The Man Who has reproduced Gogh's work the most in the World #1

Today, I introduce a documentary made in China, 2019. The title is "The Man Who has reproduced Gogh's work the most in the World", and the main person is a painter, Chao Xiaoyoung（趙小勇）.

Daegu（大芬）, China, where he lives, is a city thriving in the reproduction industry. There are many workshops, and it is said that more than half of the oil paintings distributed in the world are reproduced in this town.

Its history is not long, starting in 1989 when a Hong Kong painter brought 20 painters to the city. The demand for reproductions was high, their business grew rapidly. In about 30 years, the number of painters has increased to 10,000, and millions of reproductions have been drawn so far.
Works by old western masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir are popular products.

When we imagine drawing an oil painting, we have the image of putting a canvas on an easel, sitting on a chair, and drawing it one by one, but they can't afford that. This is because there are large orders and tight deadlines. To be able to meet the deadline is the sign of a good workshop, so the painters keep moving their brushes all the time.

They line up along the wall of the workshop, stick their canvas on the wall, and draw as looking at the sample on the side. Samples are photographs and past paintings drawn in the workshop. Only a few painters have seen the real work. However, it is not the same work, but the work drawn by the same artist. They magnify digital photographs and imagine and imitate colors and touches.

Xiaoyoung came to this town to work. He had never drawn on oil painting before, but he trained himself by working, and now he runs his own workshop with his family.

How much sales do they have? There is a scene in the documentary in which he shows the sales receipts. In this, you can find 740 pieces sold to a Dutch gallery for 30,000 yuan, 540,000¥, so each sheet costs about 700 yen. 

This is a very cheap price, in Japan, we can only buy a canvas and a bottle of oil for washing brushes. Although China is a low-priced country, I don't think he is making enough profit. Xiaoyoung also says he doesn't know how much the Dutch gallery sells them for. Looking at this, I was worried that he wasn't doing well.

Van Gogh is the main product of his workshop, and Gogh is also his most beloved artist and he has been painting Van Gogh for about 20 years. But he has never seen a real Van Gogh work.
One day, a Dutch gallery invited him to come to Amsterdam.
 This was a new development in his life.

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