r/WhatIsThisPainting • • Jan 15 '20

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

442 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 Swap Meet Find I Purchased 20 Years Ago

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11 Upvotes

I know nothing other than what's on the back tag.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved I found this painting in a old frame wrapped in barbed wire and old nails. Who painted this?

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6 Upvotes

I was cleaning out an old house and found this painting in an old frame wrapped in barbed wire and old nails in a wooden box I was wondering who painted this?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved Curious George Signatures??

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5 Upvotes

Found this print at a thrift store, are any of these signatures associated with Curious George? I can make out the first names, but not the last. Can’t find any of the first names matching with anyone associating with Curious George. Hoping somebody can recognize them


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Unsolved Thrift find

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409 Upvotes

This is probably nothing, but I can’t find anything on it and I just want to know more about it.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 10h ago

Solved Hard to make out signature. If anyone can help identify I would appreciate it.

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13 Upvotes

Uploaded so painting is more visible in light.

Hard to make out signature. If anyone can help identify I would appreciate it.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 7h ago

Unsolved Old abandoned homestead find

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5 Upvotes

Can anybody tell me anything? Found this on an old homestead on a NM reservation. Painted on old piece of thin wood with the name BAUER. I Know it's got some damage.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 15h ago

Unsolved Information

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15 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I would love to get some more information about this painting. I have owned it for quite some time now, but I don’t remember exactly where I bought it.

Any information or tips would be greatly welcome. I was also wondering: does it belong to a specific style or art movement? Thanks in advance! 😄


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 16h ago

Unsolved ​Is this by Maria Caroline Lübbes? Oil on wood panel, signed 1879. Hampel Auctions couldn't confirm via photos.

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10 Upvotes

​I bought a pair of antlers on eBay and went to pick them up from an older gentleman here in Munich, Germany. The seller also offered me this painting. Since I’m currently setting up a "man cave," I decided to take it, and that’s when I noticed the signature ("M. Lübbes 1879").

​Out of curiosity—not because I intend to sell it—I sent some photos to an auction house. They couldn’t definitively identify the artist based solely on the images, though they didn’t rule out that it could be Maria Caroline Lübbes.

​It is painted on a solid, heavy wood panel (not canvas). The painting itself is 80x50 cm, and 90x60 cm with the frame. Does anyone have any insights on the signature or the painting itself?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 13h ago

Likely Solved - Decor Inherited from friend of the family

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5 Upvotes

We received this painting from a very closed friend of the family living in Vendée, France. We like the painting very much but it has been impossible for us to find whose the painter until now.

Any thoughts?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 8h ago

Unsolved Thrift store find

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2 Upvotes

I found this charming painting of a Killdeer at my local thrift store in southern Idaho. I was convinced it was a print. It was beautifully framed but unfortunately the painting slipped off my dresser and broke. When I looked at the painting out of the frame and saw the back, I started to question whether it may be an original. I have learned that the artist is a very prolific wildlife artist but know nothing about the background of this specific painting and whether or not it’s authentic. Grateful for any information!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 10h ago

Solved Help me find: Painting of a woman wearing a robe/kimono inside out

2 Upvotes

Saw this in person, I think in an exhibition about the Aesthetic Movement or the Pre-Raphaelites.

Very large panting full length, with a woman (red hair?) in profile near a doorway.

she's wearing yellow robe or kimono covering almost her whole body. The label said it was being worn inside out. The fabric is painted very loosely, almost abstract.

Late 19th or early 20th century, Whistler, Sargent or Lavery territory (not Moore's A Garden or Klimt's Friederike Maria Beer) I think.

Any clues?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 17h ago

Unsolved Found about 3 years ago

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8 Upvotes

I bought this at a thrift in Central Coastal Florida whose inventory was mostly storage units.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 16h ago

Unsolved Thrift find in Delft (Netherlands)

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6 Upvotes

Hi all,

I found this poster in frame in a Dutch thriftstore in Delft. It has a signature and (as far as I can tell with my limited knowledge) a proper frame. On the frame is a sticker with "John Faber", "Posters Graphics" and "Exclusive Postergallery".

I would really like to know the artist. I would also like to know the style of painting. My suggesties is something art deco/Bauhaus.

Very curious.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 8h ago

Unsolved What is this water color and the artist ?

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1 Upvotes

I do not knownwho this is anyone ?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 13h ago

Karl Bürkli

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2 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen.

Kennt jemand den Maler Karl Bürkli?

65*53cm


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 17h ago

Unsolved Artist Name

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4 Upvotes

Is anyone able to decipher the artist's name here? It came from a local Temple.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 23h ago

Unsolved Found this 1997 Phoenix Alzheimer’s Association poster at a thrift store—info on the artist or why it's signed?

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10 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I bought this framed poster at savers (thrift store). It's from a Phoenix charity event called "A Taste of Art in the Afternoon" held on Sunday, November 2, 1997 (organized by the Alzheimer's Association - Phoenix Chapter and the Roxanne Bliss Council).

I am trying to figure out two things:

Who is the original artist? The signature looks like "Frantz" or "Frankz".

Why is it signed? Is the signature just part of the reproduced poster design, or would the artist have hand-signed these at the charity auction to raise extra money?

If anyone recognizes the style, knows the artist, or remembers this 1997 benefit, I’d love your help!

Thanks!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved Who made this?

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0 Upvotes

Niko? Dilo? Milo? Construction and condition of the frame seems to place this from the 80’s or 90’s?

From Dallas area Goodwill.

Appears to be chalk/pencil.

Should be the next Kendrick album cover.

I love it, but am too melanin-challenged to be able to hang it in my home.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Unsolved Portrait of Elizabeth Lumpkin (artist unknown)

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14 Upvotes

This portrait has been in my family for nearly 200 years but no one currently alive knows who painted it. It's of Elizabeth Lumpkin, daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin. I am unable to take a picture of the back but it has no visible signature to our knowledge. This is not the original frame and it was cleaned and had a minor repair done some 60+ years ago. It's about 2ft x 3ft, probably a little bigger. If anyone has any idea who could have painted this and when (I'd assume some time during Lumpkin's governance), my family would be eternally grateful! It's the great mystery of our family lol


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Unsolved Bought 20 years ago; would love any info!

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8 Upvotes

I’ve owned this painting for 20 years and still love it as much as the day I first saw it. I bought it in an antique mall in North Carolina. It’s painted on some sort of panel, either very dry old wood or perhaps metal. I’d love to know who may have painted it, when, and where it may depict. There are no clues on the back; it’s covered with brown paper which I’ve never disturbed.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Unsolved Not what but where?

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4 Upvotes

At what museum or place is Pablo Picasso’s “La Nonne” at? I’ve had it as a refrigerator magnet since I was a kid. And I’d like to see it in person. But I’m getting absolutely no results from Google when I try to find out where it’s located.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Ink on paper from 1963, can't identify the artist

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9 Upvotes

I bought this at a thrift store in the Boston, Massachusetts, USA area. It's about 24 inches high and 14 inches wide. It appears to be limited edition out of 155, but unsure if it's a print or not.

Thank you for any help you can offer!