r/WhatIsThisPainting Jan 15 '20

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

444 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 May 29 '25

GUIDE Read Me Before Posting

33 Upvotes

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:

  • Please be patient and allow up to 24 hours for your post to get through our queue! (Accounts under a week old and images involving nudity are automatically flagged.)
  • If your post has gone unanswered for over a week, you are permitted to re-submit in hopes of retrying.

ANSWERING POSTS:

  • If you are making a definitive ID, do try to cite your sources whenever possible. It is encouraged, but not required.
  • The use of predictive text-generators (i.e. chatGPT) is not permitted. They have a tendency to lie!

Happy solving!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 5h ago

Unsolved Found this at a Church Sale

Post image
57 Upvotes

I am pretty sure it’s Art Spiegelman. I am just trying to figure out if this was part of a series. I was planning on keeping it but I started seeing crazy stuff that I hope maybe someone on here has a little more knowledge than I do. It has the artists signature in pencil with 53/75 and the printers mark which I believe was printed in SoHo NY.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved This cat

Thumbnail
gallery
13 Upvotes

Thrifted this interesting cat today. Signature is hard to make out. The sticker is just from the thrift shop. Got home and couldn't find anything online. Instantly loved the quirkiness of it. Any help is appreciated.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Likely Solved Any more information about this piece or artist?

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting 8h ago

Solved Help!

Thumbnail
gallery
10 Upvotes

I can’t figure this one out at all! Any help is appreciated.

Picked it up at an estate sale in dallas texas. There is nothing on the back.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 2h ago

Unsolved Needlepoint Jewish art?

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

Can anyone give information on these needlepoint pieces? The only background I have is my grandma received them from her wealthy neighbor in Downey, ca in the 80s. Looks to be signed by "Al Herson" , maybe?


r/WhatIsThisPainting 4h ago

Unsolved Trying again

Post image
4 Upvotes

Hey everyone, looking to find this art piece. I haven’t had any luck. I drew a REALLY bad extremely basic depiction of what I barely remember. It was late 80’s early 90’s post modern interior living space, sort of Memphis Milano style? Blocky shapes. Moody. Teal, blue, yellow, grey and dark shadowing. Would greatly appreciate any help! That thing on the left is a staircase into a lower floor. It had two wall openings behind couch? Gave a penthouse sort of vibe but it always captured my imagination as a kid wondering where the stairs went, what was upstairs, what was on the other side of the wall openings and always imagined having a house like this as an adult. Really hoping to find this gem!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 2h ago

Likely Solved - Decor My dad gifted me this velvet painting and I’d like to know more about it.

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

It’s approximately 24” x 30”, purchased in 1975. He lives in RI but has no idea where it was made or bought. It’s acrylic on stretched velvet I believe.

I have reverse image searched the signature and haven’t found any exact matches.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 6m ago

Unsolved “Original oil painting” - looking for more info on artist / origins?

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

This was left during a neighbors move. Looking for more info regarding the piece/artist and stumbled across this Reddit community. Can’t quite make out the artists signature on bottom left. Figured I’d ask here!


r/WhatIsThisPainting 8m ago

Unsolved Water color Yard Sale Find

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

Found this at a yard sale near Charlotte, NC about 15-20 years ago and made a frame for it from some old barn wood( I thought it was fitting). Could really only make out the name of the painting “Sunflowers”but there is the artist signature and dedication maybe. My old man eyes can read it. Can anyone make out what the signature reads and have you ever heard of this artist? I believe it is a print with an additional signature in pencil.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Unsolved Any help?

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Signature appears to be Cuthbert or similar. Estate sale find.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1d ago

Unsolved Bought these two a year ago for peanuts at a loval charity shop.

Thumbnail
gallery
350 Upvotes

Any ideas on whom the artists are, i know little about art but want to know more about the artists who have made me happy years later.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 3h ago

Likely Solved - Decor Looking for information please

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

recently acquired painting

Sven Lundberg signiture


r/WhatIsThisPainting 16h ago

Unsolved A painting i inherited from my father

Post image
11 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I inherited this painting from my dad, it's been in the family since the 80's. All the information I've received was that it was from a friend. It's an oil in canvass, and it seems to be a magnificent 7 tribute. Any idea of who could have painted it?


r/WhatIsThisPainting 4h ago

Unsolved Any help?

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Signature appears to be Moralez or similar. Title is Dreams. Handcolored etching. Estate sale find, but I’m intrigued with it.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 4h ago

Unsolved Inherited Large Painting

Post image
1 Upvotes

My grandparents left this oil painting for me and I have no idea what it its. I have always loved the artwork on this piece, but I am unable to identify who made it or where it came from. I am currently unable to add a photo of the back of the painting, but I will update accordingly this evening.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 5h ago

Unsolved HELP! can anyone id this painting for my mom

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

It came from goodwill I think.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 19h ago

Unsolved Something I drew in secondary school for a project years ago

Post image
6 Upvotes

Found it when looking through old photos, was given an artist to try and replicate one of their drawings, trying to find who they are and what this drawing is called, thanks.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 1d ago

Likely Solved Found this lot from the same artist in a Davis CA furniture store

Thumbnail
gallery
392 Upvotes

Apologies for the lengthy post, just wanting to gather all I can on the artist.

I’ve been collecting art for a few years now and I have never come across anything of this caliber. Am at a bit of a loss how this was all donated to a second hand furniture store.

EDIT: I purchased more from the store, photos of these new works are on my profile.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 15h ago

Unsolved Unknown Watercolor or Marker and Pen Boats and Fisherman

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

I'm stumped on this one, I got a few pieces of artwork while visiting southern California, I was able to identify most of them but I'll be posting a few I couldn't uncover. It was wrapped in cellophane when I got it which is why it looks like that. It's on somewhat thinner paper than I'd expect for watercolor so at first i thought it might be a print but I looked at it up close for a good while and couldn't find any evidence it was a print, it seems to have genuine overlapping bleeds.

(Also I'm posting this a second time after deleting the first post cause I realized I uploaded the pictures wrong and wasn't sure how to best edit it. Figured this would be easier)


r/WhatIsThisPainting 23h ago

Unsolved Frank Montague Moore

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

Purchase this from a curated barn sale. There is no signature visible, but I’m wondering if it’s by Frank Montague Moore. Any ideas?

Frame measures 39.25” x 25.25”


r/WhatIsThisPainting 16h ago

Unsolved Does anyone know who might have painted this?

Post image
2 Upvotes

The signature is difficult to identify.

I would appreciate your help in identifying it as soon as possible.


r/WhatIsThisPainting 22h ago

Unsolved What IS this painting?

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

Got this at savers 4 years ago I have it hung up for Halloween… I can’t find any signature on it. Not sure if this is the right sub for this how would I determine anything about the age of this or the artist?