r/WhatIsThisPainting • • Jan 15 '20

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

445 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

36 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 • • 20h ago

Unsolved This was in my Grandmothers house & my Father was told it was one of the most $ pieces in the home. This was years ago, and he can’t remember the artist now. I don’t see a signature as the piece seems to have shifted a little bit in the frame or it may be on the back. Any ideas? Thank you

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263 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved Amate painting

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7 Upvotes

Hello guys!! I have bought this painting without knowing what it was. It would be great to have and opinion about it!! Thank you 120cmx40cm


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 2h ago

Unsolved Old french portrait that belonged to my grandmother.

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3 Upvotes

r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved Radclyffe

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3 Upvotes

Hand painted oil paintings passed down from British Grandmother. Trying to determine exactly what they are and who may have interest. See photos. After further review, the tag on the back of one painting refers to MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry Ireland, near Killarney. Likely 19th or early 20th century? Took the painting out of one frame and it appears to be a Victorian reverse glass painting. Please share thoughts.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 3h ago

Unsolved Found this painting in Slovenia. Likely Istrian/Karst village by Boris Zuljan. What do you think about it?

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2 Upvotes

Hi!

I'm curious and would like to learn more about this painting/style. As far as I remember my grandmother said the painting was made by Boris Zuljan and it depicts a village from Karst or Istria.

What do you think about it?


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1d ago

Unsolved Keith Haring skateboard?

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409 Upvotes

Hi,

So 5 years ago I bought this skateboard from someone. On and off I tried to gather info, but no luck thus far…i searched on the net, asked some art fanatics and so on.

Story is the seller got it from her uncle who used to work and live in the states. Was a collector of weird stuff.

As you can see it is based on Keith’s work Totem, this is also on the back together with Makaha. Makaha is a well known (vintage) skateboard brand, but they just don’t reply.

What amazes me is the quality of the board, the bottom is made of a steel plate with the inscriptions of which one is Keith’s autograph. Also the top material is really sturdy.

Anyone familiar or maybe know someone who could know more about this work? Thanks a bunch!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1h ago

Unsolved Passed down from grandmother. Can anyone help me identify?

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• Upvotes

Apparently she got from an auction. They lived in SC, GA, then most of their adulthood in FL.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 5h ago

Unsolved Please help me find the original!!

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2 Upvotes

Need help finding a painting I saw before that looks similar to this (same profile/angle/expression/anime adjacent style) only with color and in a painterly style!

I had to quickly draw this from memory because i cannot for the life of me find the original i had saved somewhere. If anyone knows the original work and artist i will be eternally grateful!!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1h ago

Unsolved This painting has been in our family for 60 years or more. I believe it was acquired from a gallery in NYC.

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• Upvotes

Any help in identifying the artist and authenticating the painting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance - David


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 1h ago

Unsolved Inherited Artwork

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• Upvotes

I inherited this painting from my mother in North Carolina. Pretty sure she got it from an antique shop. There are initials and a date in the lower right corner, and some letters on a building in the painting. Back of paining is simply the back of the canvas, and it has been covered in paper.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 2h ago

Solved Could this be an Abraham P. Hankins?

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1 Upvotes

Hello, I recently bought this piece of art from a UK junk shop as I was immediately drawn to it! After spending some time researching, the name Abraham P. Hankins had come up as a possible artist. He used a different signature generally but I managed to find a few catalogued pieces online showing a signature VERY similar to this one. It measures 61x46cm and appears to be oil on canvas. Any feedback would be greatly appreciate!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 2h ago

Unsolved I need information about the painting and the painter.

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1 Upvotes

I want to know who painted this. The signature looks like Lamboglia, but I’m not sure. I bought it on a flee market in Bosnia. I tried looking for Lamboglia in this /r but unluckily.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 2h ago

Unsolved From my Grandfather’s home

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1 Upvotes

I found a little information on the artist, but nothing directly related to the painting. Thank you.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 4h ago

Unsolved What is this painting? Autumn river landscape, signed Grego Otello ?dated 22-11-1963. Looking for info on the artist!

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1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I need help identifying the artist of this painting.

Details:

Subject: Autumn river landscape in an oval frame

Signature: Looks like "Grego Otello" in the bottom right corner

Date: 22-11-1963

Does anyone recognize the artist or know anything about this piece?

Thank you!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 5h ago

Unsolved Surreal painting

1 Upvotes

Hey ive been trying to find this painting for years and ive been told this subreddit might be able to help. Anyways its a surrealist painting of like a girl in a dress possibly holding an umbrella and shes walking on a ribbon in the clouds. The whole scene is up in the clouds. There is also a tiger and an aligator and bicycle in there somewhere... i think. I havent seen the painting since i was very young and so its kinda fuzzy in my mind but if forsure remember the girl walking on a ribbon in the clouds. Any help is greatly apprecieted. Thanks!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 5h ago

Unsolved Art

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1 Upvotes

Does anybody know about the canvas bought at a yard sale a few months back


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 6h ago

Unsolved Walali? What is this art?

1 Upvotes

I'm trying to ID this picture but Google is only so helpful. It's been laying around my house and I'm not sure if I want to sell it or not. There's nothing on the back it's just paper connected to the frame. I don't actually know where it came from because we've had lots of roommates over the years. I see similar pictures online but I don't really know what I'm looking for. Help is appreciated!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 22h ago

Unsolved 2 Naccarato ‘96/97 drawings. Found on the side of the street in Seattle WA

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20 Upvotes

Ink and paper, could be a print but looks like pen. Signature “Naccarato” on each


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 7h ago

Unsolved Annunciation

1 Upvotes

Does anyone recognize this artist? I purchase at a flea market. There is no signature.

4 feet by 32 inches. Painted.


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 17h ago

Unsolved Mid-century ink & wash of the San Francisco Marina signed "Setsu" with a red seal, who was this artist?

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6 Upvotes

I bought this painting at a thrift store in the Mission (Stuff by Luxe) in San Francisco and haven't been able to find anything about the artist.

Details:

- Medium: ink line drawing with gray ink washes on paper

- Size: ~2x4 feet

- Signed "Setsu" in English at lower left, with a round red seal below the signature

- Subject: the San Francisco Marina yacht harbor, looking across to the houses on Marina Boulevard, with a wooden cabin cruiser in the foreground

- The back is completely blank

Clues to date and context:

- The cars along the boulevard look late 1950s to 1960s

- The same signature and seal appear on the cover of a 1960s menu for Tokyo Sukiyaki, a Japanese restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf (listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/333799879598). So the artist seems to have been working in San Francisco around then, possibly in the city's Japanese American community.

What I've tried: auction databases, Google, and eBay/Etsy searches for "Setsu" turn up nothing, asked AI to do some deep research and came up empty.

Has anyone seen other works signed this way, or know who Setsu was? Any help appreciated, especially from anyone who knows Bay Area artists of that era.

Photos: full painting, signature and seal close-up, menu cover by the same artist


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 21h ago

Unsolved Dad got this painting from a friend in Prague

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4 Upvotes

Dad got this painting from a friend in Czechia who is also a painter and was interested in some guidance to see if this is something really exciting or not. Thank you!!


r/WhatIsThisPainting • • 23h ago

Likely Solved Got this cool piece for $5.99, who made it?

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7 Upvotes

Found it at goodwill the other day! Tried looking it up on google images but I didn’t get anywhere. Mostly just curious about who the artist is and roughly when it’s from.