Wall Art on the Cheap: Thrift Store Paintings

Several years ago I was in the transition period between college and adulthood. I had one framed poster that I’d received as a birthday gift, and a few hand-me-down framed prints from my parents, but otherwise my wall decor consisted of a few tattered Smiths posters and a giant portrait of Johnny Depp. Not exactly tasteful.

So I was thrust into the art market. I spent a few days browsing the usual channels, hoping to find something, anything, to hang above my couch (I learned this is such a popular place for an art shopper to start that there’s actually a category called “sofa pieces”), but without a budget, I was quickly thrust out of the real art market, and forced once again to consider my options.

Like most design dilemmas, this one led me to the second hand market, where I could actually afford to be expansive and creative. I found this 25 x 31″ framed Parisian street scene print at an estate sale for just 10 dollars.

A few months later, I found this even larger (31 x 41″) framed oil painting at a garage sale for — again — just 10 dollars. As you can see, it’s now hanging above my couch (disregard stain on cushion, please).

In fact the most expensive piece I found was this framed, matted photograph. I have a brief confession: I am obsessed with mannequins. So even when the guy running the estate sale told me he would not budge — that this photo was twenty dollars — I had to buy it. And to be honest, I have not a moment’s regret. It’s been the envy of several party guests and every time I see it, with it’s queer title (”A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking”) I get a warm feeling in my left ventricle.

So for forty dollars, I was well on my way. And I’m not the only one who sees the genius of the thrift score in wall decor. In a recent issue of Domino Magazine, designer Ruthie Sommers points to a wall in Drew Barrymore’s “un-office” as accented entirely in thrift stores pictures “scored in one day”! (And you know the advice I always give: if it’s good enough for Drew, it’s good enough for you. Just kidding, I never say that, but it’s true in this case.)

And with the explosive popularity of outsider art, thrift store paintings are a good source for beautiful works of naivety. In fact, there’s a whole book about it:

And if you need any more reasons to stop shopping for art at retail prices, keep in mind that every once in a while, you can really score big at an estate sale. In 2006, a familiar-looking abstract drip painting was unearthed in a Wisconsin basement. The original owner, an architect, had it “stored” in a dusty pile of pencil drawings. The liquidators decided to sell it “as is,” without authentication, with this written on the back:

“Bought in New York summer 1959 or 60 LA Jackson Pollock.”