China – Painting Village
7” 12’

Publicity: Who says artists don’t make money?

China Correspondent John Taylor visits Dafen village in Southern China, where the masterpiece meets the mass market.

Dafen is the place to go if you fancy an old master, but don’t want to pay old master prices. For just a few dollars, “painter workers”, as they’re known, will whip you up whatever you fancy – a Picasso, Matisse or Van Gogh.

It’s legal copycatting, with thousands of low paid Chinese painters supplying 600 galleries around the world. And the village – a rural backwater just 17 years ago – turns over around $30 million annually from exports.
European statues/paintings at Dafen

TAYLOR: Undisputed masterpieces, art that speaks to the soul, monuments to creativity. On the surface it’s a collection that appears to rival some of the world’s great museums.
Painter workers

TAYLOR: If you fancy a Matisse or a Picasso for that empty space on the lounge room wall, this is your kind of place. For just a few dollars ‘painter workers’ as they’re known will whip up a Monet. Or how about a Van Gogh to go? 00:40

Dafen village exists to copy art and sell it on the international market. Just as China is fast becoming the world’s factory, it’s applying production line techniques to art. 00:56
Bao in studio painting Mona Lisas

TAYLOR: In the corner of a pokey studio that doubles as home, 26 year old Bao Jinsong follows in the brushstrokes of a genius. He’s never seen that real Mona Lisa smile, but says he doesn’t need to.

Bao: It’s not difficult to copy it. It was truly difficult for Da Vinci to paint it originally. 01:48
Bao painting Mona Lisas

TAYLOR: It took Leonardo Da Vinci years to finish Mona Lisa. Art college graduate Bao has knocked out more than 100 of them in the two and a half years he’s been in Dafen village.

Bao: It’s only when you are famous that you can sell your own paintings.

It takes a long while. Those artists would have hard time. It’s easier to make money by copying. 02:14
Dafen painting village

TAYLOR: Only 17 years ago Dafen village was a rural backwater. 02:25

Taylor walks with Huang Jiang

But then Hong Kong art entrepreneur Huang Jiang moved in with his easel to reproduce art to sell to the world. With a pool of talented artists prepared to work for low wages, mainland China was the place to be. 02:33

Huang Huang: At that time, I received lots of orders from the United States and Canada. 02:50

Painter workers I needed lots of people to work for me. Here was a natural village that I could turn into an independent kingdom, and I could run this village. 02:58

I didn’t imagine I’d ever make the achievements I’ve made today. 03:12

Painter workers at factory Music 03:17

TAYLOR: Thousands of Chinese painters supply 600 hundred galleries that fill orders from around the world.

Music 03:30
Close on paintings

TAYLOR: They make copies, not fakes – no one is pretending that their art is the real thing. The village turned over more than AUD30 million dollars in sales last year, nearly all of it from exports. 03:34

Painter workers Music 03:46

TAYLOR: And the painters of Dafen have another little money earner. I’ve come to the most famous studio for portraits in China – I know because the sign says so.

03:55
Taylor visits Zhang for portrait

Taylor: Hey, how are you? Zhang: How are you doing? John: Can you paint this picture? Zhang: Yes, I can. 04:06

Taylor: How long do you think it will take to paint it? Zhang: Probably about ten days.

Taylor: She is my daughter.

Zhang: Very beautiful and very cute. This is yourself. 04:16

TAYLOR: Provide Zhang Jianbin with a photograph, and he turns it into a portrait. 04:26

Orders come in on email from around the world. 04:30

Zhang Mu’s studio

But while most people here paint their way out of poverty, former art teacher Zhang Mu lets his own imagination direct the brush. He only does original work. 04:35

Zhang Mu: I believe, to create is very important. If you only copy other people’s work, there is no art. It is something belonging to other people, not yours.

TAYLOR: But even Mr Zhang can call China’s copy capital home. He says there’s an emerging market for original works like his.

Zhang Mu: A lot of people want to buy the original paintings that other families don’t have. 05:07

Painting shop Music 05:14

TAYLOR: But the bread and butter -- or rice and tofu -- of this village, remains copying. Mona Lisa maestro Bao Jinsong takes me to one of the many galleries showcasing his work, one enigmatic smile after another. 05:24

Taylor with Bao looking at Mona Lisa paintings

Taylor: Is this your Mona Lisa?Bao: Right.Taylor: Is this your Mona Lisa?

Bao: It was painted by me. 05:40

Mona Lisas Music 05:48

TAYLOR: Mr Bao painted each Mona Lisa for the equivalent of AUD32 dollars. They’re on sale for twice that. 05:53

Taylor with Bao looking at Mona Lisa paintings

Taylor: When you see your paintings here, how do you feel?

Bao: I am very excited. It’s hard.

Taylor: Why?

Bao: Because when people see my paintings, they will buy them. The more they buy, the more I can paint. 06:00

Taylor at home with daughter

Taylor: Hey Sienna, look what Dad’s got. It’s our picture. Come on, let’s have a look at it. 06:22

Taylor unrolls portrait

TAYLOR: It’s been a couple of weeks, and the most famous studio for portraits in China has finally delivered my painting. 06:29

Taylor: So what do you think? I look a bit like Prince Charles. 06:38

Dafen gallery Music 06:46

TAYLOR: Whether they copy for cash, or create for art’s own sake, the painters of Dafen are undeniably talented. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, perhaps this is the greatest tribute the masters could ever hope for. 06:54

Credits: Reporter: John TaylorCamera: Matt JasperEditor: Garth ThomasResearch: Charles LiProducer: Trevor Bormann 07:13