r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Yea-you • 9h ago
Unsolved Can anyone read this?
This painting is at an auction. Size 20cm x 16 cm on cardboard. Anyone can date and translate what it says?
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/Yea-you • 9h ago
This painting is at an auction. Size 20cm x 16 cm on cardboard. Anyone can date and translate what it says?
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Jim_Caprice • 1h ago
Does anybody have any information? I must say, I really like the artwork.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Flimsy_Sherbert_326 • 13h ago
Hi everyone,
I’m trying to identify the artist of this small oil on panel (14 x 24 cm, in a gilt frame). It shows the Champs-Élysées looking towards the Arc de Triomphe, with pedestrians, café awnings and two cars. The cars suggest the mid-1930s.
The auction house catalogued it only as “French school, early 20th century”, so they could not read the signature either.
The signature is in the lower right corner: “Ch.” for Charles, then the surname. The paint has run and smudged there, so I can’t read it with certainty. It may start with “M”, and the end is lost under a dark spot and partly hidden by the frame. Close-up attached.
Does anyone recognise this signature, or know a painter of Paris street scenes named Charles with a similar surname? Any suggestions welcome.
Thank you!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/YogurtclosetMurky277 • 8m ago
Does anyone know who the artist is or has anyone ever seen this work before???
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/EducationalCod4546 • 14h ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/artiek4 • 4h ago
Original ink and watercolor, found among family sketches. It shows Vlacherna monastery and Pontikonisi (Mouse Island) at Kanoni, Corfu, and is captioned lower right 'Pontikonisi - Corfu'. The signature lower left looks like D. Keurt or Keunt to me, but I can't pin it down — reverse image search found nothing. Can anyone read the signature or recognize the artist? The back is blank except for ink indentations from the drawing. Any help appreciated.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Prize-Head2065 • 16h ago
Can’t find any information on it online, signed Robert Melville, it’s textured oil paint? Originally purchased in West Norwood (UK) 1970, purchased by myself last year in an antiques shop and I’m just hoping for more details about it
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Dry_Cable_2160 • 7h ago
Hi,
just sharing this artwork I found during renovation of a mid 60's ex housing commission home in Central Werribee, Vic, Australia in the hope of answering some questions about this mysterious item. The Art was found on 2 separate pieces of Masonite that were used as dry wall behind the old kitchen sink cupboards. I've checked the back and there is are no identification or markings, just masonite.
There are some aspects of this art that warrants research rather than to simply discard as renovation rubbish - Firstly, from my untrained eye, it looks to have been created by a skilled hand(?) This leads on to the painting surface used (which is industrially produced Masonite) and the age of the piece - I believe artists ceased using this product late 50's, maybe early 60's, due to warnings(?) The old cupboards that hid this item were definitely the old 60's cabinets - this would place the creation of the work, conservatively, in the period 1930 - 1960(?).
Lastly, there's the specific (and very obscure) theme of the work, which is the main thing that drives my intrigue. What strange beings do the skeletal remains depict? What are those weird pods that they are wrapped in and why the crosses in the background? Because it was obviously cut out of a bigger piece and there is no signature that I can see, my thoughts are that it served as some kind of Theatre or Carnival back drop(?)
Please note: Because there are 2 pieces cut out of a larger painting there is no Signature on either section.
I'm just hoping someone out there share's my intrigue and could possibly shed some light on what this image means and who would paint this?
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/ifyoulovesatan • 5h ago
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Grapefruitnebula7485 • 16h ago
Hoping the artist of these two paintings can be identified?
I was given these paintings in San Diego, CA, in 2006.
The only backstory I have is that the artist was male, died from a drug overdose sometime after these two paintings were finished. His best friend had been given thse after the artist's demise, by the artist's parents I believe, as they may have been childhood best friends. No I idea where the artist lived, only that his best friend had them while living in Ocean Beach, CA, in the same apartment complex as my boyfriend.
He was forced to get rid of them by his fiance, as one of the terms of getting married, and moving in with her...lol, add my boyfriend took them rather than see them go into the dumpster.
Both paintings have the same signature: a stylized alphanumeric logo, rather than a traditional signature.
CD 89 ART its what it looks like, with two sets of horizontal lines. I've tried reverse image search and other methods multiple times over the years.
The back of each painting is plain canvas, no writings or markings. Hey, may not have been a professional artist, the canvasses look like he used a staple gun to staple to the frame, have no supports, and the staples are not evenly spaced (sloppy).
Thanks in advance for any info :)
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/iwcusa • 16h ago
Hey everyone, I recently bought this oil painting from an antique market in the UK and would love some help identifying the artist, the title or even the era/style it might belong to. I was told it is from the 20’s or 30’s. It is oil on canvas and dimensions are 24” x 16”.
There is no sign or signature. Haven’t opened the frame to check on the back. Thanks for your time and expertise.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/ogitrev- • 9h ago
These are unfortunately the clearest images I have, the painting was lost with the sale of our childhood home. Google Lens/Yandex images/Tineye all yield nothing. I believe the painting was purchased somewhere from New England. Any help is much appreciated.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Firm_Pattern8951 • 13h ago
I have an artwork which I think is pastel and pencil/charcoal on toned paper. I don't know where it came from but is perhaps Scottish as this used to belong to a relative who loved Scottish artists. They also liked French art, too. There is nothing on the back so no clues there.
