OverstockArt.com, the online leader of handmade oil paintings, has officially released its annual “Top 20 Best Sellers of the Art and Oil Painting World” ranking for 2006.

According to Amitai Sasson, VP of OverstockArt.com, the company releases its Top 20 list each year as a way of allowing customers to know which works-of-art are the “hippest, most desirable” paintings on the market – a fact, he says, many people are interested to know.

“A lot of people want to know what’s selling best because it gives them an idea of what’s trendy, what’s hip, what’s cool and what their respective peer groups are going to enjoy,” he said. “This is especially true in the business world where offices have to keep up with the latest interior décor in order to maintain a sense of modern quality to impress customers and clients…a lot of business owners like to make sure they’re up to speed.”
By tracking sales statistics, OverstockArt.com is able to compile data allowing them to create the list.

This year’s top-selling oil painting is Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, followed closely by another of his masterpieces, “Café Terrace at Night”. In fact, according to Sasson’s statistics, Van Gogh is the top seller for his company both online and offline. (more…)

This is a brief insight into the color choices and techniques of the Father of Impressionism, Claude Monet.

1. Even though Monet is considered the Father of impressionism, his paintings were not done spontaneously. In fact, Monet studied his subject intensely, planned ahead, and worked meticulously to achieve his results.
2. Claude Monet paintings are often in sequence of the same subject because he often painted a series of the same subject to capture the changing effects of the light, swapping canvases as the day progressed. Monet painted many subjects again and again, but every one of his series paintings is different, whether it’s a painting of a water lily or a hay stack.
3. Many figure that Claude Monet painted his masterpieces on-location, when in-fact; many of his oil paintings were painted or finished back in his studio.
4. Monet used a limited palette. Not many earth tones found their way into the Claude Monet canvas.



5. According to James Heard’s book “Paint Like Monet,” Monet used ten main colors:
1. Lead white (modern equivalent = titanium white)
2. Chrome yellow (modern equivalent = cadmium yellow light)
3. Cadmium yellow
4. Viridian green
5. Emerald green
6. French ultramarine
7. Cobalt blue
8. Madder red
9. Vermilion
10. Ivory black

Just thought I’d clear the smoke from some of the things you hear about Claude Monet. He was a great artist, and his vanguard approach earns him the right to be considered the father of the most admired art movement of the modern era.

Most people have never seen it before, so they can’t even gage the essence of what I’m talking about. Handmade oil paintings are beautiful to behold and considered to be the most classical of any wall décor medium…

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(OverstockArt.com) — Low profile jeans showing off derrieres, deep-cut shirts for exposing as much cleavage as possible, daisy-duke jean-shorts and bun-huggers — these days what’s hot is what’s not. When it comes to fashion, it seems the more there is to see, the better.

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“More than Coffee was served”… that is the name of the new exhibition at the Gallery St. Etienne, celebrating “the role of the coffeehouse as both hangout and inspiration” for artists throughout history.

Either the coffee or the coffee house causes the artists of recent and of old to create and articulate great art. That correlation in itself is fascinating. Even the deranged Van Gogh, used Café Scenes as inspiration. The Earless café that he painted in his famous Café Terrace at Night painting is now a Mecca for South of France tourists.

Not so well known as a Café-patron, Gustav Klimt is a great example of a European artist that spent many hours on the café front, sipping on a latte and drawing loosely on his sketch pad “balanced between his knees.”

So, drink up a Cup of Joe and head down to the Gallery St. Etienne and celebrate the intriguing relationship between Art and caffeine.

Steve Wynn the owner of the Mirage and Bellagio Hotels and Casinos from Las Vegas, accidentally punctured a hole in the Pablo Picasso painting “The Dream”.
Wynn accidentally punctured a hole in it while showing the painting to some friends and accidentally elbowed the famed Picasso!

Wynn actually sold the masterpiece to a collector for an estimated $140 Million dollars. Wynn had decided to release the buyer from the sale agreement and to repair and keep the painting for himself.

Wynn, suffers from an eye disease that damages peripheral vision. When he punctured the hole in the 1932 Picasso portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter, he said: “Look what I’ve done. Thank goodness it was me.”

Nora Ephron wrote about the occurrence in her Huffington Post Blog, it is a very funny post, but I was very sad to hear about this occurrence. The Dream is my favorite painting, that I got for my mom this past May, hopefully they’ll have it repaired soon.