London museum challenges visitors to find the fakes

Global Business

One museum in London is asking if visitors if they can tell the difference between a masterpiece and a replica worth just a few dollars. 
CCTV’s Richard Bestic reported from London.

London museum challenges visitors to find the fakes

One museum in London is asking if visitors if they can tell the difference between a masterpiece and a replica worth just a few dollars. CCTV's Richard Bestic reported from London.

Somewhere in the hall of Dulwich Picture Gallery’s priceless portraits hangs a $120 hand-painted replica from China. The challenge is to spot the fake. The gallery’s bosses said they were keen for people to look at the masterpieces with a fresh eye.

“So we thought, let’s get people to look at our collection to re-engage with the originals by looking for a Chinese replica. So, suddenly we’re using the collection in a totally different way, but were people to actually look at it,” Xavier Bray, curator from Dulwich Picture Gallery said.

The history of replicas goes back to ancient times. The Dulwich Picture Gallery’s hunted replica, wherever it is, copied from a photo sent to China just three weeks ago and painted in one of hundreds of studios, producing copy masters on an industrial scale.

“It’s diplomatically a very wonderful way of welcoming Chinese interaction by having this painting here among the old masters,” Bray said.

In the meantime, looking for the lookalike is fun for all ages. This though, by Tilly Kettle from the middle of the 18th century, looks suspiciously new.