The world's biggest art factory: Inside the Chinese village where thousands of artists recreate iconic paintings for sale overseas
- Dafen Oil Painting Village is a suburb of Shenzhen in China's Guangdong province
- Here artists produce up to 60 per cent of the total global volume of reproduction artworks
Knock-off masterpieces: A painter works on a copy of a portrait in a studio at Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province
A painter works on an oil painting next to a portrait of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong in his studio selling the portraits of U.S. President Barack Obama (bottom L), China's President Hu Jintao (top C) and late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (top R)
Painter Zhao Xiaoyong works on a copy of a self-portrait by Van Gogh in his gallery: Artists here manufacture some 60 per cent of the total global volume in such knock-off canvases, according to the China Daily
Known as Dafen Oil Painting Village, the district is believed to be the largest mass producer of oil paintings in the world.
Artists here manufacture some 60 per cent of the total global volume in such knock-off canvases, according to the China Daily.
Many of the artists are trained in the required techniques at Chinese art academies.
But faced with the difficulty of making a living from their own compositions, they produce dozens of replicas of iconic paintings daily to make ends meet.
Prices on DafenVillageOnline.com, a website set up to sell works directly to consumers overseas, average about $60 (£40), but many are no doubt passed on wholesale for far less to be sold in many countries for similar prices.
Start them young: A two-year-old boy, the son of a vendor, sits watching cartoons on an old computer surrounded by dozens of rolled up and hanging canvases at a gallery at Dafen
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments always welcome!