Monday, July 12, 2010

As Seen on TV

Chuck Bass's bedroom on Gossip Girl
Photo:Luxuyliving.com


As I have previously admitted I am in love with the wardrobe on Gossip Girl but the obsession doesn't end there, I am also in love with the interiors on the show. One of the main items of my affection was the painting hanging above Chuck Bass's bed that was first seen in Season 2. I had been searching for a piece for my bedroom that was fun and funky with brown tones to match the bedding that wasn't your typical bedroom art with a landscape print or generic looking abstract. So needless to say when I saw the painting in Chuck's room I thought it was perfect and had to have it. I set out on a Internet search for what I hoped would be a reasonably priced print. After a great amount of searching I found out the painting was by Richard Phillips, a painter known for his sometimes over the top pop art pieces. I also found out that the painting was actually a cropped and let's say PG version of the R rated original titled Scout, making this piece Scout Crop. I also found out that the painting cost thousands of dollars. Definitely out of my price range, so sadly I gave up hope. Then one day I received an email from Intermix (a boutique in New York, LA and Chicago that also has an online shop) announcing that they would be selling art work from Works on Whatever featuring pieces from Gossip Girl. I immediately went to the website and found out that they were selling a print on canvas of both Scout Crop and the other Richard Phillips piece Spectrum that is shown in the stairwell of the Van Der Woodsen house (another piece I love) along with a couple of Jessica Craig Martin photos on canvas and a few other pieces seen on the show. The canvases sell for $250 with proceeds from the sale going to the non-profit organization The Art Production Fund. Since at $250 it was considered a big ticket item for me I slept on the idea. The next day I was still thinking about it so I made the purchase even though I could not see it in person and it was non-refundable. I can honestly say the only thing I didn't like about it was that the print doesn't bleed all the way off the side of the canvas so it leaves a quarter inch of white around the edge (which is fine for me since I have white walls but if you were putting it on a colored wall it might stick out more), that and it took five looong weeks to be delivered. Once I got up on the wall though it was perfect. It's definitely a fun, unexpected conversation piece and it fit right in with the rest of the art in the house. The brown and green tones blended in perfectly with the colors of the bedding and the pink sunglasses gave the room a pop of color. And with the originals costing thousands, $250 is actually a bargain especially since most cheaper art work of that size will run you around $100 anyway. So if you are looking for the perfect out of the ordinary piece for your place, I highly suggest Works on Whatever as a great place to start the search.

3 comments:

  1. love the painting ever since it was on gossip girl. i was searching for it and saw it on your blog thanks for all the info!

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  2. OMG This was helpful could you show a picture of your room with the painting? I too am in love with Spectrum and Scout but when you said about it not looking good on anything but white walls made me nervous. I wanted to paint my room either dark brown or deep purple. my bedroom is a black and white theme with red accents.

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  3. chinwe-The reason for the comment on white walls, is because as opposed most canvas artwork where the painting bleeds all the way off the side of the canvas, this painting only bleeds halfway off the side, therefore leaving a trim of white around the edge. The white edge sort of cheapens the look of the piece since it is a dead giveaway that the piece is a reprint. Hanging it on a white wall hides this flaw and also gives a gallery look that really lets the piece stand out. If you are ok with the white edge you can put it on a colored wall, it's just a matter of preference. With your walls if you went with Scout I would go with purple to help the piece stand out, however if you went with Spectrum I would go with a different color since the purples would blend together and not really showcase the artwork. Hope this helps!

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