I had the unfortunate luck to go shopping with my wife today. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wife, but hate any kind of shopping. Anyway, we were at our local mall looking for a present for our son (who is graduating in June) and found that the mall was hosting what they called an Art Liquidation Sale.  There was sculptures and other three dimensional artwork along with the classic oil paintings.

I was shocked at what some of the medium and large size paintings were going for. The pricing did not seem to detour many shoppers from snatching up landscapes, portraits and abstract themed paintings. I knew that the vendors who were selling were not the artists because I asked a few about the works. One fellow explained he buys bulk loads of hand painted artwork and resells them at craft and art shows throughout the state. Interesting.

When we got home after what seemed like an eternity to me, I immediately went to my computer and started researching wholesale oil paintings. I found a few dealers online who sell paintings, one in particular that is located in China. Deep sigh…..yeah, you have to import the paintings, but pricing looks reasonable. I went ahead and chatted online with one of the sales Reps and they were very helpful in answering the questions that I had. My biggest concern was shipping as far as how they pack the paintings. I was told they ship in custom hardboard tubes, which can hold up to 30 24 X 36 paintings! Paintings are shipped un-stretched.

The China Wholesaler is DouPine.com and the minimum quantity for each order is 100 paintings, mix and match. I was told that new buyers can order small quantities as a sample order to get a feel for quality and time in transit.

Here is the price list:

20 x 24 inches on canvas $5.95 each
24 x 36 inches on canvas $9.55 each
36 x 48 inches on canvas $17.95 each

With pricing this low you could set up shop at fairs, malls and even open a small retail art studio. If you are uncomfortable importing paintings I did find smaller lots of hand painted oil paintings on Liquidation.com. Once on the auction site perform an advance search by seller FramedArt123