Offshore art

0

Dear Artist,

Several artists have written to complain that offshore painters, mainly Chinese, are doing such excellent knock-offs that they present a real threat to our livelihood. The phenomenon, they point out, may eventually destroy hard-won lifestyles in the Western world. “Free trade be damned,” they say. “We need tariffs.”

The Painter’s Keys has been active in preventing offshore shops from cloning some of our works (e.g., in 2006 we removed the work of some 800 Western painters from Chinese clone sites and closed down two of them completely). Copyright laws and tariffs won’t work on those guys. While cheap art in parking lots has always been with us, the Western artist who wants to stay the course has to realize that a name is also an asset. Art is not like shirts, for example, where buyers may not care about name or brand as much as quality and price. Art is not like accountancy either, which is now delivered over long distances by anonymous accountants in India. In art, the name is the name of the game.

Artists and the art they make are personalities within communities. These communities may be the whole world, or The Trail Riders of Podunk County. It’s a fact of life that one competently painted horse doesn’t sell for the same amount as another competently painted horse. Reasonably decent prices are all about context and perception. Anonymous and “in the style of” work has little context and consequently low valuation.

As an outsourcing candidate, art suffers from Baumol’s Disease, named for the economist who first described the condition. Some goods and services, he found, resist outsourcing because of their individualistic nature. Further, works by personalities, when they meet certain criteria, are condemned to grow ever more expensive. No matter the idealism or the art maker’s joy, investment is part of our game. Just as common stocks are no fun when they don’t go up, art needs to at least pretend. Pitching art down to a price fills only college dorms.

Professional artists who put their DNA into their work need not fear the offshore cloners. Even if the Chinese wizards succeed handily, a fake is still a fake. Art is not just art, it’s a life, lived by an individualist with a personality, verve, and a deep respect for human relationships.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: “A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original.” (Louis Armstrong)

Esoterica: Artists who would make their way need to see themselves as individualists, sovereign islands and unique brands. Besides the art, what is known about the individual can also be loved. The artist can make his life a work of art. Apart from all the predictions to the contrary, individualism is the key, and individualism will be with us for awhile yet. “Like a snowflake we are the beauty of one.” (Kathleen Arnason)

 


A genuine threat
by Roger Cummiskey, Dublin, Eire
 

122507_roger-cummiskey-artwork

James Joyce Sketch
watercolour painting
by Roger Cummiskey

The Chinese paintings that are being produced are indeed in many cases of a very high standard and the fact that they are not produced by “names” matters little in the commercial marketplace. The abstract paintings that they produce are particularly good and are original and not prints in many cases. However, where they do score really high is on price. A local furniture chain where I live told me recently that he had a container load of Chinese paintings on the high seas that he was able to purchase in the region of $40.00 each for 1.5 meter square paintings. We cannot even buy the canvasses for that price. His customers that will buy these paintings in most cases really only need to cover walls cheaply. For the “names” locally to compete we must be extremely flexible in our output and aggressive in our marketing. Chinese imports are here to stay. Two local galleries closed around here in the last 12 months. The effect is huge.

 


Customers don’t appreciate the difference
by Catherine Stock, France
 

122507_catherine-stock-artwork

Rosalie and Leonora
watercolour portrait painting
by Catherine Stock

I used book tables in Christmas fairs at places like the New York Junior League to present my children’s watercolor portraits. At the last one I attended, I was horrified to see a local woman representing a sort of portrait painting factory in Shanghai. Some of the sample paintings on display were pretty competent. They charged 700 dollars for an oil painting done from a photograph, and the customers weren’t obliged to purchase or pay for the painting if they didn’t like the result. I paint from life, charge 1800 dollars for a watercolor portrait, and ask for 600 upfront. I never thought that I could be a victim of outsourcing, but even at this high-end event, people didn’t seem to appreciate the difference in our “products.”

