If you were good at painting, would you rather use your talent to create your own artworks or reproduce those from the previous masters, like those of Caravaggio, Vincent van Gogh or Pablo Picasso? It seems not to be a question for them - the copyists. Every year, students, amateurs, and professionals come to the Louvre in France to copy famous paintings. Some are there to learn; some are there to work. In France, there are only a few of these professions who make a living by copying paintings, and they are doing it legally.
A CRAFT HARDER THAN BEING AN ORIGINAL ARTIST
The Louvre welcomes these copyists, but they have to first show that they are up to the standard. That means providing supporting documents and a portfolio before obtaining a permit. To some extent, being a professional copyist might even possess bigger artistic talents than the past painting masters. Because to be a professional copyist, first and foremost, you need to be able to recreate paintings of every style (Renaissance, Impressionism, Contemporary, you name it). Not to mention the fact that they’d want their creations to be as faithful as possible, meaning the pigments that were used for the original paintings have to be the same as the recreated ones. This isn’t an easy job at all. Not only do they have to figure out the pigments used, they also have to work with materials that are equivalent to those of the time. With the evolution of technology, old materials can be quite hard to come by. Without doubt, it’s a much harder profession than creating their own masterpieces.
PREPARATION IS KEY
To make the copies as original as possible, they need as much information as possible about the paintings they reproduce. From knowing the components of the paintings to studying closely the artworks, they need everything there is in order to find out the right colours. That means also going to the museums to study the art pieces in person. Luckily, in France, they are welcome by the museums as long as they file a request to paint directly in front of the original. It’s there they spend most of the time observing the smallest details, taking notes, sketching, and drawing on canvases.
HOW TO SEPARATE THE COPIES FROM THE ORIGINALS?
For those who don’t have the patience, it can be an excruciating process. For these copyists, every recreation is a puzzle that they enjoy solving. Once they know how to make their works as original as possible, the inevitable question is how to make them not original. After all, they can’t create a truly identical one to confuse the public. For starters, the size will never be identical to the original ones. They will also mark in the back of the painting that it is a copy and will never imitate the signature of the original painter. If it is created at the Louvre, a stamp from the museum will also cover the piece (but remains only visible under X-ray). These criteria separate them from the forgers, whose intention is to create 100% art pieces to trick people.
So many restrictions and so much hard work, all that just to reproduce a famous painting? It’s all worth it! After spending hundreds of hours trying to recreate a masterpiece, you learn naturally the use of colours, light, brushstrokes. It can be the Eden for some who want to master the art of painting. Or for some, copying is an exceptional challenge that they enjoy very much. Although technology can help them find out the colours used in the original paintings, the painting methods and the brushstrokes used remain a mystery. They still need to try and try and try to find out the most appropriate way to recreate a perfect art piece. To them, it’s like cooking a meal with only the list of ingredients but without the resume. But it is this mystery that renders their job unconventional and fun.
P.s. wanna read about our day in the Musée d'Orsay or learn about the largest artistic squat in Paris too? Click the links!
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