Richard Signore

I just “discovered” the world of copy art via an article in the New Yorker regarding Glenn Brown stealing Chris Foss’s illustration “Ornamental Despair”. Although Brown credits Foss, he still made an exact copy of Foss’s illustration. Brown’s painting sold for $5.7 million. Foss got about $350.00 for the original. What a strange set of values!!!! I have heard of artist projecting large images from magazine covers such as Good Housekeeping and selling them as Fine Art for large sums of money. Although this leads into a discussion of what is an artist, I find the practice horrendous and nothing but thievery. The thief usually replies that they credit the initial creator, however, I find that disgustingly disingenuous: stealing is stealing is STEALING! I know legal action has paid off for some, but it still doesn’t lessen the truth that this practice is ethically repugnant! I also found Lichtenstien and his ilk nothing more than scriveners, and I cringe at the art critics who elevate such tripe to the level of great art, claiming that they are part of the tradition. Perhaps I would be happier if these fellows just copied photographs, but since my days as a student copying the Great Masters and their techniques, I never would have thought I was producing anything more valuable than the original work. The art world is filled with scam artists and frauds and this is one of the most glaring examples.