When it comes to art, my mind is not set in stone for a certain period or style. I truly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You would always want to follow your heart, and choose whatever speaks to you.
I picked up a couple of antique oil paintings from our trip to London last summer. I felt that a late 1800's painting depicting a romantic English landscape scene would be the perfect choice for the fireplace in my living room. I have since been on the hunt for it but to my great disappointment, for the paintings from that era which made their way outside of museum and gallery collections rarely came in large sizes (we are talking about 30x40"). Furthermore, for anything that came remotely close to the right size or aesthetic would cost a fortune. I came across a couple of maybe's and they were in the $60,000-$100,000 ballpark...ahem...that's probably over my price range you think?
I've seen murals and wallpapers from anewall (a-new-wall) at a few design bloggers', but never thought they would also offer classic reproductions. I ordered the Evening in Italy by Claude Lorrain canvas print in 30x40" for the fireplace.
Framing was done by Edmond at YM Art. A clean-lined minimalist gilt frame seemed to be a surprising choice for a very classic painting like this, but they totally work together.
I also ordered a smaller print titled Jean Baptise + His Angels. It's in my foyer for the time being until I can find a better place for it...the joy of puttering around.
So tell me, what do you have over your fireplace if anything at all? If money were no object, how would you rather style the fireplace?
