French artists selling door to door in Dublin

Around this time last year, a French artist/student called to the door selling art. She said that a group of young artists were living in Dublin and this is how they sold their work. I liked one of the paintings and bought it for around €150. I still like the painting and have it hanging up on the wall at home.

Last night, a French guy called to the door with the same story. His art was not as good. A lot of them were reproductions and paintings of the Eiffel Tower. But I like the idea of supporting struggling artists and bought a painting for €150. I probably would not have bought the painting had it not been for a good cause.

But a friend called later and laughed at me when he saw the picture. He told me it was a scam. They are buying the paintings at €10 from China and cleaning up. They are not artists and they certainly are not struggling. [broken link removed] is one of the sites where you can buy these original artworks. (This site loads very slowly for me)

Maybe I am shallow, and it says a lot about my attitude to art, but now I am going off the painting I bought last year. If I like the painting, I should like it whether it was painted in a Chinese factory, by a struggling artist in Dublin or by Jack B Yeats for that matter.

Anyone else come across this phenomenon?

Brendan

I have had two students call in the last year or so but my were Polish! Maybe you're in the French Quarter? They seemed nice and genuine but I just wasn't interested. Strange alright that so many "artists" are calling door to door - con artists?

Yeah, just had one of them call to the door in Lucan last week. I thought 150 was very steep. I was convinced this girl had painted them as they were real paintings (not printed copies) but I looked at the site you mentioned and it looks like an easy way to make money. I browsed through some of the paintings on the site and they look very very familiar.

I have also had some Polish guys calling to the door selling photocopied pencil type sketchings which I would never buy as they are just mass produced rubbish. They do this all over the country and there have been cases of houses being broken into in the days after they called to try to sell you somehting. Some of them are just scoping out the houses trying to find an easy breakin. Ok I know that sounds bad, I am sure not all of them do it, but there have been cases of this in my home county.

"Maybe I am shallow, and it says a lot about my attitude to art, but now I am going off the painting I bought last year. If I like the painting, I should like it whether it was painted in a Chinese factory, by a struggling artist in Dublin or by Jack B Yeats for that matter."

We have pictures in our house ranging from a price of £15.00 to circa €800.00. Included are three or four of the "knock-off" type of paintings to which you refer. I went thru the exact same feelings over the "knock-off" paintings (which in fairness are a small minority of the total). The good news is that you get over it. In fact, in the long term, the only picture we ultimately went off was an original bought for circa IR£250.00 on Stephen's Green from one Barney Finnegan. It's a fine painting of a steam train, but we just never warmed to it and it is now in the attic. Any Barney Finnegan fans out there?

I think what you are feeling is overcharged. Buy something for €20 and put it on your wall - it will help you to break your mental connection between price and value.

Had the polish students one evening two weeks ago, so they have obviously travelled around the country. Its not the first time either, as I have had them calling at least twice before in the last two years- but one time it was at the office, and the other at home. Can't remember what the paintings were like the previous two times, but two weeks ago they were charcoal sketches and I didn't like them- they could have been reproductions, I didn't look closely.

Yes I've had experience of this a couple of times over the past few years, they concentrate on new housing estates (such as where I live) and apartment complexes. I must admit I have some "inside" knowledge of the art business in that my parents run a small gallery and picture framing business. They are frequently approached by "artists" with this sort of mass produced work. Invariably the quality tends to be pretty poor and the colours garish, all painted in a readily recognisable "style". It would be immoral to sell or represent such work as anything other than what it is i.e. mass produced pastiche with very little if any originalility. That said I have one small piece in my house, a small city street scene, which I quite like as it "looks" like Grafton Street, but I only paid about €20 for it plus the cost of framing it. There are some (I think) unscrupulous shops that will mark this stuff up heavily and flog it as "original art". You can buy good original artwork, professionally framed by artists living in this country or the UK starting from €150/ 200 upwards, I know - my house is full of it. The moral of the story is never ever buy goods or services from cold callers who call to your home.

Interesting to see that it's so widespread. Maybe the French guys are really Poles with an accent? It sounds more authentic buying art from the French.


MOB, it's not the overcharging I resent. I would be no happier if I had paid €20 for the paintings. It's just that I was spun a story and believed it. I am smart enough not to get scammed by Italians trying to sell leather coats or overseas stockbrokers trying to sell shares, but fall for a romantic story of struggling emerging artists.

But it has told me something about my attitude to art. As I say, does it matter who painted it, if I liked the final product? A lot of art is sold on the story and the provenance rather than the actual product itself.

Brendan

Are there prices anywhere on that artnoborder site? It's painfully slow anyway!

Maybe I am shallow, and it says a lot about my attitude to art, but now I am going off the painting I bought last year. If I like the painting, I should like it whether it was painted in a Chinese factory, by a struggling artist in Dublin or by Jack B Yeats for that matter.

Brendan - As you know I'm a sculptor (though working at the moment as an NHS psychotherapist) and most of my friends are painters or involved with theatre. That 'going off' phenomenon is perhaps not so much linked with these pictures now being part of a deception but rather that they (not you!) are 'shallow'. Significant art works on the viewer slowly and opens up new thoughts and feelings over time. The Boddhisatva Buddha, a large stone carving in the British Museum, gave me weekly food for thought during my four years art training; I spent a couple of hours a week sitting looking at the Rothko tryptich in the Tate Gallery. I still haven't finished with them!

