibly artist


r/WhatIsThisPainting 27m ago

Unsolved Thrifted and looking for some information on this Franco piece

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Nothing is written on the back.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 31m ago

Unsolved Copy of Robert Baitman's painting?

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Bought this in 2000s, not expensive. I think it is pretty well done (thought not precise) - the question is - why would someone copy only a portion of Robert Bateman's painting and put it into such an elaborate frame? And can anyone recognize this signature?


r/WhatIsThisPainting 42m ago

Unsolved Clowns, W Angel

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My mum has always had this hung in the house and we were always curious about it. From what we can make out, signature is W Angel. It looks to be on hardboard. There’s a stamp on the rear but this has faded.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1d ago

Solved I was in a church in France. It had very weird paintings.

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115 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved Uknown

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Love to know more


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved Sr McMilla, O.R 1935 or 55?

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My grandpas old painting, curious as to what it is!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved Rothko-esque

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Didn’t include the pic in my last post, but this is at an art collector’s home. They’re too old to be able to tell me who the artist is.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1h ago

Unsolved Can't turn anything up on this one. Help 🤞

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It was important to someone at some point but I can't find anything.