Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with painting

Who painted this, and what did they write?

CancerMan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:46:26 -0800

I need help identifying the artist and writing for this ink painting (Japanese). I'll describe more details as well as I can within. My parents came into possession of the original painting. I believe the red mark is the artist and the black text is a poem, but no one can read and translate the characters. The painting appears modern, at least during that time period when artists started to paint "realistically," but when exactly it was created is unknown.

We're primarily interested in translating the text and knowing who the artist is. The person who previously owned the painting did not have any information. Hope you can help!

Looking for devolving office image

chaff — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:59:15 -0800

Looking for an image that circulated the web last year. Office workers devolving into tribal primitives. I'm sure half of you have this on your hard drives and I thought I did too, but I don't, and I'm not finding the right search engine terms to retrieve it.

1. The graphic design and illustration style resemble airline safety instructions.

2. The narrative of the panels is like Lord of the Flies in a cubicle farm.

Who did this, is the image being hosted anywhere, etc. Thanks!

What can I do about this wood paneling?

christinetheslp — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:13:56 -0800

Our spare room/hopefully future nursery has ugly wood paneling on the walls. What can I do to make it better? I'm seven weeks pregnant and I like to distract myself from the day-long morning sickness by dreaming about what our future child's nursery will be like. Currently it's our spare room and the walls have ugly 1970s wood paneling. I hate it. I also don't like the look of wood paneling that's been painted over with a solid color (you can still see the grooves!), and I don't have the will to rip it all down. You can see my dilemma.

We own the house, so I'm willing to do something creative like painting the panels with alternating stripes or a creative wall treatment. Has anyone made their wood paneling look amazing?

Name that American folk painter

fire&wings — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:41 -0800

This is driving me insane. What is the name of the 19th century American folk painter, called something like Franz Vogl, Kogl, Vogel, Fogel - something Austrian sounding - who drew very distinctive landscapes featuring buildings with mildly distorted perspectives and a lot of horizontal lines, usually titled below with calligraphic captions like "Miss Joanna Cunningham's House." I thought I bookmarked this guy when I found him but apparently not. His paintings have sold in excess of $300k so he is not unheralded, and there was a .com in his name set up by a collector looking for works. Have exhausted everything trying to find him on google.

Painting dolls from drawing?

Marky — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:13:52 -0800

I had an idea for my sisters Christmas present, help me make it... I want to paint some nesting dolls to look like my nephew, from age 1 to 8. I have plenty of pictures, but going from 2-dimension photos to 3-dimension painting seems to be a bit over my skill level. I've faked sketching by drawing "over" photos in Photoshop, but I don't think that would work here. I don't need photo quality, I just would like the dolls to be recognizably him.

Help me find Scatman's naked lady

loquax — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:27:48 -0800

Looking for a painting/image from Kubrick's "The Shining". It's the painting of the naked woman hanging above Scatman's bed in Miami. Here it is. Anyone have any ideas about identification? Is it a "known" painting/image? Anywhere I could buy a replica/poster? Looked online but can't seem to find much. Thanks for any help

Help me find this artist

aheckler — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:34:37 -0800

For a friend: Who is the artist who painted this picture, and how can I get a copy?

Visualizing home colors

dacoit — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:17:38 -0800

So, it's time to paint my 100 year old house in Portland. How to choose colors? Are there any good online resources, in particular image galleries of homes painted specific colors? (i.e., "this 1925 craftsman is painted Benjamin Moore 741 Eggplant, with trim colors 219 Cream Soda and 987 Driftwood Sand") I only have a couple of days to choose colors so the house can get painted before the rains roll in, and I have no idea how to go about this. It's a big beautiful old house in a funky neighborhood, and I really don't want to get this wrong. My only other idea is to walk around and ask owners of other homes, hoping they remember what colors they used. Any advice you might have about online resources or choosing colors in general is greatly appreciated, thank you.

We'll talk in present tenses.

shakespeherian — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:28:07 -0800

(Asking for a friend) Is there a place on ye olde interwebbes where I can see a gallery of all the artwork currently on display at the Chelsea Hotel? ALTERNATELY can anyone help me identify this painting? Blurry cellphone picture here. The Chelsea Hotel's website has exactly six pieces on display, none of which is the correct one. My friend would love to know who painted this and any other information available-- she's currently on a bus going to Boston, and typically she lives in Portland, and I'm not sure if she'll be back in NYC anytime soon so as to inquire at the hotel. TinEye is predictably unhelpful. Any ideas on how to go about identifying this thing?

