overstockArt.com, of Wichita Kansas, the leader in handmade oil painting art reproductions, has officially released its Top 10 list of the most popular oil paintings from the past decade. Topping the list is Vincent van Goghís irrefutable magnum opus, "Starry Night". The company claims to be the internet leader of handmade reproduction oil paintings. Chances are our community of independent collectors will not be seeing too many of these at Art Basel.
"We release an annual Top 10 list and thought it would be interesting to look back over the past decade to determine the trendiest and most sought after hand painted oil painting reproductions," said David Sasson, CEO of overstockArt.com. Not surprisingly, the notoriously eccentric artist, Van Gogh, leads the list with his masterpieces "Starry Night" and "Café Terrace at Night". According to overstockArt.comís statistics, Van Gogh's total sales numbers have far exceeded those of any of the other great masters.
The top ten oil paintings sold online in the last decade according to overstockArt.com are:
1. "Starry Night" Vincent van Gogh
2. "CafÈ Terrace at Night" Vincent van Gogh
3. "The Kiss" Gustav Klimt
4. "Poppy Field at Argenteuil" Claude Monet
5. "The Mona Lisa" Da Vinci
6. "Le Rive" (sic,The Dream in French) Pablo Picasso
7. "Luncheon of the Boating Party" Pierre August Renoir
8. "The Scream" Edvard Munch
9. "Red Cannas" Georgia OíKeeffe
10. "Persistence of Memory" Salvador Dali
In the past decade overstockArt.com sold more than a million oil paintings. They are one of the Web's most successful distributors of wall decor items with over 10,000 daily visitors and 100,000 loyal customers.
"As the Modern Art movement was conquering the auction floors getting record breaking numbers in Sothebyís and Christie's, we slowly became the destination for art lovers who could not afford the high price tags of galleries, but wanted to enjoy the hand painted art of the great masters in their homes," explained Sasson.
One of the interesting points that the top 10 oil paintings of the decade presents is that the modern artists from the turn of the last century such as Van Gogh, Monet and Klimt are still the most desirable artists in the world. ìOur numbers indicate that as the years turn and our world evolves some things remain consistent,î said Sasson. "People are still captivated by the elegance and beauty that the classic artists bring to their home. It will be interesting to see when, if ever, this trend begins to fade."
overstockArt.com was founded in 2002 by Stacy and David Sasson. It was a modest beginning in which the newly married Sasson's financed the start-up with a $5,000 loan from a local Wichita Bank. As the sole employees operating out of the couple's suburban Kansas home, their first art collection offered only a handful of unframed oil paintings to choose from.
The company soon prospered relocating to a converted warehouse on the busy Rock Road Street, just outside of the luxury shopping center, Bradley Fair. By 2005 the company had a handful of employees and stood on the verge of amazingly rapid growth.
This success was the result of the Sasson's long hours of hard work and intimate knowledge of the oil painting business. It was also a matter of fortuitous timing.
overstockArt.com was among the earliest online galleries of hand painted oil paintings and the first to focus on art reproductions of great masters such as Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso. The company's early years coincided with an explosion in the popularity of Impressionist art and the development of exciting new relationships with overseas art studios. As the Modern Art movement was conquering the auction floors getting record breaking numbers in Sothebyís and Christieís, overstockArt.com was slowly becoming a destination for art lovers who could not afford the high price tags of galleries, but wanted to enjoy hand painted art of great masters in their homes.
As the Internet becomes increasingly more appealing and accessible to interior decorators and home owners, overstockArt.com is finding new and exciting ways to engage customers via the web. The company has led the way in creating a decorator-friendly website that makes the process of finding and ordering the right art for your space a matter of a few clicks. With the advent of Web 2.0, overstockArt.com is devoting substantial resources to providing customers with custom-tailored shopping experiences that reflect their specific decorating needs.
Today, overstockArt.com is a successful art gallery. The company has over 20 employees in 3 continents; headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, the company offers the most comprehensive selection of oil paintings and frames to choose from in the online oil painting industry with currently over 90,000 decorating combinations. They include works by Matisse, Magritte, Dali, Renoir, Klimt, Degas, Rothko, OíKeeffe, Munch, Miro, and much more.
From their website: "Despite the growth and many changes the company has seen over the years, one thing has remained unchanged at overstockArt.com. We are still a company composed largely of artists and art lovers. Many of us enjoy art and make art a part of our lives. We live and breathe the oil paintings that surround us and feel we have a special connection with our customers. Put simply, we are art lovers serving art lovers."
