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Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 1/14 © 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd. V001 A rtists 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. F akes F orgeries and R eproductions by Dimitra Chronopoulos

Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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Page 1: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 2: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 3: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 4: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 5: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 6: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 7: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 8: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 9: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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.

Page 10: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 11: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 12: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 13: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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

Page 14: Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions - Scholastic · Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions 10/14 Experts use visual, scientific, and historical clues to identify ... al Sandro Boticelli

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