Reproduction of paintings: the process step by step.

Can you guess which is the original painting and which is the reproduction?

If you guessed the painting on the left as the original, you are right!

The painting on the right is an oil painting reproduction made by a painting artist.

The differences in the reproduction of paintings are marked by the time elapsed, the type of pigment used, the skill of the artist and the canvas used. However, buyers of replica paintings accept these small differences and some even prefer the bright colors of the reproductions to the originals!

Only in large art forgeries it is very difficult to distinguish between the original and the reproduction, since special techniques are used to age the paintings.

Let's look at some of the methods used in the reproduction of paintings:

Reproduction of paintings printed on canvas.

This type of niche in the reproduction of paintings is on the rise, as traditional canvases, mainly cotton, are used, with prints made in ink by large format printers such as the Epson. Within this category there are prints on Giclee canvas, with traditional dyes or high durability pigments or "archival''. Also in this category there are prints on embellished canvas. The technique is simple, a painting is printed on cotton or synthetic canvas and once the paint is dry, an artist adds oil on the surface embellishing the painting and adding texture.

There is a marked difference between paintings that are printed on canvas in bulk (Lienzographs) to prints made with Glicee, see the following graphic:

In the image on the left, the painting is printed with regular ink. On the left, the painting is printed with the Giclee technique.

In Giclee, resolution matters! Any image you plan to use to print art prints should be at least 300 DPI relative to the physical size you expect to print.

Used interchangeably in the printing world, DPI stands for Dots Per Inch and relates to the amount of physical dots that are printed within a given square inch.

That said, the look of a high quality fine art print depends a lot on the quality of the digital image and its resolution, and we already know that images with that kind of resolution are very rare and very hard to come by. A simple Google search is not enough.

Reproduction of paintings printed on paper or foil (posters)

When printed offset, an image is divided into four "color channels" known as CMYK. This stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

These prints, also called offset prints, are also subject to the quality of the source image (the resolution), the printer used, the inks and the paper. There is always a risk here that the source image will be of low resolution and therefore the final product will also be of low quality. Although there are photographs of famous paintings on the internet, very few can actually be found with the necessary resolution to make a print worthy of the work. The only way to do this is by scanning the works in specialized scanners. Of course with this technique of reproducing paintings there is zero texture, and therefore the appearance of "cheap painting" is a characteristic of the reproduction. This is not the way for anyone who wants a high quality copy of a painting.

Offset printing is one of the oldest and most widely used printing styles and has been around since the 1870s, but it is not highly recommended for quality reproductions of artwork.

Generally the result is not good and disappoints the buyer. Here it is worth announcing, without being mocking: cheap is expensive!

Reproduction of oil paintings authorized by the artist

The reproduction of oil paintings in the visual arts dates back to the 16th century, when it was a common practice for art students to copy their former masters to learn how to paint. The process of copying a masterpiece allowed them to practice a skilled painting style while developing their own style. This allowed ordinary people to hold on to reproductions of oil paintings worth thousands of dollars. Leonardo first learned to paint in the style of his master before pursuing his own approach, and then copied the painting style of his master.

By copying a painting, the student learns the artist's method; his approach, mixing and gradations of color.

In the late 19th century Degas diligently copied masterpieces by his favorite artist, Ingres. He also made a careful large-scale copy of Poussin's Rape of the Sabine Women, now in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The list of famous artists who copied the old ones masters is endless; Landseer to Rubens; John Singer Sargent to Velasquez; Henri Fantin Latour to Titian and Veronese, Géricault to Caravaggio; Watteau to Titian, Van Dyck to Tintoretto, Matsys to Raphael, to name but a few.

So marked has this practice been that even Picasso himself made famous the phrase, "Good artists copy, great artists steal".

Reproduction of paintings in serigraphy

The technique of reproducing paintings by silkscreen printing has existed for more than 100 years. It is a medium that has been used to stunning effect by artists such as Andy Warhol, Romero Britto, LeRoy Neiman and many others. But what exactly is screen printing? Serigraphy is a term that comes from "seri," which in Latin means "silk," and "graphos," which in ancient Greek means "writing." The word was coined in the early 1900s to distinguish the artistic use of the medium from its more common commercial purpose. Screen printing is familiar to us in countless forms. It is used from T-shirt logos to posters.

The roots of the medium lie deep in history. It was used especially in the Far Eastern countries of China and Japan as a technique for applying stencils to fabrics and screens. Screen printing is allied with woodblock printing, which first emerged in those countries for similar purposes.

Fantasy Night, Itzchak Tarkay

Both techniques were adopted by European artists and craftsmen in the 15th century and were further developed for a wide variety of decorative and artistic applications.

At its most elementary level, screen printing involves covering portions of silk or similar material with a coating. First, the silk is stretched over a frame hinged to a baseboard. Then, the image window is masked with masking tape and a layer of shellac or glue is applied. Whatever part of the silk is exposed becomes the design through which ink or other pigment, such as paint, is pressed with a squeegee or brush. This simplified description hardly does justice to the technical flexibility and artistic versatility of the medium.

Reproduction of paintings on photographic paper

A good reproduction of paintings on photographic paper is made on archival quality matte paper. This is the best paper for fine art storage, as it is a specialized, long-lasting paper for picture reproductions and photographic prints. It features a smooth surface, heavyweight (230g), neutral white, matte paper designed for accurate color reproduction that provides high contrast and high resolution output. Acid-free paper is preferred, making it the perfect choice for both photographs and fine art reproductions. It should be noted that this type of fine art reproduction is also subject to paper quality.