Seeking a Painting

thanotopsis — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:44:37 -0800

My grandmother had a painting hanging in her bedroom for many years, and I'd like to find a print of it. Hoping that someone here can identify it for me. This was a scene of New York, around the turn of the century. Featured prominently in the background is the Flatiron Building. In the foreground of the painting is a couple crossing in the street, dressed in black, arm in arm. The man is wearing a top hat and suit, and the woman is dressed in a full black dress. I think there may be a carriage on the street behind them.

My grandmother passed away last spring, and while listening to Debussy's Claire De Lune (her favorite song) today, I flashed back to sitting in her room, staring at that painting, while listening to her play downstairs on her baby grand piano. When I worked in New York City, this song haunted me, and it's all tied up into my feelings for my grandmother, this painting, and this song.

Thank you, ahead of time, for helping out.

Who painted the cover to Royal Trux' Accelerator album?

mediareport — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:16:17 -0800

Who painted the cover to Royal Trux' Accelerator album, and do they have any other work I can look at?

What's your favorite place to buy artists' canvas in NYC?

aquafortis — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:01:16 -0800

What's your favorite place to buy artists' canvas in NYC? I was just wondering if anyone has any tips on where to buy relatively good-quality, inexpensive artists' canvas in the New York City area for acrylic/mixed media painting. Any hole-in-the-wall places with fantastic deals I need to know about? Can I do better than Pearl on Canal Street? Thanks!

Next time, label DO NOT CRUSH

hermitosis — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:48:47 -0800

How do I smooth out creases in a fairly fresh oil painting? An artist sent me a large painting in the mail rolled up in a tube, but the box was crushed and the tube got flattened at one point. It's far from ruined and the paint didn't crack or anything when I unrolled it, but there are faint creases running down the entire length of the painting where it was flattened.

The painting isn't on canvas, it's on some kind of heavy duty upholstery fabric. It was painted recently enough that I could smell oil paint when I took it out of the box. I tacked it up on the wall from the top in hopes that gravity might help, but I'd like to see if I can do anything about the creases before I actually stretch it back onto a frame.

Any suggestions? I'm not planning on paying to have it restored -- the damage isn't that great -- but home remedies would be awesome.

(Here is the painting, incidentally...)

Would like to learn something about this painting

FortyT-wo — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:19:23 -0800

Can you help me identify at least the painter of this impressionist painting? (sorry for blurry iPhone photos -- our camera chose this moment to give up the ghost.)

I recently was given this painting ... Am wondering if there is any info to be had about the painter or about when it might have been made? Here's a larger/blurrier shot of the painter's signature. On the back of the painting is a stamp, sort of oval shaped but pointy at the two ends, possibly with writing in it, though nothing is legible whatsoever. Also on the back of the canvas, someone has written "BOOK STALLS along the Banks of the Seine with Notre Dame" in pencil.

Book ID: Painters trap their subjects in paintings by using bodily fluids.

snoogles — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:20:15 -0800

IDThisBookFilter: I'm looking for a fantasy book by several authors which features a family of painters who can trap people in a painting if they mix their bodily fluids in with the paint. The author(s) must have names in the second half of the alphabet, if I remember my library's old filing system correctly.
There's a scene where painters who make paintings as a way of recording contracts/transaction have an argument over what kind of style is most appropriate. I think there might be a girl who becomes a painter even though it's usually a man's job... (oh, the feminism of fantasy novels).

(I think the word gold or golden might be in the title, but it's a big stretch).

What painting am I thinking of?

ekroh — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:52:56 -0800

What painting am I thinking of? It's a pretty old one, something like 15th or 16th century. It is a depiction of daily life with heaven above and hell below, meant to represent the entire cosmos, I guess. It is large and extremely detailed, like a Bruegel painting, but it's not Bruegel. I remember being able to make out cuts of meat in a shop window, even though they were probably about as big as the head of a pin (ok, maybe a big pin) in the actual painting.

I saw a reproduction in an art history class years ago, and I've been trying to remember it ever since. It's not the Michelangelo painting in the Vatican. I think it was even before that, as the perspective and depth etc. aren't very well developed.

Wish I could be more specific. Bonus points if you link to an image!

Busytown After Dark

maryh — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:47:27 -0800

Does anyone have any information about this adorable, satanic image? I'm asking for my husband- he found it on the Live Journal feed and now he's obsessed with it. And who can blame him, it's the cutest Satanic ritual I've ever seen.

