The world’s fake Van Goghs and Basquiats come from this village

Dafen is a small suburb in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. In its heyday, it produced 60% of the world’s oil paintings, churning out copies of the Mona Lisa and The Starry Night you see in hotel lobbies and restaurants.

But after decades of making another person’s work, Dafen’s painters are now trying to pave their own way as artists in their own rights. Here’s a peek into the town also known as China’s art copy capital.

#goldthread #goldthread2 #oilpainting #China #VanGogh #arts

0:00 - Where your hotel’s Van Goghs are from
0:56 - Like an assembly line
1:50 - Dafen’s history
3:10 - Making original work

If you liked this video, we have more stories featuring China’s artistic communities:

The Best Silversmiths in China Live in This Mountain Village

The 1,500-Year-Old Art of Chinese Tie-Dye

Producer: Xin Fang
Videographer: Canrong Zhang and Xin Fang
Script: Lyn Yang
Editor: Erin Lo and César del Giudice
Narration: Qian Dai
Mastering: Victor Peña

#China #Shenzhen #dafen #oilpainting #madeinchina

[edukid]

Not sure if I agree with the word 'fake' in your title, since these are clearly sold as replicas instead of trying to pass as originals to defraud buyers.

[christophercape]

I think about the relationship between art and painting consistently and it’s cool to catch a glimpse of another person’s thoughts from across the globe and feel like they have a similar vibe.

[waiminglau]

I watched and I realized why the Chinese are so successful. Just feel proud to be a Chinese anywhere in this world. Survival is in our blood

[eduardochavacano]

Oh my God! I am trying to recall the name of this place so I can put this on spot on my Top 20 places to visit in China. Oh, i love this amazing place!

[Paperfragment]

It's interesting, cause our modern super expensive art schools in America teach us by having us copy old great masters' art, which is based on the European style of apprenticeship. So they essentially have the same training as artist that pay 50k for art education and are expected to sell their works for thousands. But cause this is in China these artist can only sell there work for a few dollars, yet the amount of work and experience that goes into each piece doesn't change because of geography.

[hellovicki]

I find it very sad that such skilled artists receive so little compensation for their work, I wish society appreciated art and creativity more, it is the fundamental difference between humans and the rest of life on Earth and I think the better part of our nature.

[RoxasLovrEvr]

What the hell. These artists are incredibly talented, they should definitely raise their prices!!! How underpaid and undersold they are is so criminal 😭😭😭

[ZoeCuiM]

Come on Godthread. Fix the misleading title please. They are clearly making replicas, not fake Van Gogh.

[lurkingarachnid]

actually he should have a TikTok account show how to paint copies and how to create original, he'll he like the Bob Ross of China

[henrypang]

$15! Can't even get 1 dozen tubes of oil paint!!!
I will definately buy them and put it in my house!!

[christopherneufelt]

Nope. These are not fake. They are absolutely real, and can be affordable and enjoyed by everyone. By the way, these are artists.

[eDrIClImOAnCo]

It is always said that imitation is the best form of flattery, and that they are doing this for so long makes them experienced painters

[alexleanh]

When I took an art class in university, the professor said: "It's not a fake if it's unsigned and has not tried to pass as the original... rather, it's a copy. All student artists learn by copying from the masters." And... copying is a major method of teaching arts in the US and other western nations. So, why single out the Chinese artists with their copies and demeaning them with the label "fake"? Especially when they are NOT trying to pass it off as a fake, but rather just a copy like many western artists do.

[moo]

Super fascinating - had not heard about these reproductions before.

[armstrongchan]

I Will visit DaFen village, not very far away from where I live, 3 hours by high speed train... now get a good reason to visit shenzhen again

[-xb]

That's how the masters taught their disciples back then, and artist still do study painting of the master's work. These guys just did it for longer. I'm a beginner painter and this is giving me ideas on how to improve my skills.

[kylinki]

Practice makes perfect! Wish their original works sold better

[Kent_GM]

Why use the words "copies" or "fakes"? These are clearly marketed as replicas. If this city was not in China I'm sure the works done wont be labelled as "fakes" like you've done here

[JohanSebastianCorn]

Amazing and haunting. The art world truly.

[drcrem]

I expected the smallest sized canvas to cost at.eadt 200-300 or more depending on the style