"Starving Artist" Shows

Art shows come around every few months, stopping in places people are happy to flock to, like hotel ballrooms or flea markets. They all have one thing in common — they've got the right product at the right price.

Promises of original oil works of art for sixty bucks sounds like a fantastic deal in and of itself for any size painting. And when that price is for a massive four by three foot painting on canvas, it is an irresistible steal. So irresistible in fact, that many have questioned how the artists themselves manage to get by with those profit margins when the cost of a canvas and the oil paint would far surpass the quoted price of the finished products.

Rumor has it that China is behind the production, where sweat shops have figured out a way to mass produce art. Dr. Lori, art historian, syndicated columnist and certified art and antiques appraiser (among her other accomplishments), writes this about the shows: "Factory workers stand, for hours at a time, in front of machines that support a long roll of blank canvas. With brushes and paint, each worker is responsible for painting one image or portion of a painting's entire composition… At intervals and without warning, the canvas is automatically repositioned by machine to expose the next blank area of canvas to the workers who will paint it. The workers repeat the painting process. During the process, Artist #1 paints that same tree over and over again for the next 14 hours straight."

Think of it as an oil version of street caricaturists — once the technique has been mastered, it can be reproduced over and over again with predictable results. So does this "cheapen" or otherwise invalidate these pieces of art? And more to the point, does the average student who manages to decorate their dorm room or bare apartment walls with "original" oil paintings care that much?

Lynell Morgan, ISSM: Film Production, Junior at Cal State Monterey Bay comments, "In a sense, it's not art, because it's not from the true artist… Sure, it's going to look pretty in your home, and you're going to be able to look at it and think, 'wow, that's beautiful', but there's no feeling behind it, there's no struggle behind it."

She shares the sentiments of many. How we appreciate and relate to art is very personal, and it is by definition a very emotional purchase.

Sheila Moss, web editor of Columnists.com, writes of her experience at a similar show: "After digging and looking through everything there several times, I saw a framed picture across the room against a wall… I studied it closer and liked it even more, so I bought it. It is in my home now on the living room wall. I don't care that it only costs $59 instead of $1059 and that it was made in China. I like it."

The question then becomes this: On a limited budget, would you rather have a handmade oil painting or a print of equal value that exhibits the work of a "real" artist?

Morgan replies, "Oil painting definitely… I saw this one painted canvas thing where it was just a picture printed on it. When I stood far away from it I thought how beautiful, someone painted that, then I walked up closer to it, and it was just a print of a picture on it…It totally took away the entire value from it."

Knowing that there is an assembly line behind that thickly painted Mediterranean ocean scene sometimes cramps a buyer's style, especially those with strong feelings about sweat shop labor. And for many students viewing a beautiful oil painting that they connect with at a reasonable price point, the danger lies in the not knowing the potential for such a history.

Says Morgan, "I probably wouldn't question it as much, and I probably would assume that it was a starving artist."

Like it or not, their marketing is working- and ignorance is bliss for many when it comes to home décor. For those in the know, the positives of a technically original, touchable oil painting can outweigh the negatives of its origin. But truth be told, as long as you are aware of its history and are okay with it, no one else needs to know!