Dafen () is a suburb of
Buji,
Longgang, Shenzhen, in the province of Guangdong, China. Since 1989, the area has been an artists' village for the production of replicas of masterworks and
outsourcing
Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...
of original art creation as a specialised urban cottage industry.
History
In 1989, the painter Huang Jiang started copying paintings and has since been considered the founder of Dafen's replica industry.
In the early 1990s, a group of about twenty artists who trained at art academies took up residence under the leadership of businessman Huang Jiang. They produced dozens of replicas daily of
oil paintings by masters such as
Vincent van Gogh,
Salvador Dalí,
Leonardo da Vinci,
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
, and
Andy Warhol.
In the 1990s, Huang sent a painting to
Walmart and received an order of 50,000 paintings, which he had to produce within fourteen days.
After the
2007–2008 financial crisis, Western demand declined and domestic buyers ordered
Chinese art copies, forcing a change in style.
As of 2014, 7,000 artists were based in Dafen, living and working in the factories, copying paintings, and five million paintings were being exported to the United States and Europe per year. Some artists can finish up to 100 paintings in twelve hours.
In 2018, 8,000 people lived in Dafen, and the local government promised to develop it into a tourist destination.
A 2019 publication estimated the Dafen area produced revenues of around US$630 million annually. Previously, talent was needed in the production, but the village has innovated with "large scale printers and clusters of tablets and phones ... use
for templating", so that minimal training is required.
Replicas
Official policy states that the replicas produced at Dafen Oil Painting Village are copied from artists who have died more than fifty years ago, and consequently out of
copyright. However, the artists copied include
Georgia O'Keeffe, who died in 1986.
Knockoffs of contemporary artists such as
Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political ...
and
Yue Minjun are also sold.
The village sells both originals and replicas. It is possible to commission paintings for low prices. The settlement is a gated community, recognisable by the large sculpture of a hand holding a paintbrush outside its gates.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{coord, 22, 36, 34, N, 114, 08, 14, E, region:CN-44_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
1989 establishments in China
Contemporary art galleries in China
Culture in Shenzhen
Longgang District, Shenzhen
Populated places established in 1989
Tourist attractions in Shenzhen
Villages in China