Just the other day a student of mine asked about copying the old masters and copyright laws. Where does an artist stand on this? Can they sell the work without repercussions? It is traditional to copy the old masters or to use how to books as a method to learn and build skills.
However don’t try and pass these paintings off as your own. Copying someones composition and technique can be misconstrued as a forgery if you do not acknowledge the original artist. Write on the back of the substrate and acknowledge this is painted in the style of, and add the name of the artist you are copying. That way no one will be deceived as to the origin. Just because an artist died many years ago does not mean copyright to the work is in the public domain. Sometimes the copyright is purchased by a gallery or museum.
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