 


We do need to worry
by Scott Menaul, Clearwater, FL, USA
 

122507_catherine-stock-artwork

“Aqua Rings”
digital artwork
by Scott Menaul

The situation is a lot like the Wal-Mart phenomenon. Many manufacturers and retailers in the U.S. have gone out of business because they cannot compete with Wal-Mart products manufactured by “slaves” working for 50 cents a day in a country that has no environmental regulations or tax structure like the U.S. Innovative and high quality U.S. products will always be around, but the lower end and the middle portion of manufacturing has gone to China. This situation is ruining our country with lost jobs and growing foreign ownership of American assets. The same phenomenon affects artists. Only the innovative and “collectable” artists can flourish under such circumstances. This means fewer professional artists supporting themselves in our country. Like the Wal-Mart shoppers, the standard of acceptability for artwork among the general public is dropping. Many artists, despite the “DNA” in their work, do have to worry; they now have to get a day job to support themselves. A culture is led by artists who have a vision and create the future look and feel of society through their art: painting, sculpture, music, dance, theater, architecture, poetry and other art forms. A decline in the number of free artists in a society is a decline in the society itself. We should do whatever we can to promote, help and protect our artists. I recently joined a group of artists in my area with just that purpose called Artists in Action International. Readers are welcome to join or should consider starting their own groups with similar goals.

 


Cheap competition now being felt
by Barrett Edwards, Naples, FL, USA
 

122507_barrett-edwards-artwork

“Tuscan Field”
oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches
by Barrett Edwards

I respectfully disagree that cheap knock-offs are not cutting into the bottom line of hard-working professional artists in the West. I’m represented by five galleries, and all five are feeling the double whammy of our economic turndown and incredibly cheap competition. Galleries are closing left and right here in one of this country’s most upscale locales (Naples, Florida). I absolutely agree that among the art collecting cognoscenti who seek the work of top-tier “knowns,” knock-offs will never make any inroads, for the very reasons you outlined. And many collectors up and down the scale do still value the “human relationship” in the art they purchase. But for the majority of us who are also often collected by people who simply want something that appeals to them — or, heaven forbid that matches their sofa — the cheap competition is being felt. In my pre-gallery days, I did a very large, well patronized show in an upscale North Carolina venue. The knock-offs somehow were there too, and those $200 30′ x 40’s — “Frame included!” — were just flying out of there. I had a pretty good show anyway, but imagine if that competition hadn’t been there?

 


Two different markets
by Joseph Jahn, Nibe, Denmark
 

122507_joseph-jahn-artwork

original painting
by Joseph Jahn

Those that buy and hang factory art and clones in their house are not our customers. They only degrade their homes and signal to others that they know nothing of art and have simply shown that fact to their guests. Here in Denmark there is an art factory, turning out art for supermarkets and furniture stores. I’ve never experienced any form of rivalry because those that buy this kind of art never go near a gallery or bother to learn how to see real art. Let them buy whatever they like. I sell art, they buy junk

 

 


Nothing to fear
by Rich Williams
 

122507_barrett-edwards-artwork

“Cottonwood Pond”
watercolour painting, 30 x 40 inches
by Rich Williams

I was one of those artists copied back in 2006. I just returned from China three weeks ago, and while I was there looked in on several galleries where art was produced and sold or had collections of paintings from numerous gallery artists. What I saw there but did not realize at first was I was seeing the same paintings in several different parts of the country. All were copies of the same traditional works or had the same recurring themes. The other pieces of original work were mostly inferior lacking one or more of the essential elements of good paintings — the values, composition, the color temperatures. In all I think that there were probably only about 3-4 that I felt were really good paintings and only one that stood out like a beacon when compared to the rest. The outstanding piece was a non-objective landscape. Now I do not know if it was a copy of someone else’s work or not. All I know is that the artist captured something that as artists we all would like to see in our work. At this point in time I don’t feel that we Western artists have too much to fear as long as we continue to maintain our high standards and only put up works for sale — works of art that meet or exceed these standards. Look with a very critical eye at a piece of art and only if it is very good, put it out there. If it is not then maybe it should stay in the studio until it meets those requirements. The Chinese are outstanding at copying so remember it takes that DNA of that artist to impose those subtle elements into a painting that are hard to copy if you’re not inspired by the original thought.

