Oil Paintings for Sale: 5 Best Stores to Buy Art Online

oil paintings for sale feat

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If you don’t feel at home walking into a gallery to shop for the perfect oil painting, hope isn’t lost!

There are many online art platforms dedicated to making your art-buying life easier. They bring artworks by the best artists from around the world to your fingertips without ever having to leave your home.

This round-up of the best places to buy oil paintings for sale online will help you find the paintings of your dreams, for any budget, without having to worry about who to trust.

Our Top 5 Picks: Best Stores to Buy Art Online

Product

Strength

Product Details

#1. ArtFinder.com 

artfinder logo

Best Overall

  • Artists go through a thorough review process, so you’ll know you’re searching through the best of the best and purchasing from professionals.
  • Get special offers for buying more than one oil painting! This is especially nice if you can’t decide between two paintings you fell in love with.
  • “14-Day no risk money-back guarantee” and free returns if you’re unhappy with your oil painting.

#2. Saatchi Art 

saatchi art logo

Best Art Advisory

  • Curators will help you find the perfect oil painting by hand-picking personalized recommendations.
  • “7-Day 100% money-back guarantee” to ensure customer happiness.
  •  “View in your room” feature allows you to visualize any new art in your space.

#3. Artsy 

artsy logo png

Best Gallery Platform

  • They have an app! Use it to keep up with art world happenings and learn about new work available.
  • Get the real gallery experience and speak to gallery representatives to acquire the exact oil painting you’re looking for.
  •  “The Artsy Guarantee” protects buyers for up to $100,000 purchases and promises to find a resolution if something is wrong with an oil painting.

#4. Etsy 

etsy logo

Most Affordable

  • Get original paintings or order a custom painting commissioned to your specifications.
  • Small independent and emerging artists offer affordable work that’s easy to find.
  • Return policies vary by shop/seller.

#5. Society6 

society6 logo

Best Commercial Prints

  • Find the most variety of printable merchandise. You can buy an oil painting canvas print and a phone case to match.
  • Shop famous works from history or find new painters and designers to love.
  • Accepts returns within 60 days on most unused/unworn items.

1. ArtFinder.com

ArtFinder.com wins Best Overall for its dedication to highlighting only the best painters across all subjects and oil painting styles. This means you won’t have to spend hours sifting through unprofessional work online, and you can rest easy knowing your paintings will arrive just as promised.

art finder oil paint art

The finely curated selection of artwork reflects their high standards for quality oil painting. You’ll never run out of inspiration for your walls.

Pros

  • Independent artists go through a thorough application and portfolio review. They consider both “Artistic Quality” AND “Practical Quality”, so you can be sure you’re getting high-quality work from the best professional painters.
  • When you search by preferred medium, subject, and budget, you can find exactly the painting you’re looking for, from the most realistic to the most abstract or expressive.
  • ArtFinder provides special offers, for buying more than one artwork at once, that can save you hundreds of dollars!
  • Artworks have a minimum price of $30 and a max of $65,000, so there’s a huge range to work with, from affordable paintings and limited edition fine art prints to investment-level collections.

Possible Cons

  • Shipping is not included in the initial cost of the artwork and is handled by the artists themselves.

(However, this is why their application process is so thorough, to ensure safety and quality.)

original oil painting for sale by artist
Robin bird on branch By Nataly Derevyanko. $99
new artist paintings for sale
Early spring. Carpathians. By Aleksandr Kryushyn. $550.
oil painting buyer
By Lilia Orlova-Holmes. $1173.34
original oil paintings for sale online
HEAT By Victor Sheleg. $10,630

ArtFinder.com was an inspiration to search through as an artist and art appreciator. If you’re looking for new artwork, take a look at their site and take advantage of their amazing deals!

2. Saatchi Art

Saatchi Art hosts nearly a million original paintings from global artists on their site AND connects you with curators to help you sort through them!

saatchi real oil paintings

Pros

  • Saatchi offers free “art advisory” by professional curators who will hand-pick artworks specifically for you. This makes finding work to fit your needs less time-consuming and intimidating.
  • When searching, you can filter by style, subject, medium, material, price, size, orientation, and color to get exactly what will work for you and your space.
  • Their “View in my room” feature lets you see exactly what any artwork would look like in your space, so you don’t have to guess.
  • Saatchi handles all international shipping, and the shipping price is included in the artwork price, so no surprise shipping fees are hiding around any corners.

