wouldn't a counterfeit painting do the same job as the real thing?

Question

never understood why people would want to own a painting over $10 million. why not get a good artist to draw the same painting and save the money. if you had a eye for artwork, the paintings should express the same feeling.

Answer 1

Wonderful question. In my opinion, I think it's about power rather than being a purist. The symbol of status. The need to acquire 'the best' and 'the rarest' is a quest for self-validation. The nuances inherent in an original work are for critics and historians to create volumes of text. It's the gestalt of a work that endears it to us, not a line or a stroke. If you listen to the countless questions posted, you will hear many have lived with a "painting" for ages not knowing it was a copy but have loved it no less. With the advent of printing we came to 'know' greatness.. an image of the Mona Lisa, a Norman Rockwell illustration on a magazine cover, Gainsborough's Blue Boy on a deck of playing cards... we didn't need the canvas to feel the beauty of intent.

Answer 2

What a copy or counterfeit work can't do is innovate in the first place. So people seek out the original artwork in order to patronize and encourage the innovation and inspiration the artist is bringing to the world. You can then create a copy of that work, but the copyist is always one step behind the artist, they are not creating, they are merely parroting.

Next, some work just CAN'T be copied. Try copying Jeff Koons' reflective works! Can't be done, at least not at a cost less than getting Koons to do it for you as an original work! His production values are too high and his perfectionism too great. You must only be talking about painting, because there's a lot of work that just can't be reproduced and for that reason, it is valued.

http://www.balloonhq.com/highlights/koons/

Authorship and authenticity is an old, old issue in art. We are WAY past this question. Duchamp, Warhol, Pettibone, and Prince devote large parts of their careers to it. Minimalism takes the artists hand completely away. There's essentially NO DIFFERENCE between an original and a copy because the artist doesn't make the original in the first place, they have someone fabricate it for them.

But you can't just copy a Rothko and call it good enough, because it's not. If you think it is, then there are lots of places on the internet all too happy to sell you that poster you find just as satisfying.

Finally, I find this artist's work in this area interesting...

http://www.ericdoeringer.com/bootlegs/bootthumb17.html

Answer 3

It IS like jeans or sweatshirts...WHY does a logo or somebody's signature make one pair of jeans worth $20 and the other $300? There was a time when a Van Gogh probably went for the equivalent of $200. BUT he's dead and they aren't making anymore of them and while a knock off may be just GREAT...it's just not the same. It's like if they ever found the Holy Grail and a million copies were made...it just wouldn't be the same even if it was BEAUTIFUL and a joy to have in your home on a shelf.

Answer 4

Why would you buy a Bugatti Veyron [$1,700,000]
http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Top_10_most_expensive_cars_in_the_world

when you could have a Chevrolet Aveo: [$9,455]
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/car-guide-2004/cheapest-cars1.asp

There is another way to think about art and collecting art...

1. purchase original art that is within you price range [1st you must like the work]... an original work has the potential to increase in value... most work will not increase in value dramatically.

2. If you have a plan in your collection, it can have greater value than the sum of the works you have collected.

there are a number of examples of ordinary people with extraordinary vision who have created interesting collections.

3. The work you collect should give you pleasure, joy... add to your life experience.

The counterfeit work will never increase in value the way that an original work will... and people who know will see the work as fake. I did some work for a high profile law firm who had fake scrimshaw collection... what a wealthy phony !

Answer 5

I think the draw of an original is that it conveys the emotion and feeling as the artist intended. Many pieces of art are made great by their minute details. Even something such as how the artist made their brush strokes can convey a different idea, something that, in my opinion, is lost in a reproduction.

Answer 6

a 300 year old painting by a master is worth $10m, a copy is worth peanuts, to own something one of the masters made by their hand is somewhat more appealing to most than a knock off - each to their own - i know what i would prefer

a

Answer 7

It's about investment,
power
and self satisfaction.
The provenance of the work is as important as the work itself.