Is Your Street Market Portrait Part of a Larger Art Mystery?

[Monique]

On a street market I bought an old signed portret of a girl, it is really nice and everyone likes it. One day I was looking on the internet and found another portret by the painter, this time a boy:

http://x2.putfile.com/6/15805291684.jpg

Then I saw the same seller also had the same portret of the girl, but by other painters (these don't look as nice as mine):

http://x2.putfile.com/6/15805310274.jpg
and
http://x2.putfile.com/6/15805321015.jpg

Then later on another website I found another seller, selling a portret painted by another painter that seems to be a fusion product of the girl and the boy portret:

http://x2.putfile.com/6/15805323865.jpg

What is going on here? Is there some study book that all these painters are painting from, would there be a famous original painting?

 

[Monique]

I found more the seller has no information on them, he sells loads of paintings

http://static.marktplaats.nl/fotos/antiek/kunstschilderijen/153539.jpg

 

[Monique]

http://static.marktplaats.nl/fotos/antiek/kunstschilderijen/153183.jpg

http://static.marktplaats.nl/fotos/antiek/kunstschilderijen/147203.jpg

 

[Chi Meson]

These were painted by "artisans" as opposed to artists. Although not exactly "painting by numbers," this style of work is close. The majority of street "art" vendors (usually seen in malls these days) have found that a highly formulaic approach to producing wall decorations is far more profitable than trying to create an original masterpiece. Some of the "artists" may indeed be artists who also do this crap to pay their bills. I have a "high minded" artist relative who regularly rants about the "artisans," but personally, I have no grudge against them.

Go to a true art gallery, and notice that small paintings from serious, yet unknown, artists are still selling for $1000 and up, well a $60 portrait of a smoking kid looks like a bargain.

 

[Artman]

These seem a step up from "slock art." Slock art is what we used to call a style of art where one guy paints the background, another person paints the trees, another guy paints the buildings, another guy paints any people, then another guy signs it. It's basically production or assembly line artwork. No real thought or inspiration to it.

This looks more like what Chi was talking about, formula art. Where one person paints the entire thing, but they may paint the same picture hundreds of times with only minor variations.

The thing with any art is to buy what you like. These are pleasant enough works, enjoy yours!

 

[Chi Meson]

blah blah blah blah crap blah blah blah.

I meant no offense.

 

[hitssquad]

On a street market I bought an old signed portret of a girl

It was stolen from a hotel.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-insider4jul04,1,4998017.story


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Efforts are being made to make it more difficult for such items to walk out the door. Some hotels have resorted to nailing down anything that could easily walk. At some low- and mid-priced motels and hotels, television remotes, paintings, lamps, alarm clocks and televisions have been secured to make them more difficult to steal.
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