Van Gaard Studios

North Hollywood, California.

I nabbed this bad boy at a "junk shop" in a small town close by my home town. 

The moment I spied it I loved its vintage feel. The colors are so moody, the subject is relaxing and it is a monster (kind of sort of) of a painting. 

It is not a print, but upon first glance it appears to be one. It is painted on a board of sorts with some streaks of the paint on the back. The back is also stamped with the Van Gaard Studios logo. There is not a year to tell me what year it was painted. 

Asking price was $45 and the purchase price was $35! 

I looked up the value of the monster Van Gaard 47" by 23" painting and learned that most of them were painted in a studio, not printed. Wooot. Good information there. The main decade of production was the 1960's. They were usually framed in studio and sold that way. 

The "Van Gaard" original painter was named Lee Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds would paint an original painting, set it out for his starling artists to reproduce and then they would sign the Van Gaard name to each painting.  This is why the signatures all look different. 

Value of this painting varies. Since they were considered to be mass produced then they are only worth $50 for a 16" x 20". Mine should be a bit higher since it is a monster size.  If you check out on Ebay they range in price. Some say that they are originals, but who really knows? Prices vary from $80 all of the way up to $850 for the same size that I have in hand. 

To me it is awesome and I am proud to add it to the walls of my home. 

What do you think?