It is definitely an idle thought and, moreover, it is not a particularly original one, either. Oh stop complaining, if you want original thinking try Anna Raccoon's place(*)! Anyway, as I was driving back from the pool this morning - have I mentioned that I go swimming every morning at the crack of dawn? - oh! I have! - well, no need to be like that about it - where was I? - oh, yes, it was reported yesterday that they had found a copy of the Mona Lisa painted by one of Leonardo's apprentices.
I must confess that I have never particularly liked the painting and I did once see the original in Paris but it left me unmoved. Looking at these two, I prefer the apprentice work on the right but only because it seems to have retained its colour rather better than Leonardo's. So, setting money aside, in this instance I would rather have the copy than the original. But the minute you bring the money back into consideration it is obvious that there are people out there who would pay anything for an original and nothing for a copy even if it was exact in virtually all details. Why? Er, sorry, but that is my idle thought for the day. If the copy is well executed and faithful to the master's work why would it not be as attractive? We all go to hear concerts of the same piece of music but interpreted differently by different conductors and usually, because most of us couldn't tell a crotchet from a quaver, we thoroughly enjoy it. So, if paintings of slightly plump girls with ambiguous smiles on their faces 'presses your buttons', so to speak, does it matter which is the original? And if it does - why?
(*) http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/bbc-supports-the-right-to-smoke/#comment-53271
It’s an odd business. I suppose it depends on how much spare money we have. The more we have, the more we are prepared to pay for tiny distinctions, such as a fashionable brand, first edition or an original thingy personally signed by the thingy-maker. The thingy-maker's gofer doesn't have the same cachet.
Posted by: A K Haart | Thursday, 02 February 2012 at 11:36
Yes, you are right, AK, but for me, when it comes to art objects, I either like it or not and originality cuts no ice - and certainly signs no cheques!
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 02 February 2012 at 21:06