(RG note) Thanks, Rich. You might also consider the possibility that the academically trained Chinese painters may produce better work than the average Westerner who paints with “soul.” The downside of Western democratization is that anyone who wants to call himself a painter can do so — with the result that quality suffers in the West as well. For the most part the Chinese system is based on high quality technical training and the careful selection of young people with significant talent.

 


Give of ourselves
by Karl Leitzel, Spring Mills, PA, USA
 

122507_karl-leitzel-artwork

“Midway Afternoon, Centre County Grange Fair”
oil painting on canvas panel
by Karl Leitzel

The “copy art” phenomenon is another reminder that we, as visual artists, need to give of ourselves and our personalities to the general public and our clientele. That doesn’t mean that every visual artist needs to be extroverted and magnetic but, whatever we have, we need to share. That realness of the artist as an individual human being, each with our own place in our community and in history, is what sets us apart from anonymous copycat artists. The sad thing is that some of these Chinese factory artists may, if their creative potential matches their technical skill, have the ability to be artists in every sense of the word. They are just in a much tougher circumstance than those of us in the western industrialized world as far as being able to build an art career. It might seem hard for artists here, too, at times, but I think this is a fitting season to count our blessings in living in this time and place. May the New Year be a fulfilling and profitable one for us all!

 


Chinese onslaught
by Carol Hama, Edmonton, AB, Canada
 

122507_carol-hama-artwork

“Bright Daisies”
watercolour painting, 5 x 7 inches
by Carol Hama

While we blame some unscrupulous Chinese in their quest for Western riches, we should stop and think about our own greed. We send our dirty factory work over there so we can sell and buy goods more cheaply. But the underdogs have learnt a few tricks of their own, now they are copying us! They are so greedy they will sell anything in order to gain a profit… even shoddy stuff. The only way this can be solved is politically. Educating the Western art collector isn’t going to do it… a good piece of art is a good piece of art regardless of the signature. We have to lobby politicians to force the Chinese government to increase the valuation of the yuan. Jobs are being lost and factories are closing all over the world because of the influx of cheap goods made in China. The only thing we have going for us so far is that most of those goods appear to be inferior. Factories here are closing and our artists are beginning to starve.

 


No more plastic prints please
by Hannah Brehmer, Ashland, OR, USA
 

Your letter about China clones and copies brought to my mind a strong feeling I have about prints of paintings, giclee or otherwise. I don’t see any difference between those and what you are writing about in your letter. They are copies and not done by the artist. Yes, they allow people to enjoy paintings who otherwise could not afford an original. But I don’t see any difference between those and calendar art. The giclee copies are so good that I often can’t tell the difference between them and the originals, but still I feel a little cheated when I find out a painting I like is just a copy. It’s similar to a very well done artificial plant or flower. At first it looks so real, but on closer inspection you can see it’s just plastic. They even add wilted leaves or flowers to foster the illusion. I love a living, breathing plant, not plastic. True prints are certainly a different matter. Lithographs, woodblock prints, etc. are done by the artist or personal assistant and the run is limited. Photocopying can reproduce the image perfectly forever and the artist never does a thing. I have never talked with anyone who dislikes prints as much as I do!

 


Chinese factory art
by Anand Channar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 

I am a fine artist and a business man doing advertising at the same time living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 140 different nationalities live peacefully here. It is a Muslim country ruled by wise and educated rulers. I am from India living with my family for the last 30 years. Dubai is the world’s fastest growing city and will be the next Las Vegas soon. Art is in good demand as many luxury properties and hotels are ready or coming up. We have some good art galleries here. Many Chinese copies are also available. There is an art village in southern China near the Hong Kong border where 5000 artists work as daily laborers. The cheap art originates there. There in one company sending about 80,000 paintings per month all over the world including America and Canada. The average salary of a skilled artist is about 3 dollars per day (10 working hours). This is why they can beat every other on price. The oil paint they use is also very cheap and often of low quality. Some European wholesale art dealers are buying their art from them and sell them at 20 times more prices. Who is to blame, first of all the actual buyers, then the wholesalers and retailers who shamelessly encourage these Chinese art factories. If the respective art dealers and end users stop buying these imitations the inflow will automatically reduce if not stop completely. Most of the art publisher’s works are copied by these Chinese companies as the images are easily available on their web sites. In my opinion the actual original creator of the work must be suitably rewarded.

