Paul was taking some friends to the flea market last month and he found a piece of art he thought we should get. (We have a tradition where every year we buy one piece of art.) It was large and had a really affordable price so when he got home he looked up the artist online. He found a picture here of a similar painting online to show me. He said “it looks a lot like the one from the flea market but its a little less creepy than this one.” I saw it in person and loved it so we ended up buying it but when we got it home and looked again we realized that it was the same painting from the internet just someone painted over the “scary” mask with a hat and rosy cheeks. Ha! It makes me sad that someone ruined such an old painting but I really love it and it makes a great story.
rubi
August 31, 2011
oh my gosh, i can’t believe someone painted over the original to make it less scary! that is so funny.
Alex
August 31, 2011
May I ask who the artist is? I love this piece!
elaine
August 31, 2011
That is crazy! Great story though 🙂
victoria
August 31, 2011
that’s hilarious! and a really, really great painting. nice find!
Flannery
August 31, 2011
I love how someone else had the exact same idea – and just decided to fix it! My dad bought a piece of art of children seemingly laughing… but the more you stare at it they could be laughing or screaming in horror. He’s weird and loves it but my mom hated it. I guess my parents still really love each other because this Christmas she got it framed for him after threatening to “lose” it in the basement. Yay creepy art!
Stephanie
August 31, 2011
That’s really cool actually – even though someone painted over it, at least you have a photo of how it was before. What’s interesting is that painting over paintings is not new to history. Signatures of popular artists were often added to paintings so they’d sell for more – many Vermeers were “lost” because they were merely misattributed to someone else thanks to tampering with the signature. So think of it as adding another layer of character 🙂
Danielle
August 31, 2011
So hilarious. Totally love that and you are right, makes a great story!
Jesse
August 31, 2011
my father-in-law does this sometimes, although mostly to his own paintings, it’s fun to see if you can remember how it before and after:)
Melissa@Julia's Bookbag
August 31, 2011
This is a GREAT art piece, I love the style, the colors used… everything!!
rebecca s.
August 31, 2011
it’s beautiful and is a great story! don’t you wish you could find out who painted that hat and rosy cheeks?
Alison
August 31, 2011
this is such a lovely find! the painting is so vibrant and really gives off a marc chagall vibe. great addition!
Julie Karatzis
August 31, 2011
Love that! I love the painting too – scary man and all.
Lindsey
August 31, 2011
Ha, love this story!
jodie
August 31, 2011
I can’t believe someone would do that! I have never heard of anyone doing that before. Definitely makes a great story…the history behind it…be great to find out who did it…
Liz
August 31, 2011
Jordan, how do you and your artist husband decide what art to buy each year?
Here you say it was large and affordable, but surely you have aesthetic criteria too!!!
I love the story about the picture, and I love your blog. My New Years resolution was to add more festivity to my life (and my children’s lives) and that’s why I started following you. I am now living vicariously in Paris and it’s begun to sneak into my everyday life (striped shirts, funky haircuts, etc.).
Thank you, and keep on keeping on!!
jordan
August 31, 2011
@liz Of course we have to love it. It’s just nice because usually large pieces aren’t in our budget and this one was.
megwrites
August 31, 2011
It seems so wrong to paint over it…but then, it really does look a lot better with the creepiness removed.
mosey
August 31, 2011
Ha! How strange but a very cool painting!
mer
August 31, 2011
Love, Love, Loved shopping for art at the Paris Flea markets. Outsider art was the best.
maman de Loulou
August 31, 2011
Such a nice piece of art and great story. Do you know there is a very nice place in you area where you can get it framed (I have been there twice to have paintings framed). People working there have great ideas and work beautifully (and prices are ok too). E-mail me if you are interested 🙂
Shilo
September 1, 2011
Perhaps you’d rather keep it as it is, but if you did want to restore it to it’s original condition, it probably wouldn’t be a very big job for a professional conservator. In fact, I think here in Paris is one of the most respected art conservation programs in the world – if you feel daring, have a student conservator do it for cheap.
Also – a bit unrelated, I know you already purchased your artwork for this year, but this coming weekend, Yvon Lambert gallery in the 3ème is having a sale on anonymous postcard sized works for charity. All the works are 100€ and you won’t find out who made yours until it’s over. Seeing as how YL represents some incredible super famous artists (Sol LeWitt, Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer etc) the chance of buying something beautiful and far more valuable than your original 100€ is pretty good.
Anyway, congratulations on your new painting, it’s really cool!
teresita
September 1, 2011
Funny story to hang!!! Those things make a home. My mother is an artist, and once she had an exhibit coming, so she sent some photos to the newspaper to be published. When the exhibit came, it was advertised, but the photo showed a painting with some grandpas playing cards, yet at the exhibit they were reading the news!! My mother changed everything!!! The couple that bought the painting never noticed….or so we thought…maybe they have a story to hang too.
Kayla @ Exquisite Banana
September 1, 2011
Oh my, that is hilarious. Love the painting, too: so vibrant and colorful! It’s very you.
Maria @ Orchard Bloom
September 1, 2011
I really love this painting. Just the kind of thing I would purchase.
Carla
September 2, 2011
Love the yearly traditions of purchasing artwork. And dare I say, I like the revamped version better than the original =)