How to distinguish quality in the reproduction of paintings?

Even within the above categories, there are great differences in quality, price, size and color fidelity in the reproduction of paintings.n of pictures. 

At Kuadros we specifically serve a demanding type of clientele who are looking for high quality oil painting reproductions. These are copies of paintings made with extreme skill, in which expert copy artists try to get as close as possible to the original author's intention. 

To achieve this, we rely on the help of more than 60 masters graduates of plastic arts schools. These artists are spread around the world, from Venezuela to Haiti in the Americas, passing through China and Japan.

Who calls the shots in the oil painting reproduction business?

There are two schools of large volume painting reproduction today, the one that uses European artists and the Chinese. The companies that use European artists to make copies charge much more for their paintings than the companies that use Chinese painters. But is the abysmal price difference justified?

What is the difference in quality between these two schools of painting reproduction?

There is no difference in quality marked by the geography from which the painter who reproduces the work comes from. Contrary to many Chinese products that (justifiably) have a dubious reputation for quality, Chinese art reproductions are often equal or superior to European artists. The reason? The Chinese artist has a considerable lead over the European artist in experience, as Chinese painting reproductions have been making mass reproductions of paintings for the last 3 decades.

It is worth knowing a little of this history. In 1989, a Hong Kong businessman and artist named Huang Jiang visiting the city of Shenzhen set out to transform the dilapidated village of Dafen into an oil painting reproduction workshop.

By renting several houses and recruiting a dozen apprentices, he created a business that operated like a factory production line, efficiently producing Van Goghs, Da Vincis and Rembrandts and selling them all over the world. By the late 1990s, Jiang's business had grown to include more than 2,000 workers. Many apprentices eventually broke away and formed their own reproduction projects.

Several of the masters who work with Jiang today Kuadros come from the original group of those early artists of the master Huang Jiang.

But not all Chinese reproductions are the same. Today you can buy cheap reproductions of paintings on Chinese portals such as Aliexpress. Many of these replicas are of low quality, although buyers who don't know the difference are usually satisfied.

Specialized artists still in China charge quite high for producing their works, as the average production time for a 60x90 painting is at least 2 to 3 weeks. To this must be added the drying time and international shipping.

What influences the price in the reproduction of oil paintings?

The price of reproductions of famous paintings is determined by several factors:

• The artist who paints the painting. Good artists and masters experienced artists are paid more than apprentices or artists new to the technique of reproduction.
• The size of the painting. Here it is worth saying that size does matter. It is not the same to reproduce a painting of 60x90 than 120x200, since of course it takes more canvas, more paint and above all, time. In many cases the artist who reproduces paintings charges more for his time than for the materials.
• The canvas. Synthetic canvases are cheaper than cotton canvases and cotton canvases are cheaper than linen canvases.
• The pigments.
• The number of figures in the painting
• The level of detail and complexity of the painting

Are reproductions of paintings worth anything?

In general, art reproductions have a low value compared to originals that are auctioned for millions. Replicas of fine art paintings are not an investment in the same way that original art is.

On the other hand, there is also no guarantee that an original work of art will go up in value. Of course, there are exceptions for art reproductions, especially reproductions of oil paintings. For example, if Banksy were to paint a reproduction of Klimt's The Kiss, then this reproduction would be worth a lot, since it would be being painted by a famous artist. But in general art reproductions are worth whatever someone will pay for them.

Because most of the later copies of the old ones are worth a lot of money. masters have long been undervalued, their authorship was rarely recorded, so they come to us today most often as anonymous works. And yet we make an effort to understand the influence of truly great works on younger or later artists and students.

Reproductions of famous paintings are often fantastically inexpensive. Buying a copy of a famous painting would put you in good company: King Charles I, England's most famous and sophisticated art collector, owned a large number of copies (nearly 70 in all), including numerous copies of paintings whose originals were already in his possession. In addition to buying these paintings himself, Charles also received copies as gifts from members of the court.

As in the example of King Charles, it is evident that the satisfaction in owning a replica does not lie in its commercial value, but in being able to admire a little of what the artist wanted to capture on the original work.

Some advice before buying a reproduction of an oil painting:

In the painting reproduction industry, you really get what you pay for. If you opt for a printed reproduction, don't expect too much.

Always compare the replica with the original so you can see the differences and judge for yourself how good or bad the reproduction is.

It is almost impossible to reproduce an oil painting with 100% accuracy. Do not be fooled by misleading claims.

You should also examine the warranty provided by the supplier. 

Be realistic about how long you should expect to wait for your reproduction. Unless it is a printed painting, oil paintings take several weeks to be painted, carefully packaged so they are not damaged and shipped to their destination. The average for a buyer to receive a requested painting is 6 weeks, but in some cases this time can extend to 8 to 10 weeks. 

About Famous Oil Paintings Reproduction by Kuadros

Our museum quality reproductions are 100% hand painted by professional artists with many years of experience in creating replicas of oil paintings on canvas.

All of our paintings come directly from the studio. We do not work with intermediaries, nor do we have galleries or showrooms.

The hallmark of Kuadros paintings is the quality and the guarantee, since each work, besides being painted by an expert artist, obtains the periodic revision of the masters in charge of quality control.

The result is a work of exceptional beauty just for you.

KuadrosA famous painting on your wall.