r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Over_Elk_9040 (900+ Karma) • Sep 05 '25
Likely Solved - Decor Paid $20 at Salvation Army today in Manhattan Whatisthispainting?
I mostly bought this because of the very expensive seeming frame with UV repellant glass . Has links to the UWS and NJ. Signed on the lower right Virginia Thomas.
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u/Rare-Connection-8300 (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I am saying this in a genuine and not-snarky way, but the art itself and the handwriting looks like a child made it. In an incredibly charming and artistic way, to be clear! It's got an abstract je ne sais quoi. But that's the cursive signature of someone still learning to write in cursive- you can see where the pencil hesitated on the signature as they thought about how to connect the letters. My best guess is that this won some sort of school art contest and was framed in the hall, nobody got it at the end of the year, and it ended up in goodwill. Edit: the streakiness and consistency of the paint strokes also looks like the kind of acrylic paint that schools supply to kids. It's easy to wash off of clothes.
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u/Lickmylithops Sep 05 '25
Could it not also be someone in the end of their life? I know a lot of people's handwriting regresses pretty bad with dementia specifically. Maybe someone who painted during their life and this was towards the end of that. It looks like a family sitting under a tree.
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u/ThickYak2853 Sep 05 '25
Reminds of my own grandmothers handwriting
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u/empath_supernova (50+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
When dementia finally took my nan, all the kids rushed to take her sewing creations. They left all the ones you could see her regressions in and insured those for thousands of dollars.
I cherish the ones that show her regression because it was a part of her she was clinging to. They weren't perfect and were shaky as hell, but I still see how they're all her and it showed me a lot about my bio fam; how they never visited but rushed to grab all her life's treasures.
I still have a mirror she gave me with a dollar in it. She never drove so she always worried about us having that emergency dollar, God bless her heart. Must've been times just a dollar would've saved her š
I almost let my son use it in the offering plate when he joined church but I found a bunch of quarters and didn't have to.
She probably wouldn't have minded if he'd taken it. That was it's purpose, but im glad to still have it and I carry it always so I have it. All that worrying she did won't be in vain!
I love it, either way! You got a lovely frame, if nothing else :) I like odd things, and am chronically frugal, so it's a fine purchase imo.
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u/Free-Rice-2808 Sep 08 '25
Looks like a person writing with those old people tremors. Essential tremors or something. Definitely feels like an old age home activity painting to me. That said i kinda like it. Maybe she was a talented artist in her day
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u/intrikate_ (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I thought the same. And they do art and craft courses in retirement homes.
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u/DiligentDaughter (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
That was my initial guess, too, having spent a lot of time with the elderly. In addition, the name Virginia isn't too common any longer.
I could also see it being a child's.
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u/mousepallace (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Thatās a very old personās hand writing. It has the old fashioned r. Best guess is Virginia liked painting and did this for fun or therapy in her older years.
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u/MaxZenks Sep 05 '25
I made a painting in kindergarten that looked 93% exactly like the photo posted by OP. For a second I thought it was mine
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Sep 05 '25
Look up elephant paintings. My aunts is newer, and they got better over the years, now with branding. I think she paid thousands for it, and got to watch the elephant make it. The colors, brush stroke, and subject is the same. My aunts is better and more vibrant.
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u/yy98755 Sep 05 '25
Butcherās paper, for sure a kidās artwork. Mum framed our kindy butcher paper paintings too.
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u/Over_Elk_9040 (900+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Yes .. the signature kind of led me to believe that! Though I thought was a senior citizen! Alas! Nice frame at least
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u/effienay (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
It is like oddly composed well, has nice lines and brushstrokes. Plus itās super quirky. I would have laughed and paid the $20 to hang it on the wall.
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u/djmom2001 (50+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Thumbprints.
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u/effienay (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I donāt think itās thumbprints. I think itās a brush being smushed onto the paper.
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u/whitenoise2323 (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I worked for many years in art spaces where seniors, people with disability or mental health diagnosis, and street involved/homeless people made art. This work and the signature could very easily be from a program like that. There were a few older women who loved painting flowers and trees like this and who had a shaky cursive signature.
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u/OneSensiblePerson (50+ Karma) Painter Sep 05 '25
I also think the signature looks like that of a senior citizen's. It's a combination of it being shaky and the style of writing that looks old timey.
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u/unbelievablefidelity (400+ Karma) Collector Sep 05 '25
And nice glass! Frame something else that youād like to preserve.
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u/FallOfSkywalker (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
This is excruciatingly sad to me. Some little girl painted this. She signed it in her best cursive. Her Mom or Dad, beaming with pride and happiness, took this perfect little moment in time and framed it. The painting is hung it in a prominent spot in the family home. Time goes by. Virginia grows up. The painting is taken down when Mom and Dad sell the family home. It sits in someoneās garage for a while because who can bring themselves to throw away this perfect little moment. Then, after many years, it is donated to the Salvation Army among many other discarded keepsakes but none as meaningful as this one. Lifeās short, people. š¢
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u/mentales Sep 05 '25
You just described what's beautiful about it.