Possible Cons

  • Anyone over 18 can sign up to sell on Saatchi, so it is not as regulated as sites like ArtFinder that require a portfolio review.
  • International orders may involve additional custom fees and taxes.
fine art oil paintings for sale
Village Painting By Vahe Yeremyan. $300
oil paintings art
The Colourful Room V By Marisa Anon. $445
original oil painting on canvas
Ocean Cliffs By Vahe Yeremyan. $2000
buy original paintings online
After The Storm By Maurice Sapiro. $5,250

Saatchi Art’s unique online art advisory options make it a great place to buy paintings online with professional guidance.

Head there today to see what paintings they pick especially for you!

3. Artsy

Artsy brings top galleries representing the top global artists to one accessible platform that is well-respected in the art world, making it our choice for “best gallery platform”.

artsy online paint shop

Pros

  • Artsy works with galleries, dealers, and auctions, rather than artists directly. This means purchasing from them is as close of an experience as purchasing from an in-person gallery that you can get online.
  • You can follow your favorite oil painters and galleries to be alerted first when they post new artworks for sale.
  • Artsy has a mobile app that allows you to purchase artworks. It includes an AR feature to view them in your home before you make your decisions.

Possible Cons

  • Artsy’s site can be a little intimidating to navigate when you first start to use it because, on the surface, it caters to more experienced art collectors.
  • You don’t just click “buy” to purchase. Instead, you’ll be directed to deal with the gallery selling the specific work you’re after.
paintings and artwork
Flowers By Colleen Franca. $700
contemporary oil paintings for sale
Garden Iris By Kamilla Talbot. $2000
oil painting aesthetic
Mr Pink By Kristina Alisauskaite. $2201.12
buy oil paintings online
Bottled By Hiroshi Sato. $3400
oil paintings price
If You Really Loved Me By Junyi Liu. $4,450

Artsy is a global art marketplace. It displays what’s new in the art world from the gallery end of things and allows you to view the best artworks from historical and contemporary artists at auction.

Step into Artsy’s online galleries and see what they have to offer!

4. Etsy

Etsy is the go-to place to find one-of-a-kind handmade arts and crafts, but you can also find fine art works in every medium, including oil paint, at an affordable price point.

etsy oil painting sales online

Pros

  • Many small, independent, and emerging artists sell on Etsy, so there’s always new art to find there each time you search.
  • Most oil painting works on Etsy are affordable compared to gallery sites, and you’ll know that you directly support small artists when you purchase from their shops.
  • Etsy is also a great place to look for affordable oil painting prints to fill up your walls.
  • You can also find listings for painting commissions! So you can get a custom oil painting made by your favorite artist sellers offering them.

Possible Cons

  • There is less of a painting selection than other sites, and you have to wade through some kitschy work, if that isn’t your style.
  • Anyone can sell on Etsy, so the quality varies.
how to package oil paintings for sale
Custom painting by Juan Rodriguez. $90-$5,000.
flower painting for sale
By JoyceArtSpace. $137.76-$390.33
oil painting originals
By ChernyakovskyArt. $272

Etsy is a familiar, easy-to-use platform to find affordable work from independent artists and to seek out custom oil painting.

Search Etsy for the perfect painting, or a painter who will work with you to customize it!

5. Society6

Check out Society6 if you want to explore oil paintings printed on merchandise. They offer the best commercial prints on our list at prices catered to the average consumer.

society 6 oil painings shop

 

Pros

  • Discover oil painting reproductions printed as wall art in the form of canvases, posters, and tapestries. But you can ALSO have the paintings featured on anything from home decor products to phone cases so you can carry your favorite artworks with you on the go.
  • Their hand-stretched canvas painting prints come in three sizes to fit your space and budget, so you don’t have to be stuck with whatever size a painting is originally created at.
  • Society6 features different types of artists, so if you look at their “shop by artist” search, you can discover new painters that you love.

Possible Cons

  • Society6 is a print-on-demand site, so artists upload work, and Society6 prints and ships to the buyer. This handles a lot of the labor, but means that artists make very little profit from the sales (only 10% on most products).
oil painting portraits for sale
By Victoria Frank. $94.35
oil painting artwork
By Ameelie Cece. $102
modern oil paintings for sale]
By Jessica Johnson. $142.80

If you want to show off your favorite oil painting on useful everyday products, at a reasonable price, Society6 has the most options available.

Find anything from framed posters of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh to canvas tapestries of new contemporary painting in any technique.

Fill up your walls with your favorite Society6 oil painting prints!

