The worst (art) place on the internet
Thrift store art as the goldrush of the 21st century
I am guilty of the phenomenon I’m about to write about: desperately hoping that luck finds me and that I will find a painting worth $1.2 million at the thrift store.
I think I’m well suited to be the person who finds the equivalent of the golden ticket in an unassuming pile of junk. I have a firm grasp of art history, if not the general quality of a painting. Forget that I rarely wander into the art section of a thrift store—bad art bothers me, and it’s always chock-full of it.
That’s why my least favourite place on the internet (in terms of art) is the Subreddit r/WhatIsThisPainting.
At first, I thought it was a community of people after my goal to get rich quickly from art (lol!). But then I realized that it is a subreddit full of misguided hope and a lack of art literacy. In the brief time I followed the page, I saw some of the worst, most generic artwork I have ever seen. People claimed their parents paid 5k for a piece and wanted to know who painted it. The comments quickly told them their parents were scammed, and they’d be lucky to get $50. Fights dissolve in the comments about the difference between “decorative art” and real art. There’s a lot of fake Van Goghs.
In short, it alerted me to the overall quality of art out in the world, and it wasn’t good. Lest you think I’m being a SNOB (I am a bit; it’s a necessary tenant of having personal taste), I will say that this isn’t a phenomenon relegated to the masses of the internet; it’s also been a trend in the art world.
Van Gogh Museum Rules $50 Garage Sale Painting Is Not a $15 Million Masterpiece
Emily Carr painting sold at a barn for $50 US fetches $349K at Toronto auction
D.C. woman’s $3.99 thrift store find is Ancient Mayan artifact
‘Horrible’ Painting Found by a Junk Dealer Could Be a Picasso Worth $6 Million
A lot of people are looking for a life-altering painting in their attic or local secondhand shop, and when they do, it’s a big news item. These stories tap into something larger. It’s a related cousin to the myth of the American Dream, which promises if you work hard enough, you will be rewarded with upward mobility. Instead, it’s more closely related to the appeal of the gold rush: if you’re in the right place, at the right time, you can make it big.
Art is valuable—that can be sentimental value or monetary. An unassuming painting can be worth a million dollars, the difficult part is knowing what painting is, or will be, worth more than you paid. This was the crutch of conversations around “art as an investment” that was widespread five years ago. What the majority of collectors-as-investors discovered was, similar to the people posting on r/WhatIsThisPainting, that most art does not appreciate significantly.
But times are really tough right now. There’s an impulse to hold onto hope in any area of life you can. The desire to find valuable artwork for pennies is a kind of recession indicator. I empathize with the impulse—but I also think we need more art education if the dream for most will ever become a reality.
If you’re looking for some feel-good videos, The Antique Roadshow always has sweet moments where someone finds out that something that holds sentimental value to them shares a market value. I especially like this one:
I feel patina can be one of the most valuable thrift/antique finds. An object well worn, or one that has simply accumulated time by surviving disposal may have deep human connection and spiritual value.
There was a time when thrift/antique barns were rewarding. But online thrift stores like eBay have lowered my expectations. I'm not sure how much a “horrible” Picasso without provenance, and most likely, without genuine verification, would be worth. Millions? Unlikely. The same is true, I imagine, with Antiques Roadshow.