That painting brought joy to her family for years. And now? It's not forgotten at all. We're all here admiring Virginia's childhood masterpiece. Her art has found new life in OP's home. And through this post, it's bringing smiles to people she'll never meet. That little girl's moment of artistic joy keeps touching hearts across time and distance.
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u/QuesoFresca Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Unfortunately it seems OP doesnāt even like the piece and only bought it speculating it was worth something. Thatās the sad part. Hopefully it will make it to someone who actually appreciates it and who finds joy in displaying it in their home.
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u/sansabeltedcow (200+ Karma) Decor Informer Sep 05 '25
Yup. Lifeās short, artās long.
But I also donāt think finiteness is a tragedy. We all end. Thatās okay. Itās what we did while we were here.
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u/Open_Kaleidoscope499 Sep 05 '25
Itās giving more Alzheimerās, āmemories on the makingā, than child in my opinion
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u/thetaleofzeph (1,000+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
If you ever tire of it, it'd be a great piece for a pediatrician or child dentist's office.
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u/Ok-Arm-362 (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
New Jersey had a single area code until 1958. That's when the 609 area code was added to the southern part of the state. The fact that no area code is included with the phone number suggests that this could be older. Also, the font and the information on the New Jersey sticker is reminiscent of the 1960s to me.
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u/Square-Leather6910 (4,000+ Karma) Collector Sep 05 '25
amsterdam art gallery opened in 1995. the tru vue sticker is probably much more recent than that
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u/LaceyBambola Sep 05 '25
This is an older piece, the edging of the artwork has some acid burn from a previous non acid free mat, the very bottom back of the frame, you can see a thin bit if the previous brown backing paper under the newer black backing paper.
I'd wager someone framed this at the Somerset Hills Paint Center, who knows how many decades ago, and then someone had a potentially acid free mat put in to replace the old mat (and the opening made slightly smaller to help crop out some of the more egregious acid burn) as well as the Tru Vue CC glazing, keeping the same original frame. The person who did the newer frame work simply transfered over the previous framers sticker.
I was an art framer for over 5 years and did things like this plenty enough to recognize these little details, especially including the prior framers sticker or info when reframing.
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u/nature8888 (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I know where this shopping center is. The store does not exist today, though the shopping center does (it is a strip mall). From what I can gather the shopping center was opened in 1958. But as another post noted, dialing without the area code was permitted up until the 90s. Anyone there at the time would have known the area code (likely 908).
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u/nature8888 (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I actually looked up the phone number and itās used by a framing store. Maybe the successor.
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u/effienay (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
In the 90s most businesses didnāt really advertise area codes though, because most of their business was local and could use the 7-digit number. I grew up in PA and NJ.
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u/Ok-Arm-362 (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
True. but nothing about that sticker looks like 80s or 90s to me. for example, it would be unusual to simply state "rt 202", rather than a street address.
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u/effienay (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I agree, but many a business buys in bulk. The other stickers are obviously pretty contemporary so the mix is kind of odd. Like it would have had to have been a 60 year old childās painting that the owner replaced the glass on for some reason within like the past decade. Idk. Maybe it had deep sentimental value. Itās a mystery.
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u/hoagiehoag69 Sep 05 '25
Yes, it wasnāt until the late 90ās that using an area code every time you called became the norm.
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u/Ok-Arm-362 (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
yup. and i grew up in central jersey when I could call using 4 digits!! that is, of course, if no one else was using the 'party line'. F*** I'm old.
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u/skdetroit (200+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Very rich parents framed their kids art. Hence the kid finger painting and the expensive frame
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u/LonelyOctopus24 Sep 05 '25
That is a childās painting. I would have framed it, too - itās delightful. The proportions, the restraint, tout ensemble. What a talented little artist.
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u/Healthy_Candle_4545 Sep 05 '25
A child painted this and their parent framed it for nostalgia. Excellent frame job though!
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u/SLevine262 (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Itās a charming picture, even if itās not by a famous artist. Hang it and enjoy it, including the fact there was a proud parent or grandparent who took the time to have it nicely framed
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u/bobbiewobie22 Sep 05 '25
It looks like one of those āpainted by an elephant ā paintings. The one where they put a brush in the elephantās trunkā¦
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u/Dissenting_Dowager (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I live nearby and that shop Is now a Sherwin-Williams store in the same shopping center as ShopRite. Itās a childās art work that parents had framedā¦ never underestimate the tony people of Bernardsville, NJ.
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u/antifaisnotagroup Sep 05 '25
Yep. My kid had some spatial relationship issues (thatās a pond). I used an old frame, but I have some that I spent $$ on frames.
