Foreign "Art Students" selling Oil Paintings Door to Door

[ST]

Hi,

I had a chap call to the door this evening, said he was from Israel.

He was selling unframed oil paintings painted by Israeli art students - Oil on Canvas from about €90 depending on the painting.

Did a bit of googling when he had gone and discovered that the paintings are most likely from China - http://www.doupine.com

Heres a selection of what he was selling -

http://www.doupine.com/arts/HS0246.htm
http://www.doupine.com/arts/HS0347.htm
http://www.doupine.com/arts/HS0348.htm

I'm in Dublin 5.

Has anyone else had similar callers?

[jor el]

These have been doing the rounds for years now. You find them everywhere. Hope you didn't buy, as it's nothing short of a scam. They're not paintings, but prints.

[DEVEREUX]

Yup Tis A scam alright! Polish girl came knocking bout a year ago gave me a similar art student story.I recognise that first picture because she asked me what i thought it was, i said "errrr tour de france?" then she said "oh my god you are the first person to get that right" and with that i ended the conversation. only recently found out that one of my neighbours bought two for €120.00......FOOLS

[smelltheglove]

It used to be sketches, years ago in my first house I bought 2 for my little girls room, only €15 then and I had them for years so worth the money, they werent prints but real pencil sketchings. About 3 years later when I was living in another county another person came to me door selling sketches, I still had the first 2 at the stage, they actually had a sketch of one of the pictures I had, I mentioned to them that I had that one already and they didnt believe me, I closed the door over, took it out of the playroom and brought it to show them, they were speechless. I still bought another, I think €10 at this stage. I binned them when I moved 2 yrs ago. What has always confused me is the fact that they were actually pencil sketchings but different signatures on the first two against the third.

[North_West_Art]

two unsuspecting 'art students', who were selling these prints door to door, called to my house about a year ago. I asked them in and had the pleasure of showing them around my studio where all my art work in progress was on display. When I quizzed them on what they had, they were a little aprehensive, although they were able to discuss the different styles of prints they had for sale... Cubism vs Impressionism, but there was no way that the work they were selling was theirs. The styles varied so much, it looked like production line stuff.

Every now and then I get emails from companies offering my deals on what is known as 'Glicee' prints. This is an oil painting printed on canvas from a high res digital image. The proceedure is, I send off a few digital images of my paintings, and I get reproductions printed on canvas... as many as I like. The printing machine uses oil paint instead of ink, and the quality is very good, it can even reproduce brush marks. How can you tell if its a Glicee print? Look closely, you will see the imprint of the canvas material impressed on the surface of the painting as a result of being stacked, just after been printing.

Even some well known artists will sell prints of this nature, and title them... Limited edition mixed media prints, or hand embelished mixed media prints. All they are really selling is a print on canvas... and most of them are rubbish. You will see alot of these in Atlantic Homecare, or in tourist resorts. If you want to buy art, approach the artist, beware of door to door. A guy I know got a job selling thses door to door in San Francisco. They were printed in Korea. He was selling some of them for as much as $600.

[Sponge Bob]

Like all art, if you like it at a certain price then buy it. They are mainly Chinese as the person said . Some are very good.

[Scottie99]

Remember there's the cost of framing which is €50.....upward.
Don't

[eth0_]

Originally Posted by North_West_Art

Even some well known artists will sell prints of this nature, and title them... Limited edition mixed media prints, or hand embelished mixed media prints. All they are really selling is a print on canvas... and most of them are rubbish.

Is that how Thomas *spit* Kincade makes his "art"?

[dudara]

This has been happening for years.

Just remember to be safe, and don't let anyone you don't know into the house.

dudara

[partyatmygaff]

Haggle the prices down, prints they may be but some do look very nice.
They would be worth maybe €20 at most each. The difference between that and real canvas handmade art is slightly noticeable but at a glance its hard to tell.

[GerardKeating]

Originally Posted by jor el

These have been doing the rounds for years now. You find them everywhere. Hope you didn't buy, as it's nothing short of a scam. They're not paintings, but prints.

There was another crowd (English reg cars) selling framed aerial photos of your house a few weeks back.

They had gotten into some trouble with the Coast Guard, since they fly low over the area with no flight plans. And they did this on Sept 11 of all days..

[ozypozy]

We were caught out with these a couple of years ago. Spent €190 on two paintings, how gullible we were and felt sorry for the "students"

[Cabaal]

If people want to buy the prints leave them off, those foolish enough to believe the sob story...well thats another thing.

[craichoe]

Originally Posted by GerardKeating

There was another crowd (English reg cars) selling framed aerial photos of your house a few weeks back.

They had gotten into some trouble with the Coast Guard, since they fly low over the area with no flight plans. And they did this on Sept 11 of all days..

Damn ... Might have sorted out that Eyesore that is the Elysian, sure theres noone living in it anyway !

[North_West_Art]

Originally Posted by eth0_

Is that how Thomas *spit* Kincade makes his "art"?

correct... he is a good example of the type of mass produced, production line artist Im referring to. The public arent aware of what they are buying. If there is heavy relief/oil paint on a canvas, then it must be an original? wrong