Dulwich Picture Gallery’s ‘fake’ painting revealed
28 April 2015
From the section Entertainment & Arts
The replica and the original of Fragonard’s Young Woman will now hang side by side
The identity of replica painting which was hung at Dulwich Picture Gallery as part of a “spot-the-fake” challenge has been revealed.
Since February, Jean-Honore Fragonard’s 18th Century work Young Woman has been replaced by a $120 (£70) counterfeit, produced in China.
The public was asked whether it could identify the fake amongst the permanent collection of 270 Old Master paintings.
Nearly 3,000 visitors cast a vote, but only 10% guessed correctly.
The original will be put back in its frame on Tuesday and hung beside the replica, allowing people to compare the stylistic and material differences between the two.
Conceptual artist Doug Fishbone came up with the idea, selecting the original work and commissioning the copy from one of China’s numerous exporters of handmade oil paintings.
The original was returned to its frame after the two-month experiment
The painting was made by the Meishing Oil Painting Manufacture Company, where 150 artists, many of them art students, make copies of Old Masters – including Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh and Monet – to order for clients across the world.
According to its website, the company “can reproduce various kinds of famous oil paintings in the world in enormous quantities such as impressionist, modern painting, scenery, seascape, still life, animal, pop …read more
Source:: BBC Entertainment