I can't figure out what the signature says or whether is it divided into three?
Any help at all would be much appreciated so I can understand a bit more about it. Thank you.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/No-Most9547 • 10h ago
Hi everyone,
I recently found these two pieces of art at a local community op shop (thrift store) in Morisset, Australia, and I’m trying to uncover more about their history and production context.
The bottom piece is a watercolor and ink work titled "Rencontres ouvrières en modes"(Working-Class Encounters in Fashion). It is explicitly signed and dated in the margin: "Pasquier à Paris, en 1805", which points directly to the French painter and illustrator Pierre Pasquier (1731–1806). The top piece is a matching scene showing a dress fitting ("La Toilette").
They were housed in older, gilded frames with brittle, completely crumbling brown paper backings and heavy water-staining on the outer boards. Thankfully, the backing boards absorbed all the moisture, keeping the art itself completely dry. The frames were held together by thick, hand-bent iron wire nails, suggesting they were framed around the 1880s–1920s and likely brought over to Australia by a European immigrant family or a serious collector.
A few highly interesting details I noticed after safely deframing them:
The paper edges are very brittle and crumbling right where they touched the acidic mat board.
There are faint graphite alignment lines.
Crucially, the top piece has original watercolor color-testing swatches and a trail of splotches running down the right margin.
Because of the color testing on the margins, I suspect these might be original preparatory drawings or workshop master proofs used by colorists to hand-tint print runs for a satirical journal or fashion publication like Le Bon Genre.
Does anyone have experience with 19th-century French satirical prints, fashion plates, or Pasquier's specific portfolio? I'd love to know if these are known plates in a museum collection or how rare these workshop color guides actually are.
Thanks in advance for any insights!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/doubled783 • 18h ago
Drawing framed by Alfred Stiles & Sons London- ID on Artist signature?
Bought in a charity shop in mid Devon UK
Struggling to identify the signature and who drew this, any tips or directions where to go and find out massively appreciated thanks.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/No_Tonight7369 • 16h ago
Found at an antique store in wealthy MN area.
It has a bird among flowering branches, with writing and a red stamp on the front. There’s also a stamp on the back.
I’d love to figure out where it’s from, if anyone can read the writing or identify the stamps, and if there’s any way to tell how old it is.
Any help or suggestions on where to look would be great.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Alive_Tough9928 • 14h ago
Hey guys, saw this in the background of a Brent Forrester video (ex Simpsons writer).
Is it a Hopper?
Can ye see why I think so??
Many thanks.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Dangerous_Emotion540 • 15h ago
Hello everyone! I am trying to gather information about the artist behind this antique painting.
* **Subject:** A traditional European harbor scene featuring a two-masted steamer and smaller boats, executed with a moody atmospheric palette.
* **Medium & Support:** Oil on a rigid panel with historical conservation patches on the back.
* **Signature:** It features a distinct monogram/signature in the lower left corner (looks like "H. d." or "M. d.") done in the same blue-grey tones as the water reflections.
* **Frame:** It comes in its original carved wooden period frame with fabric matting.
If anyone recognizes the monogram, the style, or the European school it might belong to, any insights or guidance would be deeply appreciated. Thank you so much!
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/earsofthebeholder • 1d ago
says below, “Artist Proof, Offerings II, Pikus” I think? Work has some gold leaf accents. Found in SF Bay Area.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Pure-Entertainment79 • 1d ago
I found these a couple years ago at a garage sale! I was wondering if anyone had any insight into who this artist is or even what these buildings are! I’d love to know :3c whoever drew these did such a beautiful job!!! I think 83 stands for 1983? So vintage? :33cc
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/cirancira • 2d ago
So recently a bunch of posts on reddit and tiktok and facebook or whereever have gone viral for this painting. It's apparently 'Death and the Girl' By Frans Van Kuyck.
The problem is that I can find nothing on it. The artist's wikipedia page doesn't even mention it. No actual museum website have a page on it either, the only mentions are social media posts within the last year.
I managed to find a version of it listed as 'the fleeting nature of life' on an auction site in 2012. But thats the only mention of it at all on the internet, and its clearly a different name. For a painting from probably around the turn of the 20th century and by a moderately notable artist, I find it strange.
Can anyone find an actual reputable source (museum, university etc) so I can find out what the real name is and if the attributed artist is correct? Or at least join me in the rabbit hole.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/InformalPlatypus1362 • 1d ago
I fell in love with this for the colors and composition. It looks like part of it is sticking to the glass. Can this be fixed without ruining the art? I do not have a picture of the back but if I remember, it is just paper.
r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Key_Confection_1027 • 1d ago
Hi! I bought this oil painting at a market in France. The seller told me it was from a artist school in Paris in the 1950s replicating the older impressionist style. I was wondering if anyone might have more information on the artist or what painting it was modeled on? I love the painting so I have no expectations, but it would be great to learn more!