John Candy

Cindy Shaoul was born in 1987 in New York. She is a visual listed American artist and formally trained. Shaoul has developed a passion for Impressionist street scenes and portraits. With a Hungarian-Persian background that comes from a lineage of artists, Shaoul has matured unique expressions with her voice and story to tell. After completing her professional education at the Emerson College in Boston, she later moved to Israel and Hungary to study culture and science while absorbing the energy of these new cities. In Budapest, she attended the Budai Art Institute from 2007–09, later returning to New York City to continue her artistic education at the Art Students League, where she worked under the tutelage of Joseph Peller, Gregg Kreutz and Thomas Torak. In 2010, she met renowned street artist LA II (Angel Ortiz), who previously worked with Keith Allen Haring in the late 1980s. LA II strongly influenced her style with the powerful impact of 1980s hip-hop and graffiti. They began collaborating on a collection of exciting street art which was later exhibited in Europe. Having built a diverse body of work since her early career ranging from portraits to colorful abstract paintings, Shaoul is constantly reinventing her style working on a range of collections from Pop Culture to City Street Scenes. Shaoul is active in New York and abroad, working diligently on expanding her technique and adding new and exciting elements to her work.

Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract paintings, landscape paintings, still-life paintings and other original paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs.

Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel.

Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color? 

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by emerging artists and more today.