eBAY SALE
VINTAGE OIL PAINTING RAY NORMAN LANDSCAPE CANVAS OIL PAINTING AUSTRALIAN ARTIST Item number:302029646657
Price:US $300.00
ApproximatelyAU $394.74
Good evening from Tasmania/Australia,
Yes I do know this artist's work –
the one whose resume you use – very well
and I’m very surprised, given all that is Googleable on him, that you so
readily accept that he might have made this painting. He’d be extraordinarily
surprised as well as I do not believe that he has made a painting since primary
school when he had to. SEE – http://raynorman7250.blogspot.com.au/
you’ll discover all that you need to know and might have found if you’d dug just a
little deeper.
If you Google “Ray Norman
Tasmania jeweller” some more you’ll discover that he is a jeweller, sculptor
primarily but he has been involved in conceptual artmaking and environmental
installations… NEVER a painter so far as I’m aware
Cutting to the chase since you
say you are interested in the “correct provenance” what you have it would seem
is a fairly ordinary ‘art factory painting’ most likely circa 1970s.
Thomas Kinkade – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade – ran such a factory in the USA till his death and its still there. In Australia at that time (late 60s/70s) there were door-to-door salesmen selling this stuff. Some got into furniture stores but never into ‘respected galleries’. This stuff was looked down upon then and laughed about now as they are something of a 'cultural joke'.
Thomas Kinkade – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade – ran such a factory in the USA till his death and its still there. In Australia at that time (late 60s/70s) there were door-to-door salesmen selling this stuff. Some got into furniture stores but never into ‘respected galleries’. This stuff was looked down upon then and laughed about now as they are something of a 'cultural joke'.
Typically in Australia one could
order “original ART” almost by the square foot – sized to fit, colours to
match, style to go with interior design etc. Perhaps that happened in Canada
too?!
These paintings were NOT prints but oils/acrylic on canvas or boards depending upon size etc. This is still kind of happening in China but no longer sold door-to-door. Online selling is more efficient … SEE https://www.instapainting.com/blog/company/2015/10/28/how-to-paint-10000-paintings/ – You will of course know that from experience.
These paintings were NOT prints but oils/acrylic on canvas or boards depending upon size etc. This is still kind of happening in China but no longer sold door-to-door. Online selling is more efficient … SEE https://www.instapainting.com/blog/company/2015/10/28/how-to-paint-10000-paintings/ – You will of course know that from experience.
In the 70s art students and
recent graduates did this kind of work to “turn a buck” and there were a few
vernacular painters (Pro Hart for instance – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Hart ... LINK TO IMAGES) whose work was readily copyable and that pulled a good price. Then there were the
‘iconic scenes’ that oozed Australia and that could be painted quickly and sold for enough.
These paintings were never signed
(or rarely?!) as that would be forgery
and/or a deceitful thing to do. Also respected artists didn’t want to be
associated with them but didn’t mind the money 'right now'. Sometimes the people who bought
them added signatures after delivery - that a another story altogether. There’re all sorts out there in the
world.
Now to the painting you are
selling. Its almost certainly an example of this kind of painting. How it got
its ‘Ray Norman signature’ is open to speculation. Anyway there are a few Ray
Normans out there in Australia and one was a famous footballer and I’ve heard
of a murderer and a rapist too apparently. It could be there is/was even a forger out there.
This painting might well be newer
than the 70s and has a kind of ‘Chinese copy look’ about it. The landscape is
hardly Australian – well just maybe – and its got the things wrong that the Chinese typically get wrong. Its obviously what Australians call a "wrongen' and it almost reeks of it.
Now this story is a whole lot more
interesting than the borrowed(?!) resume suggests. I can however tell you that
IF you chose to burn this picture the Ray Norman whose resume you’ve used might well be interested in the scorched
remains if the signature was still readable. But that's just a guess.
Well there you have it for what
its worth and as unwelcomed as this information might be. Over to you now and I’d
be very interested in hearing about what you decide to do. Email me at any time at treva.alen@bigpond.com
Dr Treva Alen
Arts Consultant
Dr Treva Alen
Arts Consultant
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