Buying Paintings in Thailand

Has anyone ever bought any of the reproduction art available for sale in various places in Thailand...Patong, Pattaya, Patpong, etc?

If so, do you think the prices were reasonable and what do you think about the quality of the workmanship?

Is there one place that seems to specialize in this and that always seems to consistently have high quality paintings?

I am considering buying some for my office in the USA and want to hear others experiences with this first.

Thanks

I own two paintings by Neung, from his best period. Large paintings. Let me know if you are interested. I can send you pictures.

The question was about reproduction art, not original art like Neung's.

I think the quality varies quite a lot. Best to shop around.

[PeterUK]

I'd say that the general standard of workmanship in the repro shops (factories?) is not all that high. It depends how fastidious you are. They vary, of course, and even within the same shop you will find good and not so good (because there are usually several artists at work). So look around, there are so many, and don't necessarily be put off by first appearances. In Pattaya there's a double-fronted one at the far end (from Boyztown) of Walking Street that I consider better than average and another a few yards round the golden statue bend in Jomtien, on the right, going towards the beach. If reproductions of traditional Thai paintings appeal to you, I'd strongly recommend a small shop called Kanok Gallery on Pattaya Tai, opposite the Day-Night area. One of the two artists there, A.J., a pleasant fellow, carried out the commission of a large painting for me which I was delighted with, and it was reasonably priced too. A scene of old Bangkok from about two hundred years ago, full of those stylised, naive little figures which I find lovely. The painting now has pride of place on my living room wall.

A friend of mine bought two pictures this year from a shop in Pattaya. They were sized at approx 3feet by 2 feet, and he took pictures of the pictures he wanted from an art book to help the artist. He paid half the money at the start and the rest when he picked them up. They took two weeks, and were sent away to be done by what the shop claimed was a better artist. My friend was completly delighted by the finished result, and he has excellent taste and can recognise competence. I think the total bill was in the region of ┬г200. This was a special commison, but if you see what you want already done in the shop, it will be cheaper.
One thing to bear in mind is how you want it wrapped for travel back to your home. You want to make sure rolling the canvas will not damage the workmanship.
Summing the whole thing up, he was thrilled by the price and the accuracy and detail of the paintings.

[PeterUK]

Another of the better places, which I forgot to mention, is in the narrow soi of art shops which runs alongside Mike's Shopping Mall. It's about halfway and is called Thai Art Gallery. It's run by a very pleasant and modest fellow called Bert (not quite the English pronunciation of that name - a bit of retching thrown in). I was there this evening and am about to commission a painting from him.

How you suppose to bring it back on the plane?
Cause i was going to bring a photo of myself and have it painted so i can hang it up at my workplace so everyone can see me all the time,but bringing a very large painting like that back would be too hard to fit in the luggage rack thing on top of the seat.

[PeterUK]

How you suppose to bring it back on the plane?[quote]

In my case I only have to transport it from Central Pattaya to Jomtien where I live. But most of these guys are used to shipping pictures abroad and will arrange that with you for an extra charge. Do you mean to dress up in your Ned Kelly outfit? That metal helmet thingy might give you a more sympathetic appearance.

How you suppose to bring it back on the plane?
Cause i was going to bring a photo of myself and have it painted so i can hang it up at my workplace so everyone can see me all the time,but bringing a very large painting like that back would be too hard to fit in the luggage rack thing on top of the seat.

Most places you buy reproduction or even original oil paintings from will offer to roll it up and ship it for you or give it to you in a
cardboard tube that you can easily carry on the plane or ship home by courier such as DHL or EMS.

I just bought 11 paintings for my office here in LA and they all were rolled and packed nicely, and arrived in great shape.
Took them to the framing shop to have them re-stretched and they were very complimentary of the detail and the workmanship
in the paintings and wanted to know where i got them.

I found two great shops in Patong Beach area that do phenominal work. Their cost is a bit higher than other shops I saw in Patpong,
or Pattaya, but the difference in detail in the paintings was very obvious.

Gayrice, could you please tell where those 2 shops in Patong beach are? I am looking for paintings for my condo and will be visiting Phuket in March. Thanks.

[firecat69]

Gayrice, I am also interested in those shops. Do you have email or phone numbers and do they speak English?

Thanks

[firecat69]

bump

HI the best one is called Ocean Arts Corner, on Rat-U_Thit Road Patong Beach, Kathu District. shop # 07 634 5569 mobile 01 6913572
Owner is Mr. Tienchai and his wife Thom

also this one is really big, has lots of great quality choices.
The Art Studio Patong Beach (http://www.phuketdir.com/theartiststudio/)

Don't forget that there are many young but rising art students whose work will someday be much more valuable but who sell for very reasonable amounts now- try to meet some of them at Silpakorn, for instance. If you can, find out who's winning the exhibition prizes and pick up one or two of their canvases.

There is a gallery called Chamnan in Pattaya, on the Thappraya Rd between Pattaya and Jomtien, opposite Soi 11 and the 7/11, which seems to specialise in much better than average copies of the old masters. Have seen some truly beautiful stuff there, but don't know the prices.

Worth a look if you like that type of stuff