I remember when I first heard about the "artists" in China, cranking out these mass produced paintings at an assembly line pace. I know people who own paintings at bargain prices, all imported from China and I wasn't sure how I felt about that then. It seems its now affecting the street artisans of Paris and Artnewsblog.com wrote a big rant of this. See article from BBC here.

I feel the same way about this as I do the canvas prints and framed photographs you can buy at Ikea or Target, it's just decoration not art. But as it affects actual artists trying to make a living off their craft, then that's really really sad and I wish there was something that could be done.

Another article a while back from The New York Times.

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It's a shame that there's a market that would kill off so much artistic creativity and only exploit the talent. I doubt its an individual choice or joy to these painters. I'd rather give an accusing glare at the people propagating this demand for cheap "original" art. Copyrights should give the stores buying these a smackdown and art needs to be more of a priority in the education system. And how does this compare to the fashion industry I wonder? Again, China is exploited to churn out copied designs of trendy clothes... and everyong buys. Shame on us. I hope our economy turns toward made in USA soon, go Obama.