Purchasing art in Paris

Bring a postal tube to put your painting in. Ideally, carry it on the plane with you so it isn't destroyed in your luggage on the way home. You can have it framed up when you get home. I buy various art and just keep rolling everything into one postal tube to bring home safely. Monmarte is considered an "artist" area in Paris, so may be a good option. I'm not sure you will find anything that's really a bargain there though. Other options are flea markets or antique shops. You may find a good deal at one of these. More often than not you just have to get lucky to find something you like at a price you're willing to pay.

On all my trips to Paris I buy quality posters and once, 3 paintings (oil on canvas). I buy the tube/s in Paris, they're easy to get there. There's often people/artists along the Seine river between the Louvre and Notre Dame (either side of river) selling paintings (watercolor/oil). Edit: forgot to say, I usually mail the tubes home. Last time though, I carried one (with many posters inside) on the plane with me, as Brad suggested.

I like to buy art as a souvenir of my trip, so that as I look at my wall of pictures I am reminded of trips I've taken and places I've been. In Paris I bought a watercolor directly from the artist in Montmartre. It's about 5"x7" and the artist put it between two pieces of cardboard to keep it rigid. It easily fit into my carryon bag. I think I paid about 20€ or so for it. I had it framed after I got home.

Thanks for your input,Andrea. I should have made it clear that I'm looking for something at least 3'X3'. Thank you Andrea for your input. I should have made myself clearer in that I'm
looking for a painting about 3'X 3' for behind my sofa.

Definitely try the Place du Tetre in Montmartre. While most of the artists' works you see are fairly small (typically for tourist souvenirs) a lot of the artists also do larger canvases. If you see someone's work you like ask them about larger paitings and they may direct you to a gallery where their work is handled or they may even have larger ones with them. What you're willing to pay will determine how large and how 'good' the painting is. It would be a wonderful souvenir of your trip to paris that you could look at on your wall. I have tried to bring some kind of art work back from most of my trips and most of them have been purchased from the artist. They are usually small prints but some larger ones, I bought a beautiful batik in Greece (Island of Hydra) and had it shipped home as it was already framed and wouldn't fit in my suitcase. I lean more toward photos than paintings and I have enlarged and framed many of my photos and hung them on my walls - they are wonderful reminders of where I have traveled.

Thank you all for your comments. My husband will be so happy that he isn't being dragged around Paris without a plan. Who knows he may stick around another 38 years.