There is a lot of garbage talked about art and its 'value' by pedants and peddlars. The best approach for anyone wishing to develop a relationship with fine art is to start visiting galleries on a regular basis (and Dublin is blessed with some wonderful public galleries and collections, like the Lane Bequest), spending time absorbing and feeling and developing a personal taste. Then, if they wish to 'own' art themselves attend auctions or visit the Degree Exhibitions when many contemporary artists put works up for sale. The only rule is 'follow your heart' but that doesn't mean you won't have a 'change of heart' and lose interest in a picture.

Don't have too many originals ourselves, but the ones we do have a story behind them.......gift, holiday purchase, hand-me-down etc. I think that's a real value, along with the quality of course.

Brendan, I think you'll have a story behind your two?

Polish student with written note called to us recently also but I always say 'no thanks' because they call on a regular basis and I'm always wary of them.

A neighbour (just home after visiting the pub) foolishly handed out a painting that his wife had bought many years before, to a caller who said they would clean it up and be back in a few days. They're still waiting on the gentleman to return. They think he was Irish.

It was a particular favourite of hers and when she told me the story she mentioned something about 'divorce proceedings'.

I have had some polish students and a swis student call selling charcoal sketches and for 8-10 euro I thought they were lovely especially for the kids rooms. Wouldn't pay anymore than that but felt sorry for the girls going around in the rain. Even if they weren't original I felt better buying them off them and giving them a few euro than buying a print in Roches.

These prints are most likely Giclee. Have a look at his site [broken link removed]

My Dad bought two from a Polish girl believing them to be origional and he was disgusted when another Polish girl called two weeks later with the same prints. Still, he hadn't spent too much on them anyway. And they can only get away with this sort of trick once in a particular neighbourhood.

On Friday night last one of these French "Artists" called to our house and I was taken in by her scam - she was very believable and really came across as a genuine artist. She went through each painting and told us a little story about the artists - all friends of hers. She showed us where it would be best to position the paintings on our walls and tried to get us to buy 2 saying she thought the paintings were "talking to each other" ?? After going through all of the paintings she said (cute french accent) "you did not like any of my paintings ?" which of course had the desired effect of making my wife and I feel sorry for her and made our kids think we were cruel! She then showed which paintings were hers and of course we all agreed they were very nice.?!

In the end we liked one painting which was an abstract she said was called "Irish Weather". I was a little sceptical about whether they were truly originals but she assured me they were; she said I could pay by cheque and if not satisfied I could cancel the cheque. This is what we did.

Yesterday I was perusing AAM and came across this thread; I followed some of the links and searched under the name of the Artist of the "Irish Weather" painting we had bought. To our surprise prints and reproductions from this same artist were listed on Websites in California (for around $30 - I paid €150) and as far as I could tell he has been dead for years!! I am fairly sure "Irish Weather" was also on this site!!

I cancelled the cheque and intend to tell the "little french artist" to come and take the painting away if she contacts me!

Sorry for the long message...but thanks for posting this alert! Thanks to AAM I avoided being ripped off.

Ah this old chestnut again! I had an artist call to the door only last week, eastern european he was and his accomplice who was working the other side of the road. I reckon the works are Giclee (as Ophelia had suggested). Needless to say I didn't purchase.

I bought one but I only spent €15 euro on it. I wouldn't spend €150 on a door to door seller of any kind. The artist in question was Polish if that helps.

I looked at all of the paintings/drawings she had. I can't say for sure if the one I bought is a print. For €15 I don't really care. But it smudges like a color pencil drawing should (I checked one of the corners).

She had mostly pencil sketches and one or two colour pencil drawings.

-Rd

-Rd

We had a Spainish guy call to the house in the Greystones area last night - I told him I didn't want any prints before he had even finished his speil and he got very annoyed with me :-0

Wanted to know why I thought they were prints, said he only sold originals, etc etc.

If he is going to be selling door to door he's gonna have to get used to being told "No"

efm

If you want Original Art with a view to it possibly someday being worth something then obviously a door to door job is not the way to go. But if you like the picture and you think it's worth the price they are asking then does it really matter if they painted it, or if it's a print or whatever.

I suppose there is the thing of it being a constant reminder on your wall of having spent €150 on something that could have been had for €30. But that's always a risk. As I mentioned elsewhere PC World are selling Web Cams for €120 than can be bought elsewhere for less than €30. So it's not just door to door sellers that put you at risk of wasting money.

Brendan, if you like the painting then don't worry about the €150. Be thankful that you can afford to write off that kind of money to experience. The painting can be a constant reminder of how well off you are.

-Rd

Does anyone think that soliciting door to door should be outlawed completely?

Maybe it's just the area where I live, but we have callers at least once a week from the 'student' painters, to Jehovah's Witnesses, charities, raffle ticket sellers, Eircom sales reps, dodgy blokes cleaning guttering, etc.

I find it an intrusion as they usually call in the evening when we're having dinner - especially when they get aggressive or won't take a polite 'no' for an answer.