Julyan Davis

Greg Decker has been a professional oil painter for 35 years. Currently living just outside of Nashville Tennessee, his early influences were European and African. He was raised in Congo (Belgian Congo/Africa) and that still shows through in his work. Decker holds two MFA degrees from Cranbrook Academy of Art (MI) and the New York Academy of Art (NYC). He studied with Leland Bell, Fairfield Porter, John Moore, Vincent Desiderio and Martha Erlebacher and was recommended by Jack Levine and George Tooker to spend two seasons painting at The MacDowell Colony (NH). He spent 12 years in Philadelphia, then 12 years in New York City, where he taught at both MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a Visual Teaching Artist through Lincoln Center Institute. Decker at home lectured in museums and galleries and during this time spent valuable time in Europe (UK, France, Italy) painting and studying major collections. One series of 20 drawings was completed in two weeks in a hotel room in Rome and spent much time painting in Brittany. Currently, he is planning to be in France, teaching in Valmondois (outside of Paris) with Amelie de Gaulle's "France With Friends" cultural immersion adventure. Teaching his series of workshops in painting, Decker moved to Nashville (TN) and Asheville (NC) for a total of eight years, during which time he began sculpting (figure/clay), produced etchings and woodcuts. He immersed himself in literature and poetry and this continues to deeply influence my work. After five years in New Mexico, where he produced his frieze paintings, he returned to Nashville to stay, choosing a studio outside of town, where the landscape is a constant source of inspiration. He continues to paint prolifically, read profusely, write sporadically and enjoy music continually: mostly choral, solo piano, hard soul, early psychedelia, obscure and inimitable garage music.

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.