 


Seeing the real thing
by Elsie H. Wilson, Fitchburg, WI, USA
 

122507_rembrandt

“Night Watch”
oil painting, commissioned in 1642
by Rembrandt

We cannot wave a magic wand, no matter how just it would be, and get rid of those who would profit by another’s honest art. We can affirm that the act of art is in the making, the communication to the viewer, the dialogue with the viewer. It is sort of a two-phase process: we dialogue with the paint, paper, canvas, stone etc. and in turn dialogue with the viewers. Yes, I’ll line up with the rest to see the Mona Lisa and know that fakes are fakes. I remember fondly waiting in line at the Chicago Art Institute to view the Monet show, then inching slowly by each one in a thick pea-soup crowd. While I would love to spend an hour in front of each, I gladly took my place in that crowd. Over 40 years ago, I did my part as a tourist in Amsterdam before Rembrandts. All these years later, viewing them remains a highlight of my life. No print, no copy, no image in an art book can replace the impact of suddenly being in front of the huge canvas of the Night Watch.

 


Love Letters to Art
by Teresa Hitch, Saltspring Island, BC, Canada
 

122507_teresa-hitch-artwork

“The Offering”
acrylic painting, 10 x 8 inches
by Teresa Hitch

Robert’s latest book, Love Letters to Art, arrived in my home this week, and it is absolutely beautiful! It’s an exquisite collection of Master Artist Robert Genn’s paintings and letters, based on the more than 600 he has written about art, the artistic process and artists, to his international readership. The selection of paintings, which spans several decades, exemplifies the depth of Genn’s extraordinary accomplishments. What touches me most deeply about his work is his ability to enter the viewer’s sacred place, where awe, rapture, and tenderness reside. Experiencing his work, I frequently feel a tear of joy running down my cheek. The book is truly a reflection of Genn’s intentional creation of life, that life is art and art is life. As he wrote in Postscript, “We are a work of art in progress. The end is never attained, nor is perfection found. Like the mountains, we are in a state of evolution.”

(RG note) Thanks, Teresa. And thanks to everyone who has written unsolicited book reviews, some terse, some lengthy. This is one of the nicest.
 

 

Archived Comments

Enjoy the past comments below for Offshore art

 

 

From: Linda Menke — Dec 21, 2007

Several years ago, American quilters had problems with Chinese knock-offs and copying of American quilts, which were then sold in the USA. It’s my understanding that an agreement was made with the Chinese to limit their quilt patterns to certain generics and to not infringe on art quilts being made by American artists. I don’t know how well this is working presently, but I suspect that such an agreement would be harder to make in such a broad area as painting.

From: Barbara Cruikshank — Dec 25, 2007

After all the comments I’ve read in your newsletter about Chinese cut rate, knock off paintings, why are you advertising 99,999 original oil paintings from China?

From: Ann Hartzler — Dec 25, 2007

The Chinese have a long heritage of beautiful art. How sad it is that this may be lost to the profit motive.

From: Ken Flitton — Dec 25, 2007

It’s not only art. Think about the musical composers. Every week Rogers is bombarding us with paper about the 10,000 songs you can download onto your whatever device that is the chipwork of choice at the moment.

