Paris Oil Paintings for Sale by Riverside Vendors

Posted by Amanda (Portland, OR, USA) on 08/16/08 05:57 PM

Almost every riverside vendor from Notre Dame to the Orsay Museum is selling canvasses with oil paintings. Most of them are just the same scene over and over again or copies of famous works. Someone suggested to me that they are computer generated--not actually painted, even though they have minor variations from painting to painting and on most you can actually see globs of paint rising from the canvass. Does anyone know if they are actually painted by people or if they are in some way computer generated?

Thanks!

Posted by Gary Mc

Salt Lake City

08/17/08 09:28 AM

1528 posts

A friend of mine, who was a professional illustrator, described how he and a couple other young guys made money one summer painting bulk paintings. He said that they just lined the wall of a room with canvases. They circled the room making very similar sketches, sometimes omitting the mountain, sometimes the lake, sometimes the cabin. One guy painted all the lakes, another the mountains, another the trees, etc. They just circled the room painting their specialty

He pointed out that they were all trained artists and knew how to design a picture. Plus they had a collection of painting techniques. The pictures weren't great art but still worked. I see no reason to believe that the same would not work with Paris street scenes.

My friend, in his 70's when I knew him, was quick at laying out and completing some very beautiful and humorous paintings. It was easy for me to believe that they made decent commercial paintings.

Regards, Gary

Posted by Sue

Springfield, VA, USA

08/18/08 08:25 AM

283 posts

Try the Sunday art market behind Notre Dame. It is fantastic. Also, I found a guy on Pont Neuf actually painting little watercolors of main attrections and bought three of them for 5E each.

Posted by Tom

Danville, VT

08/18/08 10:14 AM

12040 posts

There is a technique whereby a transparent resin is applied to a print to give it the same texture as an original painting, but anyone can easily spot the difference upon close examination. In my experiences in the various outdoor art markets in Europe, I have never seen anyone trying to sell prints as if they were originals. You tend to see these resin-coated prints at garage sales in the US.