Which Chinese town makes copying paintings the main industry?

A so-called Chinese “urban village,” Dafen once produced an estimated 60 percent of all the world’s oil paintings. During its heyday—when the village’s reputation as an art factory rang truer than today—it almost exclusively cranked out copies of paintings in the Western art canon.

What is Chinese style art called?

Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà (simplified Chinese: 国画; traditional Chinese: 國畫), meaning “national painting” or “native painting”, as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century. It is also called danqing (Chinese: 丹青; pinyin: dān qīng).

Can oil paintings be mass produced?

There, studios ranging from small to factory sized mass produce oil paintings according to specific orders. Thousands of painters produce identical portraits, landscapes, still lifes, etc., which are sold for affordable retail pricing across the world.

What was the main theme of Chinese painting?

Among the typical themes of traditional Chinese art there is no place for war, violence, the nude, death, or martyrdom. Nor is inanimate matter ever painted for art’s sake alone: the very rocks and streams are felt to be alive, visible manifestations of the invisible forces of the universe.

What is visual arts in China?

Visual Arts. Calligraphy and Painting. Chinese characters evolved from pictures and signs, and the Chinese art of calligraphy developed naturally from its unique writing system. Through the ages, great calligraphers developed representative calligraphic styles of their times.

What is Dafen Art Village?

Founded in 1989 by an oil painting businessman from Hong Kong, Dafen art village has become a base of oil painting production and sales.

How to get to Dafen oil painting village in Shenzhen?

Dafen Oil Painting Village is easy to get to and can be reached by subway, taxi, and bus. The easiest way to go there is by subway. If you are taking the Shenzhen metro you can take line 3, the blue line, to Dafen station, 大芬站，exit A1.

Where does Dafen come from?

A suburb of Shenzhen in China’s Guangdong province, Dafen became associated with oil painting in the late 1980s when Huang Jiang, a painter and businessman from Hong Kong, took up residence in the village.

What is digitaldafen oil painting village?

Dafen Oil Painting Village was founded in 1989 by a businessman from Hong Kong. The village is located in Longgang, Shenzhen’ s largest city district. It has over 700 small business outlets and thousands of artists that work and live in the area. Most if not all of the artists are local Chinese.