From: Terry Rempel-Mroz — Dec 25, 2007

Listen to yourselves! All I hear is $$$$$ – they’re cheap, we’re not. They’re good – we’re better, but they’re winning because they’re cheap! Are you artists to make money or make art? This is the same talk that happened when prints were introduced – lithographs, engravings, photography – that’s not real art, it’s mechanical. (What would Durer say? Ansel Adams?) It’s all art – for ALL tastes and prices. If it bothers you all so much, then do something about it. Make your art better, more enticing, more special. And if you’re in it for the money only – then do something else to support your need to create art. Copying art is the traditional way to learn techniques – Michelangelo did it, all great artists went through an apprenticeship. What we’re seeing here is a country with more people (ergo more artists) who need to make a living, and are therefore flooding the world with copies. Is it so bad to let everyone be able to enjoy art? Maybe their children will grow up to be artists because their homes had images of well known art on the walls. Isn’t that what democracy is about? I’m an artist – I sell a few works, but I paint and show because I must. I also work a day job to support my need to create. Get off your high horses people – stop complaining and make a difference by being true to art – not commerce.

From: Edna Waller — Dec 25, 2007

Concerning Hannah Brehmer’s “No More Plastic Prints, Please”: Well said! I am of the same opinion, but seem to be a lone voice in our local art scene. We need, immediately, to stop calling them prints and give them their proper name — copies! That goes for giclees and reproductions done in printing shops.

From: Bobbo Goldberg — Dec 25, 2007

Re: Barrett Edwards’ letter: any true art show that permits knockoffs is undercutting the artists. The show is about art if it’s the real deal, and show producers who allow cheap imports are biting the hand that feeds them, as is much of the American corporate world these days. And Terry Rempel-Mroz, lighten up. While you may see a contradiction between doing the work one loves and making a living, there’s nothing shameful about it. In fact, speaking from experience, it’s the way to go! If artists of all stripes and media stop apologizing for being paid for their work, perhaps others will be more amenable to paying them. If you want to keep passion and purchasing power separate, more power to you. But nobody is on a high horse when they acknowledge economic difficulties brought about by a very un-level playing field. It’s reality, Terry, not equestrianism.

From: Monika Welch — Dec 25, 2007

I agree with Barbara Cruikshank. Why are you advertising/promoting these outrageous HONGKONG horrors. There is also another one there which I am ashamed to say is in NZ. Shannon’s art is also an Asian factory outfit (www.oilportraits.co.nz) that just emails the pik to their counterparts in China and then 45 days later you have a wonderful portrait. To the unassuming eye it looks like an oil painting, but in reality it is a print that is digitally blown up and then covered with a little colour (almost paint by numbers!) and then a transperent substance or gel that is brushed backwards and forwards and up and down to give it a feeling of oil brush strokes. Usually no signature. Personally I do not feel threatened at all by these copy and scam artists…..just outraged as if there was an alien invasion. I have many times spoken up about this to those attempting to sell these ‘horrors’ in our country and have fortunately shamed one place into ceasing all activity. They have now decided to buy kiwi originals. Why not?? They make more money in the commission! Please get rid of the ads. They are an insult to all artists who wish to make a living from their artistry within their culture.

From: Cynthia Mallard — Dec 26, 2007

I agree with Terry Rempel-Mroz. It is all art, for all people with different prices and preferences. We must remember that we live in a global community, and thus our options are so much more. What is a problem for one, is joy for another. I say stay true to your own art and beliefs, develop a following, and be happy you possess a gift that allows you to create an original work like none other.

From: David Lobenberg — Dec 26, 2007

There has always been factory style massed produced art for sale. As a college student in the late 60’s working part time, I was employed in such a factory here in the USA. Today, as an artist of note in the Sacramento area of California, my work is collected by artistically discriminating people. Cheap factory style art is not part of my marketing niche.

From: Dave Wilson — Dec 26, 2007

“A fake is still a fake”- The difference between a fake and an artist’s autographed print is small. Neither of them is what they pretend to be. The fake is a lie. The print is a fantasy. Long live “original” art. I am just beginning to appreciate the once pompous declaration: “It’s an original.” The walls of Heaven are lined with originals. The walls of ‘that other place’ are lined with take-offs and prints.

