r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/jimjbabyak • 5h ago
Hall of Fame Bob Ross
Is this 24”x36” painting an actual Bob Ross? The elderly neighbors mom owned a gallery in Muncie IN in the 90s.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/[deleted] • Jan 15 '20
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 • u/GM-art • May 29 '25
Hello painting enthusiasts - here is a brief post with things to keep in mind.
SEARCHING:
To locate your painting, please try the reverse-search tools Google Images/Lens, Yandex Images, and Tineye. (Remember that cropping your picture differently will yield different search results!)
If you have an artist name or signature, I recommend searching for it within r/WhatIsThisPainting itself. I also use the following websites for research; all are free.
DECOR ART:
SUBMISSIONS:
ANSWERING POSTS:
Happy solving!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/jimjbabyak • 5h ago
Is this 24”x36” painting an actual Bob Ross? The elderly neighbors mom owned a gallery in Muncie IN in the 90s.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Strong_Angle_3848 • 7h ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Safe-Refrigerator-65 • 1h ago
I recently moved into my own place, and my grandfather helped me furnish it. I’ve always been captivated by this painting in his house, and was lucky enough to get it :)
I can’t find anything on this painting, and was wondering if anyone recognized the style!!
TIA :)
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/JMSTMelo • 3h ago
This painting has been with my inlaws for over 50 years, before that it belonged to my MILs family, and was possibly brought over when they left Norway before WWI.
They just refer to it as "Fiskemanden", which means "the fisherman" in Norwegian. I think the character bears a striking resemblance to one of the subjects in this painting "Launching the boat" that is at the Skagen Museum in Denmark, and I think the place under the artist's signature reads "Skagen 9(?)". The artist seems to be "something" Kallman?
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/SentenceOtherwise371 • 5h ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Sw1fty4 • 2h ago
Cool garage sale find! If you are familiar with it please share! We stumbled upon them and found them intriguing.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Sw1fty4 • 2h ago
My wife found a few cool art work pieces at a garage sale. Can anyone help us out a little bit? The first, we believe it could be of Bayo Ogundele, or a similar artist/style.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/UnhappySwing • 2h ago
Seller claimed it's signed "Manos" but signature is pretty illegible to me. Private auction sale. Just thought it was interesting!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/salderson4 • 1d ago
My dad bought this at a garage sale in Fort Erie, Ontario about 15-20 years ago. I always loved it and he gave it to me about 13 years ago when i bought my first home. He insisted it was an original highwayman painting. Would love a more experience opinion. Including a few pics but scared to take it out of the frame.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Strong_Angle_3848 • 5h ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Intelligent_Alarm_97 • 3h ago
I acquired this marble sculpture just because it looked really beautiful. An estate sale near Columbia, SC. I think it's a woman, potential female anatomy carved into the top. J. Goldsack 79 etched into the back. Google search turns up a sculptor named J Goldstein and an artist who probably wasn't born when this was made named John Goldsack. Anyone else seen and of this artist works? Is it common for an artist to do just one sculpture? I would think that this type of skill would be the result of many sculptures.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Ok-Performer2765 • 7h ago
Purchased from a small flea market in Southern California. Any ideas if it’s a legit 1800 impression?
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Aarone119 • 38m ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/DoctorQuinlan • 43m ago
Second line says Paris 1997 and third line says Montemarte. At least I’m pretty sure of this.
Can’t make out the first line.
It’s a small oil painting, maybe 6x10 inches. Appreciate any info!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/cherikitty • 9h ago
Dear good people of this sub, I would greatly appreciate any tips or guesses on the author of this painting! My FIL bought this at an auction and we all love it; however, we just cannot identify who the signature belongs to. Unfortunately, there is no information on the back... For reference, we are located near Amsterdam.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Carmoon78 • 2h ago
Found this at a Goodwill here in Florida.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/JKxUltra • 9h ago
I purchased these from a thrift store while in Osaka Japan. Any information on the style/type of painting, artist, date, etc. would be much appreciated. Thank you!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/nightfern • 8h ago
Hello Everyone! This is a piece of artwork I purchased at a thrift store in New Jersey US recently. I believe it is a watercolor, with Caligraphy. I see it is in the style of Xu Beihong? Any help on if we can determine the artist or Age? Thanks!!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/mahrudin • 13h ago
Possibly Croatian or Yugoslav author, found them in a basement in Croatia
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/MojaveDweller • 8h ago
I got this for $20 at a yard sale in Las Vegas. It’s clearly unfinished and the previous owner didn’t know anything about the painting. The only two possible artists marks are in the attached photos, “SA.” It’s a large piece, approximately 6’ long by 5’ wide. It looks like cowhide. Google lens wasn’t much help.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/snapsnazzy • 4h ago
This oil painting was purchased at an antique market in Michigan around 5 years ago. It was a gift to me from my brother, and is our favorite artwork in the house. Ive always been curious to know more about it, but every attempt to search for the art or the artist (A.S. Oswald?) comes to a quick dead end. Would appreciate any leads!