As with many NYT articles (or even news in general?) the premise is more interesting than the article itself: cheap paintings from China, cranked out in bulk. My favortite bits: 1. The idea of thousands of artists, painting away for export (so very Bruce Sterling!), but they seem to do it as piecework in their own homes or businesses rather than in a massive warehouse or cube farm. 2. “Artist groups in the United States are starting to express concern, questioning the originality of some Chinese paintings and whether they comply with American copyright laws.” I’m entertained that anyone’s surprised about the possiblility of China violating copyright (gasp!) and that the issue of originality is a separate issue. (One of the dealers comments that “the copies are inherently different because they are handmade, and so do not violate copyrights.” An interesting concept! A rep for a gallery trade group disagrees, naturally. In his rebuttal, it is mentioned that “vast majority of paintings produced before the 20th century were in the public domain.” Vast majority? Doesn’t it seem like all of the art produced before 1900 should be PD by now? Yeesh.) Unoriginal art produced in bulk for hotels and condos? Heaven forfend! 3. This is not a new industry, it is in fact the export of a business formerly common in northern New Jersey! I’m betting these are the same sort of outfits that Daniel Pinkwater wrote about in his essays on his early artistic life in Hoboken.

One of the retailers of such products is online and offers custom paintings! I think I need a custom oil of Alfred E. Neuman.