The popular online art gallery, overstockArt.com, revealed today its annual Top 10 Oil Paintings rankings for 2010. Topping the list is Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece, “Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom.” Other artists named on the 2010 list include Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko.

Van Gogh continues his reign as the best-selling artist this year. According to overstockArt.com statistics, van Gogh’s magnum opus “Starry Night” was the world’s most popular oil painting in 2009 and the most popular oil painting of the past decade. He consistently has more than one work of art included in the Top 10 list and this year, has secured four spots in the Top 10. “Van Gogh consistently remains the most popular artist in the world, his total sales numbers have left everyone well behind,” said David Sasson, CEO of overstockArt.com.

overstockArt.com is the world’s most popular online art gallery, driving more than 600,000 monthly visitors; it has a unique perspective on what’s hot in the art world.

The top oil paintings sold online according to overstockArt.com are:
1. “Branches of Almond Tree in Blossom” – Vincent van Gogh
2. “Starry Night” – Vincent van Gogh
3. “The Kiss” – Gustav Klimt
4. “Café Terrace at Night” – Vincent van Gogh
5. “Garden Path at Giverny” – Claude Monet
6. “Poppy Field at Argenteuil” – Claude Monet
7. “Sunflowers” – Vincent van Gogh
8. “The Old Guitarist” – Pablo Picasso
9. “Untitled, 1949” – Mark Rothko
10. “Tree of Life” – Gustav Klimt

“Blossoming Almond Tree” is one of van Gogh’s best known works of art and is noteworthy as van Gogh painted it in honor of his namesake, his nephew Vincent. The tour-de-force depicts big branches of white almond blossom set against a blue sky. In 2010, overstockArt.com debuted several renditions of the painting featuring different colored backgrounds. The online art gallery trademarked the red rendition, which according to Sasson, quickly became a best-seller.
“It was without a doubt the introduction of the red, green and yellow renditions of van Gogh’s ‘Blossoming Almond Tree,’ which caused the painting to garner so much attention this year and place number one on our Top 10 list,” stated Sasson. “We saw an almost instantaneous increase in sales of the painting when the different interpretations were introduced, particularly with the red interpretation, which was an immediate best-seller.”

Rothko is new to the Top 10 list this year. overstockArt.com attributes the artist’s resurgence in popularity to AMC’s Emmy and Golden Globe – winning series “Mad Men.” Ever since Rothko’s masterpiece “Number 12″ was first shown hanging in Bert Cooper’s office in the award-winning series, sales of his art has increased a large amount, earning him the ninth slot on the 2010 Top 10 list.

The Top 10 list is released annually due to popular demand, “Consumers are interested in knowing what’s selling best because it allows them keep up with the latest decorating trends and to know which paintings are the trendiest and most desirable on the market.”

In 2010 overstockArt.com sold more than 60,000 oil paintings. They are one of the web’s most successful distributors of wall decor items with more than 20,000 daily visitors and 120,000 loyal customers.

With winter on the way, now is the time to focus on winterizing your home with design and décor fit for the season. Design expert Dawn Kail of overstockArt.com, has come up with a top five list of decorating trends that will keep you cozy on those cold winter nights.

When redecorating for winter you will ideally emphasize two things: warmth and comfort,” said Kail. “It doesn’t take transforming the entire room to warm up your look, just add a few key accent pieces to give that warm winter sensation to your décor.”

Winterize your home with Kail’s top 5 decorating tips:

1. Introduce warmer colors: Bring visual warmth into your home by introducing seasonal colors. This year, designers are using warm hues like red and brown, coupled with cool colored accents. A new paint job isn’t necessary to incorporate new colors in to your home – work them in with accent items.
2. Soft surfaces: Fill the room with thick, soft surfaces that give it a comforting feel. Keep your family and guests warm with throws, pillows, slipcovers, and area rugs made of popular winter fabrics like chenille, fleece, velvet and wool. If you have laminate, hardwood or tile flooring, thick winter area rugs will provide added insulation, warmth and comfort to your home. Don’t be afraid to layer. Drape one throw over the back of a coach or chair and then add another over the top to add an additional layer of style.
3. Winter window treatments: A quick way to add warmth to a room is to swap sheer curtains for heavier drapery. Use winter draperies that can be opened to let the sun in and can be closed up to help keep out any chilly winds that might penetrate the windows.
4. Winter wall art: Give your home a warmer glow with artwork. Decorate with photos and paintings that feature wintry images or the rich winter hues. Georgia O’Keeffe’s famous oil painting “Red Cannas” would be a good fit because of its vibrant crimson colors and Paul Cezanne’s “Melting Snow, Fontainebleau” would be a good fit for its reflection of winter. overstockArt.com makes it easy to find winter wall art for your home with its Seasonal Winter Gallery.
5. Cozy lighting: Create an ambiance of warmth with indoor lighting and candles. Place small lamps in each room to bring a soft light into your home. A flickering candle creates an inviting atmosphere for you and your guests, while providing light and heating at no extra cost. Use seasonal colored hurricanes to cast a warm glow in the room or display white candles on a silver tray to add to your wintry décor.

The best way to keep redecorating expenses down is to keep your mainstay furnishings neutral, that way you don’t have to replace everything to give the room a whole new look,” said Kail.

I want to thank Dawn for sharing a few decorating tips with us! I hope these tips will spark your imagination and help you kick-start your winter decorating endeavors. Would love to hear your thoughts!

