I love it. No idea who painted. But it is about the size of a piece of paper and the frame is wooden and hand painted.

In fact my family doesn’t even want it hung. I got it from a junk shop in Perth Amboy NJ. All I know is that the “Brackman” listed on the back was probably an art teacher, and as it says, was in NYC. I tried searching both names but couldn’t find anything.

The signature seems to be Siyan or Sitan. I have not found anything online that has lead to any answers. I figured I would check here! Found in Pittsburgh, PA.

The previous owners left this in the attic. They moved in around 2007 and moved out in 2009. The owner before that was the original owner from 1946. We don’t know if it was there prior to 2007. We basically have left it alone for 15 years — except to turn it around to look at the back — figuring there is a chance her spirit would haunt us. There’s nothing on the back or front that indicates an artist. Obviously in pretty bad shape but wondering how old it may be or who it could possibly be.

I found this piece of art at Goodwill in Chester County Pa. I cannot figure out who the artist is but it looks like it’s from overseas. Please help me identify. I love this and I’m so happy I found it.

UPDATE: SOLVED. Please see this comment. This was fun, guys.

Original Post:

Confusing title, sorry. My late father left my niece a few specific art pieces in his will. We found them all, except the "book with seven seals." Nobody had a clue what he meant by that. When the company came to empty his house, my son grabbed the "paper weight" from my dad's desk and asked if he can keep it, because it looks cool. I finally counted the rivets and realized it is the book.

A bit more background:

1. Dad lived in Germany, and referred to it in German, "Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln." So the artist might be German.
2. I tried to find the hallmark (touchmark?) on a website I found through Google, but no luck.
3. The book is ferromagnetic and quite heavy (3.3kg), so I would assume it is folded iron.
4. There is no rust, and I don't think it is very old, no more than 40 years, but that's just a guess. it is definitely not younger than 3 years.
5. size is about 17cm x 12cm x 3.5cm (at the thicker end), weight about 3.3kg.
6. Posted it on r/Blacksmith, to no avail.

Any idea who made it?

Sorry for the delete and repost, haven't posted something with pictures in a while and was confused.

They said that it’s supposed to show the New York skyline in some way I’m not sure if you have to focus on it to be able to see it

This painting is at a hotel that I love, but there’s no plaque with its title. The artist signature appears to be “Harper”. It’s hung in a hotel, so I can’t post a picture of the back. Sorry for the glare- it was a sunny day.

****Solved! Thanks to @artillery_cat who was able to physically locate the records! My uncle’s (man in portrait) brother-in-law (Henry Davenport) ordered the frame from Carrig-Rohane. As my aunt was friends with both Edwin Dickinson and in the circle of Charles Hawthorne, it is likely it was one of those three! I’m leaning towards the brother-in-law Henry, although I cannot find portraits by him. In the same written record, Sargent is listed as picking up a frame on the same page. Small little art world circle it seems! Thank you everyone!

I’ve loved this painting of my great-uncle since I was a little girl and was finally given it a few years back. My great-grandfather’s brother was acquaintances of John Singer Sargent and owned one of his painting of Edwin Booth. The frame is carved by Murphy himself of Carrig-Rohane Shop in Boston in 1915, although I am unsure of the date it was my painted. When speaking with Vose Gallery (re: confirmed frame) they recommended I speak to the Smithsonian for further tracing. My uncle appears to be in his early twenties here and was born in 1890. There is no signature or date on the painting itself as I have read was common when paintings were done for friends. This painting came from New York City.

*****Update

Hey everyone, following up on my previous post about my great-great-uncle Paul Dana Ayrault’s unsigned 1915 portrait (housed in an authenticated Carrig-Rohane frame #1300B). The Smithsonian Records that are digitized begin at #1333. So, yes, the answer here might just be as simple as putting in an archives request :)

I’ve found some family history that connects three distinct social circles directly to the "elite" Boston and Provincetown art scenes of 1914–1915. I wanted to map these out to help narrow down potential artists:

---Provincetown Circle - his sister's portrait, my great-great-aunt (Kathrhyn Fitzhugh Ayrault Davenport) painted by Edwin Dickinson hangs in PAAM. Donated by my family after my grandmother's death. It used to hang right next to my uncle's.

"1914, Provincetown, MA, Oil on panel, 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm) Signed, dated, and inscribed upper right: E.W. Dickinson Inscribed: To Henry & Katherine [sic] Katherine was a Provincetown resident and was married to the artist Henry Davenport who studied in Provincetown under Charles Hawthorne."

