It's not exactly the Louvre, but a walk through Parkside Art Gallery during the coming weeks will bring the illusion of a stroll through a more famous gallery.
"Fakes and Forgeries" is the name of the new Cariboo Artists Guild Annual Show and Sale, which opened on July 20. It features at least one Mona Lisa among the bunch of familiar classics.
Contributing artists were given the task creating replicas of paintings done by notable artists of the past and among the mix are images made famous by da Vinci, Manet, van Gogh, John George Brown and members of the Group of Seven to name a few.
Cariboo Artists Guild (CAG) member Kathy Crawshay says members of her group were surprised at how much they learned by copying works done by great painters.
Thompson Rivers Faculty of Art instructor Marnie Blair was invited to the gallery to critique the paintings and she agrees there is great value in this kind of exercise.
"I think copying masters should be mandatory for all artists. They should all pick six to eight masters' paintings a year and copy them.
“It's a way to learn about formal elements, matching colours and brushstrokes. It's like you're almost stealing all of their skills and bringing them together to form your own work."
Blair gave personal critiques on the work of 17 CAG artists who have each contributed one theme painting and up to four other pieces of their work to the show. She allotted 15 minutes to each artist, but the feedback was presented in a group setting and all of the artists were able to learn through her comments.
Upon walking into the gallery for the first time, Blair says she immediately liked what she saw.
"You have a lot of really talented artists here. I've seen some exciting, creative pieces."
Crawshay says the critique was productive and appreciated.
"Everyone feels so good about it. It's nice to get positive feedback on your art because artists often don't appreciate what they're doing enough. Marnie was like a breath of fresh air."
"Fakes and Forgeries" runs until Sept. 8 and gallery hours are Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is by donation.
