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the originality of some
Chinese paintings and
whether they comply with
American copyright
laws.”
If you want to read the
full story, it is available
at: www.nytimes.com for
a fee.
So far, the competition
has been in the form of
oil paintings…by the
pound, as some
derisively refer to them.
Until very recently, there
have been a relatively
small number of Asian
companies selling oil
paintings to the Decor
market. Historically, the
Decor market was
comprised of
independently owned
galleries and frame
The China Syndrome (continued from Page 1)
Page 4
shops, interior designers
and volume framers. I’ll
explain the latter term for
those who find it foreign
shortly.
Now, as the landscape
(pun intended) on wall
decor sales are changing
with sales trending to big
boxes and the Internet
against a backdrop of
rising Chinese
manufacturing gains in
markets that seemed
unconceivable just a few
yeas ago, the number of
companies marketing
very inexpensive oil
paintings has greatly
increased.
Incredibly, these
companies use an
assembly line approach
to creating art. The result
is oil paintings produced
at very low prices. In the
past, a lot of this art was
sold in hotel ballrooms to
customers responding to
shrieking television
commercial pitches
selling art from “starving
artists.” A lot of it was
destined for commercial
contract design orders
for hotels and offices.
Today, it’s finding it’s
way far more into the
mainstream, where
consumers want
passable quality art at
cheap, the same as their
polo shirts.
Fashion Square mall in
Scottsdale is home to top
echelon retailers Saks,
Neiman Marcus and
expensive tony
boutiques. Right along
side them is Painted with
Oil. A gallery selling oil
paintings at great prices
from Chinese sources.
Galleries like this one are
springing up in malls
everywhere.
Reports from the recent
Atlanta Decor Expo and
Artexpo revealed that the
art sector is experiencing
dramatically increased
competition from Asian
companies, primarily
Chinese. However
woeful for their
competitors, it is no
surprise Chinese
companies seek a larger
slice of the U.S.
decorative art and wall
decor market. They have
incredible capacity, low
The China Syndrome (continued from above)
costs and are voracious
for sales in every market.
For those readers who
have not been to a Decor
show, imagine flat,
unmounted oil paintings
on canvas stacked two
feet high, side-by-side on
numerous eight foot
tables.
In the past a handful of
companies marketed flat
oils paintings. This year,
aisles upon aisles of
these companies
exhibited. They spread
canvases on the floor in
bazaar style for buyers to
look as they browse
through the stacks. Go to
get an idea of the scope.
Wholesale prices are low
with about $60 for a 36”
x 48” canvas. Stretched
and framed, a finished
piece might wholesale
for $200 and retail for
$450-600.
Remember those volume
framers, they are
middlemen, also known
as OEMs. These
companies assemble
finished framed art;
sourcing art, mat and
framing, glass to finish
the work sold to hang to
the mass marketers
ready to hang.
OEMs also job canvas oil
paintings to assemble
and cont. on page 5)
“I wish this book was
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CMC –Consultant to
leading art & picture
framing companies
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