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_

North_West_Art wrote: »

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

jor el wrote: »

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

GerardKeating wrote: »

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

eth0_ wrote: »

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

laganart.com

Yes, it is true. 90% of the worlds hand painted 'oil paintings' come from China.

They are very very cheap.

3 Types.

1. Mass produced 'oil on canvas' low quality oil painting. A given painting in this category is painted by a low skilled worker/free-lancer who churns them out at a rate of 1 an hour. These are typically 'van goghs - sun flower' etc. The standard is not too bad, given the painter knows how to paint only ONE painting and out of repetition achieves a convincing degree of quality. In Buji, China these work out at €1.20 to €6.00 to purchase. Price is size dependent, 16" x 24" about €2.50, 24"x36" = € 4.50, 36"x 48" about €6.00. People often feel ripped off buying these from door to door sale men, masquerading as artists. Depends how much you pay!! ... but at the other end the case is a bit more desperate, usually a mother would paint in her hell hole flat, all day, to pay for her kids (Yes, kids ... one child policy ...JOKE!) progression through life.

2. Painted over prints on canvas. These are usually more complex paintings, were repetition does not allow elcheapo labor to achieve the standard required for such a complex painting. If you look very closely at the canvas, you should see print lines showing through. There is of course a skill when mixing the oil paint to agree with the print colours. These usually look the real deal, but do pay attention those print lines. Should they blatantly show ... it was purchased at mass produced prices. Should the print lines, be well covered ... but still relieving to the trained eye ... you will pay as follows: 20"x24" @ €10 ->€25. 24"x36" @ €13 ->€35.

3. High skilled paintings (NO Under Printing), you will pay big money (well, in a chinese setting it seems so). There are only a few artists (yes, they do eat rice) who can paint to a high standard. It is very difficult to give examples of prices, for I walked away from many crazy quotes. Got to know many of the artists, and bought at the end of the month when bills come in. €120+. These are the best paintings, forgetting about the money, the artist is seriously attached to his work and does not want to sell.

I give this info away, not because of generosity but to inform of my collection (1,600pcs) which is in storage (Dublin) and never made it to the irish market .... in a recession/depression people do NOT want paintings. Should you be interested in having a sniff, do contact. david@laganart.com