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Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 1/14© 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd. V001
Artists paint, draw, and sculpt to share ideas and feelings. They show us how they see the world—the night sky, waves in the ocean,
mountains, and people. They can make us see things in new ways or notice things we never noticed before.
But once artists share their work, they can’t always control what happens to it. Other people can copy, imitate, and use it. Why? How? And is it ever wrong?
Let’s find out.
Fakes , Forgeries ,
and Reproductionsby Dimitra Chronopoulos
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 2/14
Original drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The
Pain
ter
and
the
Art
Love
r (e
ngra
ving
) (b
/w p
hoto
), B
rueg
el,
Piet
er t
he E
lder
(c.
1525
-69
) /
Gr
aphi
sche
Sam
mlu
ng A
lber
tina
, Vi
enna
, Au
stria
, Gi
raud
on
/ T
he B
ridge
man
Art
Li
brar
y In
tern
atio
nal
Look at the drawings on this page. The original drawing was made by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a well-known Dutch artist in the mid-1560s. The rest are copies drawn by different artists. Artists often make copies of original art to practice and learn from famous artists. Can you see differences between the original and the copies?
Copy by Eric Hebborn
Cour
tesy
of
Arch
eus,
Lon
don
Copy by anonymous artist
Brit
ish
Mus
eum
, Lo
ndon
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 3/14
P PWhen you look at a piece of art, one of the things you might think about is how the artist did it. How did he make the colours so bright? How did she make the eyes or skin look so realistic? By studying and copying an artist’s work, students can learn and practise different techniques.
What are some other reasons that people might copy a piece of art?
An art student copying an original painting in an art gallery. ©
Susa
n Va
n Et
ten
/ Ph
otoE
dit
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 4/14
Hundreds of years ago, the only way to see a piece of art was in person. If you wanted a copy of a painting or sculpture for your house you could ask the original artist, or another artist, to make a copy for you. Today, people still
commission artists to reproduce a favourite piece of art.
Modern technologies such as cameras, scanners, and video recorders allow us to share and reproduce art even more widely and more affordably. An original painting, especially one by a famous artist, can cost thousands or even millions of dollars! A print of the same piece of art—on a poster or postcard, for example—gives many people a chance to own and enjoy a copy of the artwork.
This is a reproduction of a well-known sculpture called The Thinker by Auguste Rodin. The original statue in Paris (left) is 1.84 metres high. This reproduction measures 33 centimetres high.
© Ow
en F
rank
en/C
ORBI
S
© ai
lero
n
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 5/14
P rThe reproduction of artwork in books helps us learn about famous art and artists. But, you can find popular pieces of art on everything from T-shirts to ties and laptops. You might even find it on a mural in your neighbourhood!
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is a famous painting that is often reproduced.
A Starry Night Cake
The
Star
ry N
ight
, Ju
ne 1
889
(oil
on c
anva
s),
Gogh
, Vi
ncen
t va
n (1
853-
90)
/
Mus
eum
of
Mod
ern
Art,
New
Yor
k,
USA,
/
Th
e Br
idge
man
Art
Lib
rary
Int
erna
tion
al
© Je
ssie
Hea
p
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 6/14
This reproduction of The Starry Night on a wall in Venice Beach, California, is much larger than the original painting, (page 5). How might you feel walking past this mural if it was in your neighbourhood? Why do you think the artist who painted it chose to reproduce a painting instead of creating something original?
Greg
McC
lella
n
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 7/14
Reproductions are also used to sell things. How would you feel if a piece of your art was used to sell something?
Fortunately, there are laws to protect artists. Before anyone can reproduce a piece of art, they have to ask permission—and usually pay a fee.
What if the art used in an ad is very old and the artist is dead? This ad uses the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous portraits painted by Leonardo DaVinci in the early 1500s.
© Ad
s of
the
Wor
ld
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 8/14
d In May 2000, two identical-looking paintings by Paul Gauguin appeared in the sales catalogues of two different auction houses. One had to be a copy…but which one? The people who owned the paintings had paid a lot of money for what they each thought was an original painting by a well-known artist.
