A VEXING PROBLEM: THE LONG TRADITION OF COPIES AND FORGERIES IN JAPANESE AND EAST ASIAN ART
6:30-7:15 pm PRESENTATION
7:15-7:30 Q and A
Masuda Funai Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd.
203 N. LaSalle Street, 25th Floor Conference Room
Chicago, IL 60603
$15 JASC Members/$20 Non-Members
The production of copies is part of the tradition of East Asian visual culture. Not all copies are fakes and many have monetary value, sometimes more than the original. Artists from Korea and Japan were often inspired by Chinese art, and Japanese artists also copied certain types of Korean arts, such as Buddhist painting. Consequently, distinguishing the original from the copy is often challenging. Understanding the different contexts in which copies were produced helps understand how to evaluate them. Emphasizing the tradition of copying in Japanese arts, this presentation also addresses copies in Chinese and Korean arts, showing how some are copied for legitimate reasons, and others for deception.
The talk draws on Graham's experience as both a scholar and appraiser of Asian art, using examples of objects she has seen and studied over the years, including Japanese secular paintings, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Buddhist painting and sculpture, Japanese prints, ceramics, cloisonné, Peking glass, jade, and netsuke. She will compare different sorts of copies and fakes, and discuss their relative values in the marketplace. Currently, the issue of forgeries is particularly pertinent and vexing because these have increased substantially in recent years, especially in China, although the use of scientific examination techniques is often used effectively to discern them.