Oil Paintings for Sale: Personal Shops to Buy Art Online

Many artists host personal shops through social media. For example, Petra Schott has an Instagram shop full of beautiful abstract oil paintings.

presta shop social media paint shop

Shopping for a painting directly from an artist is a great way to support artists you already know. However, if you are looking for something new, try one of the platforms listed in this review to find tons of new artists working in oil paints all in one place.

How to Choose the Best Oil Paintings

  1. Decide what size painting will fit best in your space. Are you looking for a massive, mural-esque statement piece or for a smaller, more intimate addition to your wall?
  2. Think about subject! Are you drawn to nature in the form of peaceful landscapes and florals, classic still life, loose abstraction, or something more figurative?
  3. Explore style and color and how they’ll mesh with your space. Are you an impressionist at heart who falls in love with brushstrokes and peaceful pastels or do bold, contemporary blocky shapes call to you?
  4. Consider your budget, since there’s a huge range in pricing when it comes to paintings. (Remember that you can get beautiful paintings at every price point!)
  5. If you’re unsure what kind of painting would look best in your space, try an AR “View in my room” feature available through sites like Saatchi and Artsy!

saatchi oil pictures for sale

Commission a Custom Oil Painting

If you have a personalized oil painting idea in mind, look for painters who offer oil paint commissions in styles you love!

Giorgianni Mathey (@giomathey on Instagram) offers custom landscape oil painting commissions in her etsy shop. Have photos of the places most precious to you translated into a stunning oil painting (with high-quality oil paints) you’re sure to cherish!

oil painting landscape
Photo by Giorgiani Mathey

Buying Oil Paintings Online vs. In a Gallery

Walking into a gallery and falling in love with an oil painting is a magical experience.

You can take in the painting size and the rich texture of the oil paint.

But buying original art online is more accessible than ever, allowing you to buy an oil painting in the space you’ll be hanging it.

And you can find original oil paintings from artists worldwide that you might never have been able to see in person otherwise.

Is Buying Oil Paintings Online Safe?

Buying oil paintings online is safe if you buy from reputable websites that protect customers, like Artfinder, Saatchi, and Artsy.

These websites ensure that your painting purchases are protected by vetting the artists that sell on the site, working directly with galleries, and/or extensive purchase and shipping protection, so you don’t have to worry about not getting what you pay for.

Are Oil Paintings Worth Money?

Oil paintings vary in worth based on factors like who the artist is, how much of their work is available, if the artist is still living, the size of the painting, and how long it takes for it to be painted.

Many collectors treat oil painting purchases as investments since they are so long-lasting.

aesthetic oil painting
The Arnolfini Portrait By Jan Van Eyck, painted in 1434.

Oil paintings by famous historical artists like Jan Van Eyck, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Monet are worth a HUGE amount of money. Their work is still cherished hundreds of years after it was first painted.

The work of emerging artists, early in their career, is the cheapest and most affordable.

Original Oil Paintings vs. Prints

Buying an original oil painting means buying a one-of-a-kind handmade piece of art, so the prices reflect that.

Prints are an affordable alternative, so reproductions of a specific painting make it more accessible to a greater number of people.

A painting can be printed on paper, metal, or canvas.

how long does oil paint take to dry on palette

The painting can be reproduced vividly, in composition and color, but prints can’t mimic the texture and dimensional quality of oil painting brushstrokes.

Prints will also not last as long as the original painting. However, it’s advised to keep your oil paintings clean and avoid sunlight, moisture, and smoke.

Limited Edition Fine Art Prints vs. Commercial Prints

Limited Edition Fine Art Prints are restricted to small print runs and are printed with high-quality colors on archival papers.

Some artists sign prints, number the edition, and provide a certificate of authenticity. Others even hand-embellish the prints with paint after they are made to make them each unique.

Find prints like this on ArtFinder.com.

Commercial prints are not restricted in number so that they can be mass-produced. This lowers the cost of individual prints.

They can be printed as posters or merchandise created by artists or companies like Society6.

society6 oil paintings for sale

Find Oil Paintings for Sale That Are Perfect for You

With a long and storied history behind it, oil painting remains a beloved medium fit for all collections.

Today, ArtFinder.com does the best overall job of bringing quality oil paintings for sale to you in one convenient place.

Browse any of the sites reviewed in this list to discover your new favorite artist, in any subject, and find the perfect painting that’s out there waiting for you to find it.

Check out ArtFinder.com to start (or add to) your collection, with the best oil paintings for sale online!

online paintings for sale

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