The police discovered that an art dealer had bought the original painting a few years earlier, hired an artist to make an exact copy, and then lied about it. He sold both paintings as originals—and made a lot of money.
This is the original painting by Paul Gauguin called Vase de Fleurs. An art expert familiar with Gauguin's work studied the painting and determined it was the original.
Cole
cció
n Ca
rmen
Thy
ssen
-Bor
nem
isza
en
depó
sito
en
el M
useo
Thy
ssen
-Bor
nem
isza
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 9/14
This kind of copy is called a forgery; it is made and used to deceive, or trick, others. It’s unfair…and it’s illegal. Think about how forgeries hurt the original artist, as well as the people who buy, sell, and study art.
Making an exact copy is only one way that art forgers deceive people. They
might sign a famous artist’s name to an unsigned painting that looked like one the artist might have painted. Or they could make a sculpture and then lie about how old it is. No matter what is made or copied, if a person lies about who made the art or when it was made, the art is a fake.
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14
Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify fakes and forgeries. Here is one
Double portraits—portraits of two people at once—were rare in the fifteenth century. This one is definitely a fake, created by copying and combining the people in the two unrelated portraits from that time, at right.
The
Yorc
k Pr
ojec
t
Portrait of a Woman, by Sandro BoticelliPo
rtra
it o
f a
Wom
an (
the
Beau
tifu
l Sim
onet
ta),
Bot
tice
lli, Sa
ndro
(14
44/5
-151
0)/G
alle
ria P
alat
ina,
Pala
zzo
Pitt
i, Fl
oren
ce, It
aly,
/Th
e Br
idge
man
Art
Lib
rary
Int
erna
tion
al
© m
ystu
dios
Profile of a Woman, by an anonymous artist
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 11/14
I IArtists don’t just copy, they also borrow and imitate. They might see something in another artist’s work that they like and then adapt it in their own.
This famous print is called The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.
Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai created this print in the 1820s.
Here are some reinterpretations of this print. The artists who made them haven’t tried to copy the print exactly, they’ve used it to create something new.
If you were an artist and you saw your work used to create something new like this, how would you feel?
The
Grea
t W
ave
of K
anag
awa,
fro
m t
he s
erie
s ‘3
6 Vi
ews
of M
t.
Fuji’
(‘F
ugak
u sa
njuo
kkei
’) pu
b. b
y Ni
shim
ura
Eiju
do (
woo
dblo
ck
prin
t),
Hok
usai
, Ka
tsus
hika
(17
60-1
849)
/Pri
vate
Col
lect
ion,
La
uros
/Gira
udon
/The
Brid
gem
an A
rt L
ibra
ry I
nter
nati
onal
(c)
yers
inia
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 12/14
How is using a piece of art in this way different from copying it? What has each artist used from the original?What has each artist added or changed?
© ph
otoc
apy
© Vl
adim
ir S
ierr
a
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 13/14
CLong after artists have died, people will be looking at their paintings and sculptures—in galleries, in books, in ads, and on postcards. Some people will like the art and some won’t. Some people will make copies with good intentions, and some will make copies with not-so-good intentions. And someone, somewhere, might be inspired to create something completely new and different.
Composition I, 1920 by Piet MondrianCom
posi
tion
I,
1920
(oi
l on
canv
as)
by P
iet
Mon
dria
n (1
872–
1944
)©
2008
Mon
dria
n/H
oltz
man
Tru
st c
/o H
CR I
nter
nati
onal
, Vi
rgin
ia p
hoto
-Brid
gem
an A
rt L
ibra
ry
Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 14/14
The black lines and primary colours in these objects were inspired by the abstract paintings of artist Piet Mondrian.
© 20
06, J
ulie
Ciam
porce
ro Avett
a
© Ju
lie S
tella
© Re
uter
s/CO
RBIS
© Ba
rry
Lew
is/C
orbi
s