I have recently read a blog article which discusses prints by Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt and William Morris etc that are selling via Etsy and many other popular wall art stores across the UK, US and Europe.
The prints are sold as reproductions of the great artists' works, yet they are fully AI generated and not at all related to the 'original' prints (I am adding pictures of the AI works in question).
This is a really strange yet pertinent topic, and was one of the reasons that as a working artist I switched from digital to traditional painting about 5 years ago. So far so good, yikes!
But I wonder how many people are aware of this on the mass market? If you are very familiar with the artists concerned you might eventually notice oddities in the prints, from flowers with extra stems to birds with one foot. Or clarities that might not have been present from woodblock prints of that era, and all presented in new, trending colours. The tech will only improve though, and soon it will be indistinguishable - unless we are focusing on the 'spirit' of the piece, which is altogether another matter.
I have no issue with AI art in itself; one of my fave pieces recently portrayed Greta Thunberg riding a dragon into battle, which amused and delighted me, and I would not decline a print....but on a more serious note, how do people feel about this in general?
I know lots of people claim to only purchase original pieces, but the larger part of the art market is in print sales, for artists of all media. I see AI literally steamrolling those mid-range careers out of existence, and one which used to pay enormously well, if sporadically.
Will visual art wind up back in the hands of the privileged few? Or could AI have a more positive impact? I honestly don't know myself, but what does make me sad is the idea of new or young artists believing these were true representations of art history, when they are not. I guess the world will adapt, so it is difficult to predict how it will pan out.