the simpsons sailboat painting

Screen Rant

The simpsons' boat painting history explained (& did marge paint it).

The decoration of the Simpsons' living room has become very popular, and one of its most famous pieces is the boat painting. But what's its story?

The Simpsons ’ house is full of little details that make their home very unique, and one of their simplest pieces of decoration has a conflicting backstory: the boat painting hanging on the wall above the living room couch. In over 30 seasons, the Simpsons’ house has stayed pretty much the same, with its sometimes confusing architecture and its peculiar colors and pieces of furniture. The house has become so popular that it has been recreated by fans countless times, and even Ikea built a set replicating the famous living room.

The Simpsons’ home is located in Evergreen Terrace, and it made its first appearance in “Good Night”, the first Simpsons short and pilot episode of the series of animated shorts that were part of The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. Its first appearance in the series was in “ Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire ”, and has since been part of every episode, including – of course – the opening sequence. Perhaps the most iconic room in the house is the living room (not to be confused with the sitting room), where Homer spends a lot of time watching TV and where Bart and Lisa watch The Itchy & Scratchy Show .

Related: The Simpsons' Opening Sequence Had A Continuity Error For 20 Years

The living room is where the couch gag takes place, so it’s the room viewers are more familiar with as they see it on every episode. Because of this, it’s inevitable to pay attention to every detail and piece of decoration in the room, and one that has stood out is the boat painting hanging above the couch. It’s a very simple painting which is often crooked and even played a role in the Christmas photos sequence in “Holidays of Future Passed”, where viewers witnessed the next 30 years of Simpsons’ Family Christmas photos. In it, the boat changed as the kids grew up and formed their own families, and even evolved into a spaceship when they all moved out of the house. That simple painting of a boat has ended up holding a lot of emotional significance, but what’s its real story?

First off, the boat painting has a name, and it’s “Scene from Moby Dick”, and it’s revealed in season 9’s episode “The Trouble with Trillions”, when Homer tries to find something deductible around the house, that Marge painted it for him. However, in another episode, after Homer smashes the painting over his head, it’s revealed that Marge has many copies kept in a nearby closet, and so takes one out to replace the broken one. If Marge had painted it as a gift to Homer, then she wouldn’t have so many copies as it wouldn’t have been mass produced like many other paintings that can be bought – unless, of course, that knowing Homer’s tendency to destroy things, she painted several pieces.

It’s worth noting that in season 27’s episode “Barthood”, Lisa is shown painting a boat on the sea, with Marge saying they’re going to place it over the couch – however, “Barthood” is not considered canon by some as it’s an episode that explores the future . The role of the boat painting has also changed a couple of times, as it has gone from a simple piece of decoration, to a cover for a safe. It’s highly unlikely The Simpsons will offer a proper backstory for the famous boat painting, but it will surely keep messing with it at any given chance.

Next: The Simpsons' House Has A Secret Room That's In Only 5 Episodes

VIEW IN MY ROOM

Simpsons' Boat Painting

Oleksandr Balbyshev

Painting, Oil on Canvas

Size: 21.7 W x 15.7 H x 0.8 D in

Ships in a Box

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About The Artwork

This is a minimalist heavily textured painting created with palette knives and non traditional tools. This painting has beautiful rich colors. Inspired by the Simpsons' living room boat picture.

Original Created: 2015

Subjects: Ship

Materials: Canvas

Styles: Abstract Conceptual Minimalism Expressionism Impressionism

Mediums: Oil

Details & Dimensions

Painting: Oil on Canvas

Original: One-of-a-kind Artwork

Frame: Not Framed

Ready to Hang: Not applicable

Packaging: Ships in a Box

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Delivery Time: Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.

Handling: Ships in a box. Artists are responsible for packaging and adhering to Saatchi Art’s packaging guidelines .

Ships From: Ukraine.

Customs: Shipments from Ukraine may experience delays due to country's regulations for exporting valuable artworks.

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Oleksandr Balbyshev was born in 1985 in Ukraine, one of the biggest Soviet Republics. After graduating from The Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture in 2012, he was working in the sphere of architecture and design. But two years later, in connection with the revolutionary events in Ukraine, a serious financial crisis began. In 2016 Oleksandr lost his job. He decided to change activities and become an artist. Oleksandr currently lives and works in Dnipro, Ukraine. The most important themes in Oleksandr’s art are male sexuality and sensuality. But it’s a means rather than an end in itself. Artist wants the viewer to see the realm of ideas in faces and bodies not only a realistic image of a human. He tries to combine in his paintings realities, as visions of worlds within worlds. They show us an image of ourselves and also hint that there is more to us than we know. Another important part of Oleksandr’s art is to modify old Soviet-era portraits of Lenin. Artist finds original portraits and sculptures of Lenin made in the Soviet era on flea markets and on announcements on the Internet. He paints on top of old portraits of Lenin fragments from famous paintings or drip paint on them, cut the canvases into pieces and glue them in a chaotic manner, let them paint them for children, he paints the sculptures in funny colors and glues them with various objects. As a result of this artistic gesture, the artist erases the propaganda and ideological meanings of the image, at the same time endowing it with decorative qualities. However, with all the fun of this manipulation, the artwork acquires new meanings, an antinomical combination of play and seriousness, prompting the viewer to go beyond the accepted paradigm. His paintings are in private collections in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Croatia, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, and Japan.

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The Simpsons Sailboat Painting

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• Comments 14
• Official LEGO Comments 1

Last Updated . Click "Updates" above to see the latest.

This is the famous Sailboat painting that hangs behind The SImpsons family couch on virtually every episode of the TV show. I have long looked for an officially licensed Simpsons sailboat painting to hang behind my own couch an could never find one. Since I'm not good at painting or drawing making my own was out of the question- until I realized I could probably BUILD a copy.

One full and one half baseplate make up the canvas, so it is 48 studs wide and 16 studs tall. It is approximately 1 and 1/3rd bricks deep. 

The total piececount on the version in the final rendering was a mere 287 bricks. 

Along the top are two 2x1 technic bricks, this will allow a string to be tied between the bricks so the picture can hang just like it does in the show.

I hope you enjoy this and ask you please share and support it if you'd like to see this happen!

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Robot Chicken Missing Sailboat couch gag

• View history

Robot Chicken Couch Gag Season 28 Ep. 14 THE SIMPSONS

Robot Chicken Missing Sailboat couch gag is the 11th couch gag of Season 28 . It was used in the episode The Cad and the Hat .

The family arrives at the couch, but Homer notices the sail boat painting has disappeared. Bart suggests another animated show stole it. Homer walks on the sets of parodies of South Park and The California Raisins but can't find it, and boos the raisins, but in the fight that follows a fire starts, he escapes through a door to find that the Nerd from  Robot Chicken , who is watching a video of the previous  Robot Chicken couch gag , bought it from Bart on a bid. Homer, while the Nerd rambles on, steals the painting and leaves a paper one, and runs through the stages back home, killing the South Park characters too, announcing he did retrieve it, only to find the family replaced it with a copy of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring , and Marge swears her disappointment.

• 1 Season 35
• 2 Homer Simpson
• 3 Bart Simpson