Dafen Village

Since 1989, the area has been an artists' village for the production of replicas of masterworks and outsourcing of original art creation as a specialised urban cottage industry.

They produced dozens of replicas daily of oil paintings by masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dalí, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Andy Warhol.

[4] After the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Western demand declined and domestic buyers ordered Chinese art copies, forcing a change in style.

Previously, talent was needed in the production, but the village has innovated with "large scale printers and clusters of tablets and phones ... use[d] for templating", so that minimal training is required.

[6] Official policy states that the replicas produced at Dafen Oil Painting Village are copied from artists who have died more than fifty years ago, and consequently out of copyright.

Studio in Dafen
Dafen Oil Painting Village entrance sign