Last time I was at Goodwill, there was a gentleman with a very lovely (and large) oil painting in his cart. I saw him do a double take at the painting, examine it and then put it right back on the floor where he found it. I guess he saw me watching, because he looked at me and said “It has a hole in it.” He picked it up and showed me how someone attempted to repair it on the back and then repaint a small section on the front. He said he thought it might be worth something because it looks old and it’s an original, but it’s not worth the time with a hole and the botched touch-up.
Apparently, he has been collecting paintings from Goodwill for years just because he enjoys them, but when he researched one in particular that he paid $35 for, he found that it might be an original from the 18th century. And it was! He had it appraised and learned that it was worth $1,800.
When we were done chatting, I purchased the painting for myself. Because it was lovely and only marked $15 (in true Goodwill fashion, it’s written right on the back of the canvas in magic marker). When I’m shopping, I try to stick to the rule that if I don’t know where I would use something, it doesn’t come home with me. But I just couldn’t pass this painting up.
It’s currently propped up on the shelf behind our bed. It looks nice there, especially with the current green walls and dark wood, but I have always wanted a large photograph of the Hubs and I in that spot, so it is just temporary. After that, I have no idea where it will go. It’s fairly large at 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall, which limits the places it can go, but the large size is one of the things I love about it.
The frame, however, is very cheap and flimsy and…ugly. We most likely won’t be getting a new frame for it, since those are pretty pricey, and if we keep the current frame, we will definitely add some reinforcements to the back. What do you think? Hang it up without a frame? Upgrade the current frame? Maybe add some molding to it and give it a coat of paint?
Brian
December 5, 2012 at 3:21 pmHi,
I have a quick question about your blog, do you think you could e-mail me?
Brian
Mini Dork
December 5, 2012 at 4:05 pmYour Goodwill is awesome. I love that painting. For $15 its a masterpiece! I vote for adding molding to beef up the frame.
Christina O
December 5, 2012 at 5:01 pmIt really is, I’m so lucky. 🙂
Thanks for your vote!
Idske
December 5, 2012 at 6:35 pmReally nice painting! I’d research it as there are initials/a name in the corner and this does not look like an amateur painter’s work… Super find!
Christina O
December 6, 2012 at 6:15 pmI should do that, it would be fun to find out. I’ll let you know if I find anything big!
onshore
December 5, 2012 at 7:20 pmI too like the painting a lot. Such a realistic image of life in somewhere else.
I sort of like the frames, I don’t think this particular painting needs very posh frames. It could also actually be without frames. Or then something rustic around it.
Okey… not too clear opinion from here 🙂
Christina O
December 6, 2012 at 6:16 pmHahaha, it would all look good to you, huh? 🙂
TinyFixation
December 5, 2012 at 9:14 pmNice find! I’m jumping on the moulding bandwagon. Beef that baby up, and call it a day 🙂
Christina O
December 6, 2012 at 6:16 pmI think that’s what I’ll do! Love your new profile pic, by the way, it’s super cute.
Q
December 7, 2012 at 5:26 amI love it as well… We are renting, the place was cleanly painted before we moved in and I have nothing on the walls yet. That would be the sort of find I would love in a local op shop. I agree with the beef it up talk and would even, I think it would be well worth it!
And then you can blog about how to beef it up too!
Christina O
December 7, 2012 at 4:47 pmHey, that’s a good idea. 🙂
Lisa
December 31, 2012 at 12:54 amI would have bought it too! I have a nice watercolor I got at Goodwill. It was obviously someone’s souvenir from a Mexican vacation, since it is a very popular subject, but they bothered to have it matted and framed at Michael’s, which would have cost them at least $200.00.
It would be fun to find out what yours is, I mean the location. I have done that online and while it takes hours, it is fun!
Rie Sheridan Rose
February 26, 2013 at 7:03 pmI love the feel of the painting too, and I wouldn’t change the frame, personally, because it has such nice, clean lines. On the other hand, it isn’t very Victorian, is it? 😉