Looking for three people/one boat paintings

TochterAusElysium — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:23:54 -0800

Help me find three men (or women, or whatever) in a boat, please. I'm looking for images of paintings done around the time of the Napoleonic wars (give or take). But I'm looking for a specific subject: a boat with three people in it. The people can be any age/gender/color; they can be doing anything or nothing at all. The boat can be in any body of water, any situation.

I'd like to narrow it down to paintings that would appeal to people who're fans of the Aubrey–Maturin series, but I don't know much about that period, so finding something this specific is not easy. I'm guessing that there are quite a few people here who know a lot more about naval art than I do, and who will have favorites they can mention.

The higher-resolution the better but I'm glad to see any examples at all. Thanks much!

Find a painting by subject matter?

Wild_Eep — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:28:24 -0800

Help to find a print of a painting for my MIL. Difficulty:only have a description of the subject matter, not the title nor artist. Dark Maroon background, subject matter is a pot of flowers (possibly poppies, possibly peonies) that "lean over onto the empty space of the canvas". This is a classic painting that is likely to have been made into prints.

My MIL thinks she saw this painting and wants to find a print but doesn't remember the artist or the title.

Show me paint the &$^# kitchen!

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:36:14 -0800

What your tips, "cheats" and hacks for painting the interior of a house? The standard procedure is to sand & scrape, then prime & paint, which is tediously boring. Any way to make this go faster/better/smoother? I'm not talking about making a playlist of your favorite music to make it less boring, but rather "if you use this type of paint it'll go on with a single coat" or "get this type of paint sprayer, it goes much faster," that sort of advice.

Rooms being painted are the kitchen, living room, dining room, hallway, bedroom and study. Room specific or general tips welcomed.

That colour has got to go, need advise on repainting wicker chairs.

Weaslegirl — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:26:34 -0800

Painting Filter: I am purchasing some second hand wicker chairs for my porch. What's the best way to repaint them? This is what the chairs look like. They are currently a very unattractive shade of dark green so this will need to change. The information I looked up about repainting wicker is all over the map on paint and application.

I'm hoping you can tell me what worked best for those of you who've done this. Oil or latex, primed or not, spray or brush?

I'll take any advise on the care and keeping as well. They will be on a covered porch and won't be out beyond the lovely autumn weather each year.

Thanks MeFites!

Should this be a do-it-yourself job?

shesaysgo — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:48:21 -0800

I'm moving out of my apartment, and my walls need to return to thermostat. I moved into this apartment a year ago, and immediately knew something needed to be done about the color on the walls, which we have dubbed 'thermostat'. Right now, my living room is robin's egg blue and an accent wall of teal. My kitchen/dining room is "cantaloupe smile". As said in our lease, the walls have to return to their previous color. We can either do it ourselves, or have it done through the management by an independent company, and then pay the management.

Whether or not we paint the apartment back depends on one thing: money. I have the time, nor do I mind doing it myself. I would just like to know how much it usually runs for the management to paint back the apartment. Any ideas?

Looking at fine art without visiting the gallery

vespr1610 — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:14:45 -0800

What is the best way to view fine art without visiting the gallery? I'm studying fine art, and I need a way to look at paintings without visiting the gallery or buying expensive giclée prints. I'm not happy using a computer screen - too small, screen glare..etc - so I'm wondering what the alternatives are.

I've been thinking about buying a slide projector, apparently this is what Picasso did. I've never used one before, do they produce a good quality image? Does anyone know where I can get hold of fine art slides?

Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

Does this painting sound familiar?

LittlePumpkin — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:45:37 -0800

Help me identify a painting I saw, loved, and forgot... A group of "bohemians" are eating/drinking/sitting under a bridge... there may or may not be a bonfire... it may or may not be night... I use the word "bohemian" because it has stuck in my mind... I don't know whether that's part of the title, whether the painting is German, or whether it just struck me as abstractly "bohemian" - I had just become an artist :> - I saw it in a museum, most likely in NY, San Francisco, or London - sorry for the slight reeds of info - anything sound familiar to anyone?

Futuristic American illustrator from the 1940s/50s

gentle — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:54:09 -0800

I'm looking for an American illustrator from the 1940s/50s who painted detailed, photorealistic, optimistic visions of the future, often with scientific explanations of how and why things would pan out this way. I came across an extensive collection of pictures on the net a year or two ago (and I vaguely remember them being presented as though he was a great but "forgotten" genius), but now I can't find it again. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Arthur Radebaugh, but I'm not completely sure; I say that mostly because (a) I can't find many Radebaugh pictures on the net, and (b) the ones I do find don't look familiar at all. But Radebaugh is definitely very similar in the way he envisioned automobiles, cities and so on.