From: Esther J. Williams — Dec 26, 2007

In southern California, the factory produced Chinese art is having a serious influence on artist’s living. I have been in a warehouse full of these canvases, they are not even stretched, they are stacked 100 high. They sell the frames by the truckload also. I know of several hotels that furnished every room with this art and even their corridors. I know of an art broker who sells $1,000’s in this art to the rich. It breaks my heart. Once in awhile I hear radio and television commercials yelling about the sale of such art. “No oil painting over $59.95, these are original oils!” When I do see the work, I can tell how thin the oil paint is and how cheap the canvas is too. The color choices, the composition, the representation of a subject seems way off-base. Not an accurate representation or even near it. A cheap one I must say, they get what they pay for. It makes me turn red with anger. What I do feel better about is the fact that they do not have awards they have won, plus they are anonymous people. Those Chinese artists who have made it are the ones who broke free from China and moved here to make it big. They built a name for themselves and are heavily collected by educated art buyers. I respect those artists, I know a few. They have proved in the art circles how well trained and talented they really are. Judges have handed them award after award. So, within the Chinese nationality there is junk and there is gold. Think about all the art we see from Americans, some is good and a lot is very bad. To be distinctive is to be recognized by the discerning eye of a good collector. It feels great to me to have some complete stranger come up to me at an art show I am doing and tell me they think I am the most talented fine artist in the place. I study hard and try even harder to attain the highest standards in my art. The people who don’t recognize that aren’t going to change. We as pure artists just need to be thankful for our eyes and hands and the ability to keep creating the ideal.

From: JMJahn — Dec 27, 2007

**I know of several hotels that furnished every room with this art and even their corridors.** Is that where we see, or want to see our work ? Even receiving a good price for the work would or should never tempt a good painter to accept that kind of donkey work. We are free as never before to do the work we choose. Rejoice and hope that the prices in China go up :-)

From: Liz Schamehorn — Dec 27, 2007

This isn’t new! Does anyone remember the “Starving Artist” commercials of the seventies and eighties? You used to see an “artist” set up in a shopping mall cranking out an oil painting every ten minutes, snow-capped mountains and all. All the paintings looked the same. Many of these showed up in hotel rooms. We also have the North American version of “McArt” in the Kinkade franchise. There is also very high quality work out there by Beijing-trained artists. Real art. Yuqi Wang, for example. Real is real and cheap fake is cheap fake. There will always be a market for both. All we can do is keep pointing out the difference.

From: Esther J. Williams — Dec 27, 2007

Quote from above, “Is that where we see, or want to see our work? Even receiving a good price for the work would or should never tempt a good painter to accept that kind of donkey work.” HELLO, I am not talking about a regular hotel, I am talking about several 5 star resort hotels that guests pay $300-$2000 a night to stay at. You would want to have your art in those places as a marketing of your name. In the 2-room suites and presidential suites they have original art by established artists. Guests will inquire where they can purchase the artist’s work. Some larger pieces are placed strategically in the registration lobby or in the spa, it is high end art bought for thousands. But if you walk by the restaurant on the main floor, there is the factory produced crap. One of the hotels I know is in the process of updating their art, they are clearing house. If a major hotel wants to get written up in Conde Nast’s Hotel Guide, they will make changes to be noticed and art is one of the most visible and easily changed decorations in hotels. I am not talking about a Holiday Inn or Best Western by any means. Those hotels have a peanut art budget and will furnish the regular rooms with the factory junk. But I have been in quite a few regular rooms of upscale hotels and seen original artwork by hard working artists in the States also. I was in talks with a major name luxury hotel in Las Vegas for selling my art to decorate the lobby when it was being built. It fell through, although I learned a lot of inside information at the time. It is an honor to have been considered. They own several original Picasso, Monet, Manet, Modigliani, Cezanne, Renoir and Van Goghs plus others, proudly displayed in a gallery. Yes, if you can get into some of these hotels, it says you have arrived on a white stallion.

From: JMJahn — Dec 27, 2007

**In the 2-room suites and presidential suites they have original art by established artists.** You were talking about production line works in hotel rooms, were you not ? **You would want to have your art in those places as a marketing of your name.** I would not. Rented rooms are rented rooms. Picasso, Monet, Manet, Modigliani, Cezanne, Renoir and Van Gogh are dead and have no say where their work hangs. Picasso would not care as long as the price was right, Monet would be happy, Manet would slash the painting rather than see it there, Modigliani would love the publicity, Cezanne liked hotels, Renoir could be a Chinese hack, Van Gogh would be surprised anyone cared. Anyway, if I saw one of my works in a hotel room, I’d rip it from the wall, and take the consequences later.