Our family, the Ayraults, owned a home in Provincetown, MA during this time and were deeply enmeshed in the social circles here.

---Guy Ayrault Circle

Paul’s uncle, Guy Ayrault, was a long-time profressor at the elite Groton School in Massachusetts.Through Groton, Guy moved in America's highest political and social circles, was teacher of Theodore Roosevelt, lived in the Roosevelt White House, and taught the sons of the Northeast elite. Groton routinely commissioned high-end portrait artists to paint its faculty and benefactors. Furthermore, Guy personally owned an original oil sketch by John Singer Sargent and was known to associate with him and others in that circle.

---The Grace Ayrault & Dr. Malcolm Storer Circle (The Boston Art Leadership)

Paul’s aunt, Grace Ayrault, married Dr. Malcolm Storer and lived on Beacon Street in Boston.

Malcolm Storer was the Honorary Curator of Coins and Medals at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and a prominent member of the St. Botolph Club on Newbury Street. The St. Botolph Club and the Boston MFA were the absolute epicenters of the Boston School of Impressionism (don't need to tell y'all that!). Malcolm Storer drank, socialized, and worked directly alongside other trustees such as Frank Weston Benson and Hermann Dudley Murphy, the maker of Paul's Carrig-Rohane frame.

Given these three overlapping circles, the portrait's "crisper, light-filled vibe", different from Dickinson's moody portrait of my aunt, has me leaning in a new direction... those who circulated Boston high society and the Provincetown colony in 1914–1915ish

Charles Webster Hawthorne, Frank Weston Benson, Edwin Dickinson, John Singer Sargent (seeming less likely even though Guy owned his work). (Or a journeyman!)

My in-laws inherited some land with a mobile home on it in east Texas years ago. The house was given to them fully decorated and furnished by the previous owners.

This painting came with the house, and I admired it every time we visited. A few years ago, my MIL brought it to me as a gift, since I loved it so much.

Since I've had it, I've done what research I can on it. It appears to be an original oil on canvas, and the signature matches a fairly well-known Hungarian artist. I have poured through what I can find online about Bela Kontuly... but this painting doesn't appear anywhere in galleries or auctions of his works.

Could I have an unknown original, or was someone copying his later style and using his name?

I'm including photos of the front, back, signature, and gallery tag on the back of the canvas. I know very little about art collection and sales, and no idea where to even begin! I don't really want to part with the painting, but if it's a missing piece of work from a known artist, I'm sure someone out there would like to know it exists.

Any advice?

Neighbor wants to sell this to me, thing is massive like 6 feet tall. Seems to be an oil painting? She said her friend who has passed away painted it.

Mods, I dont have a photo of the back as its really big and my dad already hung it up. Im sorry! But i think this is really pretty and seems special

Found in Upstate New York 10+ years ago. I am unable to read the artist’s name (Ahtcher? Antcher?) and reverse image search comes up with nothing. There is nothing on the back.

Personally, I think it’s a hidden gem. A neighbor who does estate sales gave it to us. No signature or other markings I could find. Back is covered in brown wrapping paper. Location: New Orleans, LA

My mother-in-law found these recently at a Goodwill in Chicago. Unfortunately that's really all the info we have.

We've been going back and forth on the name, but there's slight differences in the signatures.

WhatIsThisPainting?

The original was ultra dark and moody and painted in a very realistic style.

I’m hoping someone here enjoys a good art mystery because I’ve completely hit a wall with this one.

I’m in London and have this old framed print of a zebra behind bars. There’s a faint pencil signature and date underneath, but despite staring at it for far too long and doing a lot of searching, I still can’t confidently work out what the name says or who the artist is.

I’ve also asked around elsewhere without getting a definite identification, so I thought this might be exactly the sort of thing Reddit is weirdly brilliant at solving.

I’m deliberately not posting any of the possible artist names that have been suggested to me, because I don’t want to influence anyone’s reading of the signature.

I’ve included:

• the whole artwork
• a close-up of the signature/date
• the back of the frame
• measurements

The main things I’d love to figure out are:
What does the signature actually say? Who is the artist? And does anyone recognise the image?

Even a lead would be amazing. At this point I’m mostly just determined to solve the mystery 😅

Thanks!

I don't know where it came from, and the other side of it is just the same picture. Obviously, it's a colored sketch of a cat wearing a cape flying over a city. It's been in my family likely since before I was born (1988) and I would like to know more about it and the artist. I can't really read the name that well (BK something?).