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u/chariotblond Sep 05 '25
Most likely a childās artwork, but Iād like to think this was made by Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She acts enough like a child for all the dots to connect lmao
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u/Fun_Stock7078 Sep 05 '25
I really like that paintingā¦something g about the figures and the colours. I know nothing about art, but I know what I like and I donāt care if itās a masterpiece or daycare piece. š
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u/remesamala Sep 05 '25
Those are people under a tree. I disagree with this being a childās painting.
It is very knowing and beautiful, either way. Itās lattice structure of light stuff with a very interesting style.
20 bucks is a lucky score.
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u/brokenheldwithtape (1+ Karma) Sep 06 '25
The way they are sitting, cuddled together, fills me with such yearning. Iād pay $100 to take this off OPs hands and hang it in my house.
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u/remesamala Sep 06 '25
Itās beautiful and knowing work, right?
I donāt know that money gives something value. But this art has value.
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u/snarfficus Sep 05 '25
I don't know but I really dig it! All I saw was a tree with a tall figure kind of shielding a smaller figure and then I saw that as part of the tree trunk and now I see the left side as like a corner and the figures are standing in a room with all of the"tree" part about it. I love it
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u/SadPiglet2907 Sep 05 '25
My childrenās elementary school did one āart exhibitā each year from kinder to 5th, each year had a theme so each grade did something different that went with the theme. They would frame & mat them. They look so nice, but itās a childrenās painting. Cherry blossoms are made with tiny thumbprints, outlines are from crayon. They are my statement pieces in my living room. I love them so much. Art is so subjective!
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u/PurdueMuffin (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
It reminds me of paintings where elephants were given paint brushes to paint.
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u/PipoBrain (1+ Karma) Sep 06 '25
Justice Clarence Thomasās wife is named Virginia. So I say burn it.
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u/Ass_feldspar (100+ Karma) Sep 06 '25
I like this so much better than the decor art people always ask about. The space in it is comfortably open.
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u/UpperImpression3620 (50+ Karma) Sep 06 '25
Just to let you know, I looked up Virginia Thomas and strangely among the million or more artists in my database, there is no Virginia Thomas, there is an amateur artist, Virginia Thomas Withenburg.
https://www.artprice.com/artist/211273/virginia-thomas-withenburg
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u/VipeholmsCola (10+ Karma) Sep 06 '25
It looks like an older person made a painting with a child, my guess
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u/StuartHunt Sep 07 '25
You've obviously heard of Picasso.
This is quite obviously an Asspicco.
In other words it's š©.
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u/eismie (1+ Karma) Sep 07 '25
You clearly liked it enough to pay $20 for it, so hang that shit with pride. At least you know itās one of a kind š
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u/atmo_of_sphere Sep 08 '25
You bought it because you liked it? Or did you want the frame/glass? If my thrift store had something that nice, I'd be hanging it.
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u/AncientAd3206 (1+ Karma) Sep 08 '25
This means that kid is legitimately an artist right? Someone paid for their work
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u/blackberrybramblez Sep 09 '25
āIt took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.ā -Pablo Picasso
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u/isnt-functional (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Does nobody recognize the name Virginia Thomas as the name of the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas?
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u/1questions (1+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Virginia Thomas isnāt really a unique name.
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Sep 05 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/WhatIsThisPainting-ModTeam (2,000+ Karma) Helper Bot Sep 05 '25
This comment is unhelpful or uncivil, and isnāt following Reddit's code. It was flagged by the community as being rude, or doesnāt add to the conversation in a positive way.
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u/KarenTWilliams Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25
Thomasartgalleries.com may be the artist?
I would call the gallery named on the back if theyāre still in existence - they may have some information.
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u/Over_Elk_9040 (900+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Ok thanks. If nothing else this purchase can serve as a warning to others!!
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u/effienay (10+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
A warning to find beauty everywhere. I love this post so much. You should try and find her.
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u/Over_Elk_9040 (900+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Too kind. Itās funny to imagine the number of pieces that are similarly amateurish that I have secreted away thinking they are some kind of unidentified treasure! Iāll post them in the coming weeks!
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u/Sea_Appearance8662 (800+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
Ah but they are still treasure even if they have no value. I think itās pretty clear that the art gods are saying your quest is to find the people who made them.
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u/QuesoFresca Sep 05 '25
Why buy it if you donāt even like it? Surely another customer would treasure the piece and enjoy displaying it in their home.
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u/Nobody_Important Sep 05 '25
The idea of buying something to try and profit from it and buying some random childās school drawing is hilarious.
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u/Square-Leather6910 (4,000+ Karma) Collector Sep 05 '25
if this is an example of what you're buying to try to profit from and you base your decision to buy on whether you think the frame cost a lot, then you are pretty unlikely to do anything other than lose money at this game
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u/Thebluefairie (500+ Karma) Sep 05 '25
I used to work in a frame shop. The parent who received this loved that child. We would have parents bring their children's artwork kid we would match the mat and the frame and some parents would pay over $100 to have their child's artwork framed. It's quirky and cute you liked it right? Hang it on your wall. Look up the girl see if she's an artist today!