From: Esther J. Williams — Dec 27, 2007

JMJahn, you are just plain cynical, not worth the time of day to me.

From: JMJahn — Dec 28, 2007

Ah yes cynical, that I am. Been in this game long enough to build up a nice thick cynical skin about the way the world treats our children (works). Money and marketing always have a bad influence on the way art is viewed and appreciated. Remove money and marketing and perhaps we will have a chance to see art in a different light. I personally have no interest in a work once it’s completed, I leave that to the money and marking people (everyone has their talents). Not being worth (monetary reference?) anyone’s time of day is a blessing, leaving the cynic time to do the work that is important to them. Art has nothing to do with popularity. It’s more akin to science. The facts/works are there whether or not the scientist is a likable person or a clown (Modigliani). So go on with your work, be it art or marketing.

From: JMJahn — Dec 28, 2007

BTW Esther J. Williams, enter your name in google and then try my name in google Joseph M. Jahn……….then ask yourself who’s the better marketer, the cynic or the critic ?

From: David Blanchard — Dec 30, 2007

Actual theft aside, what is the problem here? Not one person in a hundred can tell the diff between a “good” picture and a cheap Chinese picture. Why should those 99% pay overpriced western retail?

 

 

woa

 

122507_bonnie-hamlin

Voyaguer Misty Morning

oil painting on board, 32 x 40 inches
by Bonnie Hamlin, Warren, MB, Canada

 

You may be interested to know that artists from every state in the USA, every province in Canada, and at least 115 countries worldwide have visited these pages since January 1, 2013.

That includes Angela Drysdale who wrote, “I see traffic on my website coming from countries like China. I do wonder how many clones or prints of my work I would find if I knew where to look.”

And also Suchitra Faroz who wrote, “Artists are individual in nature, they are the expressions of life itself. One may fake a piece of art but how can one fake an artist. Every piece of art is an expression of his individual nature.”

And also Diane Overmyer of Goshen, IN, USA who wrote, “When you purchase a piece of original artwork, you are investing in a piece of history and in another person’s life.”

And also Liron Sissman of New York, NY, USA who wrote, “An artist cannot even fake his/her own work. A second original of the same painting done by the same artist does not come from the same emotional place and therefore as similar as it is will look nothing like the original. Art is not just about skill, it’s also about soul and spirit.”

And also Doris Osbahr who wrote, “The market is growing and segmented. Every artist has to find his/her own niche. Those who copy art might be good artisans but lack creativity and are, therefore, not artists.”

And also Kathy Farmer who wrote, “Artists need to know that most of their sales can come from local buyers… it’s important to get connected… and volunteer at these new art incubators. When they see that you are a swell person, those around you want your art.”

And also Beth Deuble of San Diego, CA, USA who wrote, “Perhaps we need personal discernment more than tariffs; discernment is a form of integrity (soundness of mind and judgment). I think those who appreciate art and surround themselves with artwork know instinctively whether the piece has soul, whether they ‘connect’ by what they see and feel. I have no worries over Chinese influence in art… rather, I am very concerned with their world view, their consumption of natural resources, and rising economic and political power.”

And also Tatjana Mirkov-Popovicki of Port Moody, BC, Canada who wrote, “I recently attended a seminar on technology outsourcing. The presenter was asked to advise how to avoid having your job outsourced offshore. The advice was to move to specialized products and stay away from anything that is mass market.”

And also Ray Johnson of Aventura, FL, USA who wrote, “The value of art is in the personage, not in the picture. There are many Asian artists that do beautiful paintings and are very valued in their countries. Not all of them do knock-offs for a living.”

 

 

Share.

Leave A Reply

No Featured Workshop
No Featured Workshop
Share.