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Dear all,

I recently purchased a very beautiful, valuable painting, which although is hand-painted is not "original" per say. The book cover says ”清郎世宁花鸟“ but the paintings have very slight variations from his most famous works, therefore proving its unoriginality. I estimate the paintings are roughly 100 to 150 years old and definitely date later than the lifetime of 郎世宁. Nevertheless, they are masterpieces of their own.

This raises the question: What is the history of such copycat masters in China? Is there a specific title for them in Chinese language? This train of thought is deeply engrained in Chinese painting philosophy, and has also pervaded mainstream Chinese culture, i.e., if a master has created or said something so perfectly, why change it? We can learn from the great masters, etc.

What are some basic tips for people trying to distinguish between an original piece and a later, revised piece by another painter? Clearly for the untrained person, such pieces look purely identical. They are masters in their own right.

Cheers,

There's voluminous literature on copying in Chinese painting, you can find useful material easily online. Shen Fu's "Traces of the Brush" lays out the basics with good illustrated examples. Two basic factors contribute to copying becoming a problem: first that the traditional way every Chinese painter, for hundreds of years, has learned to paint is by making a copy of some model work or other. With all of those anonymous copies floating around, it is then very easy for dealers, mounters, the copyists themselves, etc to sign the name of the original's artist to the copy. Before the 20th century, unless you were a wealthy collector or a well-connected artist who had access to originals, there was basically no way for most people to know what the originals actually looked like, much less to be able to compare copies and originals side by side. Unsuccessful artists as well as dealers and mounters and seal carvers have always generated forgeries and copies to meet the demand for scarce originals and for the social prestige of owning one. Today there's a lot of Chinese money chasing a small pool of good quality genuine works, so forgers are more happy than ever to sucker the ignorant into buying fakes instead.

That's the downside. The upside is the more intellectually and aesthetically stimulating practice of artists who make artistic statements of their own via copies that adapt originals in some way. It's often rewarding and valuable to see how one artist interprets another's work. Here is a very simple example that was posted here recently: https://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php?method=detailAll&Id=100237#100252

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