In the past, young artists would study with a master artist to learn from him. They would copy his art in an attempt to gain his skill and wisdom and he was right there guiding them. Art historians are often able to identify these copies, but not always. As a result, there’s sometimes the risk that a collector will purchase an art piece attributed to a master when it was, in fact, his student’s work.

With the exorbitant prices art fetches, there are those who make a living creating art forgeries. They hone their technique, use old materials to make their work seem authentic, artificially age their piece and create a fake paper trail so that their ruse is believable.

People get very offended when they pay a lot of money for an art forgery. Naturally that has something to do with being tricked, which is often the name of the game. But, we allow muscicians to play the same works as great composers and don’t think less of them for doing so. Society allows actors to recreate roles made famous by the greats from the past and we often celebrate their accomplishments.

Why does it matter so much when someone copies an artist’s work? What is the worth of a good forgery? If experts can’t tell the difference between a da Vinci and a fake, why should we care? What is the true value of the original art piece? Is it because we want to touch or see the art piece that a great artist created? Is there something near magical about being close to an art piece shaped by a great artist? Is it about experiencing the magic? Is it all about the prestigue of owning a work from a great master or is there more to it?

I encourage you to research this on the internet before you post your reply What did you discover? What do the experts say? How do you feel about these issues?