China's 'art factory' painters turn from fakes to originals

Artist Zhao Xiaoyong standing next to his original paintings - inspired by the classics - in his studio at Dafen village. Photo: AFP

Painters in a Chinese village once known for churning out replicas of Western masterpieces are now making original art worth thousands of dollars, selling their own works in a booming domestic art market.

Home to more than 8,000 artists, southern China’s Dafen has been producing near-perfect copies of timeless masterpieces for years. In its heyday, three out of five oil paintings sold worldwide were made in the village, and for years village painters sold their copies to buyers across Europe, the Middle East and the United States.