Why is an original art from Van Gogh more expensive than an…
Why is an original art from Van Gogh more expensive than an exact replica? What is the role of the authorship when you are looking to the picture?
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"Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be."
WALTER BENJAMIN - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
How does this help when you are looking to a replica and you think it is the original?
Your initial question was on the value of the original. Nothing helps when you look at a replica...for example, a JPEG. I can duplicate it by clicking copy and paste. When I open the copied file it will have the same effect on me as the original.
So you believe the value of a painting or other graphical art is not delivered when you look at it?
The economic value is in the original. The value for the person viewing the art is not economic. 'The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity ' WALTER BENJAMIN - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Ok but what makes the original valuable in your opinion? Why some originals are very valuable and some are worthless?
The original Van Gogh differs from the replica in price because it has the signature from the original author.
The role of authorship matters in the sense that while you're looking at it, you're perceiving a product of an original author although you most likely are looking at a replica.
I would say the canon, over time, shapes the value of the original.
My questioning is of the value of the graphical arts in general are not entirely on the piece of art itself. What do you think?
As regarding the price of the piece, I think making the original more valuable incentivizes the creator to create more.