You’ve probably seen one of these paintings before. They are paintings depicting a circle round faced girl with curly hair (or a few of these girls in one artwork) either on a bicycle, in hot air balloons, playing instruments, or doing something else. You have probably also been on websites trying to find more information on this artist too, who signs their paintings simply as, J. Roybal. But if you dig deep enough – you’re not ever going to find a ‘real’ living (or passed) artist at all. What you will find is something even more shocking and deceiving.
J. Roybal is instead, an invention, a brand – I guess you can say, but simply put, it is the name of a Chinese oil painting dealer/company, that creates mass amounts of art that is based on a real life artist, Graciela Rodo Boulanger’s artwork. Graciela, at the time of writing this article, is still alive and is a Bolivian artist.
The artist, J. Roybal does not exist. Look it up and try to find anything on this ‘person’ – you won’t. The name is simply made-up to sell art works in the style of Boulanger, at a more affordable price. Sadly, there are many paintings in some art galleries that have J. Roybal’s signature, these are actually NOT created by one person as noted above, but mass produced in a factory style setting, meaning the J. Roybal you buy now, will be painted by another completely random person the next time you buy another ‘Roybal’. There is also what seems to be, a made-up story behind this so-called artist. You might even find that they go so far to give J. Roybal an actual first name, Joyce.
Search online and you’ll probably find stories like, “J. Roybal is a British Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1955. J. Roybal uses thick, decorative textures, subjects which are mostly children playing musical instruments or sports balls, hot air balloons, bikes. Roybal is currently living in Upstate New York, where he continues to pursue his craft, surrounded by his three children and his wife of 25 years.” Joyce Roybal also, does not exist and is not a listed artist, or a singular person.
Sorry to break the news to you, but if you’re buying J. Roybal art because you actually like the paintings and the low price point, then to each their own. However, if you’re buying art for the sake of an investment and for something to appreciate in value over the years – your J. Roybal will absolutely not.
Graciela Boulanger, whom created this style before the Chinese mass production company better known as J Roybal copied, has her art valued at high prices like this one fetching $25,000 for one painting:
And here is one last anecdote: “An appraiser approached us with the following on Joyce Roybal – possibly being a “made-up” name and “his art” being massed produced in China. After doing internet research we were unable to find any photographs of the artist, any social media or linkedin posts, any museum holdings, or magazine articles. The appraiser wrote to us: ‘Most people recognize the fact that “J. Roybal” is an invention. You will not find a real biography on him/her on any website or in any gallery. These are sold at “fine art traveling sales” and alike. They are mass produced in China and there are hundreds of thousands in the market. It appears they are trying to pass these artworks off, as being made by one artist. ‘