A retired electrician, Pierre Le Guennec, claims that Pablo Picasso’s wife gifted him with a few of his works before her death in 1986. Yet, Picasso’s heirs aren’t convinced that this is the case.

Knowledge of the collection became apparent when a letter was written to Claude Picasso–son of the famous artist–stating Le Guennec’s ownership of the works and regarding the authenticity of the pieces.

Le Guennec worked on the Picasso property in the south of France during the 1970s. When questioned by media about the collection,  Le Guennec stated, “It’s Madame (Picasso) who gave them. But if Madame gave them, Monsieur was aware of it.  She wasn’t going to do it just like that, was she?” The retired electrician denied stealing the paintings and was inquiring about their value as a possible inheritance for his children.

Those closest to the artist say that, even though he was known to part with mere sketches, he wouldn’t have just gifted a trove of his artwork to an electrician.

“We have questions, legitimate questions about where the paintings came from,” Claudia Andrieu, legal counsel for the Picasso Foundation, told Reuters Television. “We are discovering new pieces, completely unknown pieces that had never been printed in any book.”

The Picasso Foundation reports that Le  Guennec has changed his story many times as to how he acquired the paintings. First it was Pablo Picasso, himself, who gifted the electrician with this collection, then Madame Picasso, and then the works were left in a box or trashcan.

The Picasso Foundation has convinced a judge to secure the works to be taken care of by experts until the claims by Pierre Le Guennec can be proven or disproven in court.  Among the works are as well as portraits of the artist’s first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a watercolor from Picasso’s Blue period, several painted hand studies, some 30 lithographs and over 200 drawings, and nine rare Cubist collages. These are undated by the artist, which suggests the paintings should have never left the studio.

As the days get shorter and colder and the snow starts to fall, many people stop worrying about how their homes look from outside, instead concentrating on how it looks on the inside. However, decorating your space for such a festive season can very well be a very costly experience.

Regardless of whether you are decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, it can also be fun and easy to do! All you need is to use some of the resources that you have in your disposal and you could be well on your way to form a holiday theme that will be remembered for the ages!

Pick a Color Scheme

Unify the home with a color scheme, regardless of how a room is decorated. Popular color schemes for the winter holiday season include:

• Red & green
• Pink & green
• Blue & gold
• Green & white
• Red & white
• Purple & blue
• Blue & white
• Silver & red

Use Neutral Colors for your Big Elements

If you’re going shopping for wall paint or even new bits of artworks, consider neutral colors for both. Doing so makes changing to a new color scheme for spring or summer later on a lot simpler, as you will only need to swap around the accessories.

Dig Out your Old Christmas Cards

And then glue them onto mat board to make an excellent piece of holiday artwork that can be hung on the walls. You could either trim the board to a single card size or just attach dozens of cards to a bigger piece and line it up along the wall or place it on a table top.

Pillow Presents

Tie your throw pillows with a few different colored holiday ribbons, either round the middle once or in a bow just like you do with Christmas gifts, creating pillow presents!

Get Creative with Colorful Cranberries

One great idea is stick some fresh cranberry plants in large vases, adding a seasonal red splash of color to any room. If you don’t have vases, you could use clear wine bottles instead. You can also use cranberries to fill candle trays as well, putting them on the dining room table, mantelpiece and voila!

Try Some Vintage Accessories

The thing to avoid is having your room looking just like a home décor store catalog, so to do this you should try to get hold of some vintage accessories. For instance, if you see lots of little cardboard houses appearing in the catalogs, maybe you could go out and get some Vintage Putz houses instead. You can search online or in thrift stores for vintage items, and even though it may take you a while, the stunning effect this twist has on things can make your room feel really special.

If you have any crafty skills at all, there are lots of vintage materials you can use for making Christmas décor:

• Fabric
• Buttons
• Ornaments
• Pom-poms trim & other kinds of edgings
• Quilts
• Chenille bedspreads
• Old letters, postcards, newspaper ads

You can also create a modern twist by making new accessories by using bits from vintage supplies. Paint new designs onto glass ornaments or even crush them and use the powder as a cheap glass glitter replacement while quilts and bedspreads can be used to make holiday pillows, tree skirts and stockings. The possibilities are limitless!

Use Christmas Cards to Make a Swag

Another way to make last year’s cards useful, simply hang them all over a long piece of string or twine, tacking the ends to the mantel’s corners, or string it up along a long corridor or hallway.

Go Branch Hunting

Take a walk outside and see what branches and twigs you can find. Spray painted with gold or silver and placed in a vase, they make for very elegant seasonal décor.

Create a Focal Point

While your house might look festive already, with ornaments and other touches scattered around, nothing else quite carries the holiday spirit like a major Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Christmas indoor display. The ideal spots for this would be banisters or mantels, but you could also set it up in a corner or on a table. The trick is to decorate the area really well, so follow these tips:

• Swags
• Bowls of ornaments
• Group Christmas trees, Menorahs, angels and other festive items, mixing up different styles and sizes as you go
• Use miniature houses, fake snow and toy people to make winter scenes.

Add a Plant

For the perfect finishing touch, add a plant into the room. Winter plants such as Poinsettias are the obvious choice, though you could also go for orchids or forced bulbs which look just as good!

You could spend a small fortune decorating this Christmas, and it will look swell, or you could make something that might take a bit more work, might not look as hip and trendy, but it will make for a very special occasion. By making decorating a family affair and involving everyone in the efforts makes the holidays extra special.