Mona Lisa – Analog Artist Digital World

I went to the studio of artist Danny Rock in Casselberry as he put finishing touches on ten forgeries he will be showing at Loft 55 Gallery & Boutique (55 West Church Street, Suite 120, Orlando, Florida).”Urban Art Forger” will open this Thursday March 19th as part of the Downtown Third Thursday art scene.

Danny explained that the work “Is a recreation of classics done in a new world trying to
relate to what is real verses what is not. The point of this exhibition
is to bring the awareness that fine art collectors and patrons would rather
spend millions on forgeries than support local fine artists with real
skill and poise. All the reproduction made are open domain.”

On his work table was a book about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a former staff member, Vincenzo Peruggia. He didn’t steal the painting for profit. He loved the painting and wanted it for himself. His tiny garret had a wooden stove and the Mona Lisa leaned up next to it for years. Pan drippings and spatter from boiling soups might have splashed the painting. After two years, he took the painting to Italy and kept it in his Florence apartment. He wanted the painting returned to it’s homeland. Magazines had just come into vogue and the image of Mona Lisa circled the world until she was found. Vincenzo only served two months in an Italian jail when convicted. Now behind bullet proof glass, it must be the most visited and photographed painting in the world. I went to see the painting and was shocked by the crushing crowd of tourists all viewing her in their digital devices. It was a surreal scene, which I call the digital salute. A digital picture takes a second to create and then is
forgotten on hard drives or lost. Danny on the other hand is taking the
time to apply delicate glazes and trying to understand the subtleties
of the masters. Recently a second Mona Lisa has appeared painted on canvas. Da Vinci usually worked on wooden panels. In this painting there are two columns on either side of her. Some experts claim that this was a study done by Da Vinci for the final painting. Others believe it is a forgery. Danny decided to create a forgery of both. Digital 3-D printers can now duplicate a painting with all the thick impasto paint and color. Though accurate it would still lack the human touch. It also could not replicate the deep pools of glazes applied. Perhaps we are becoming a society that only wants reproductions instead of originals. Everyone expects Wall mart prices even in art. Danny’s forgeries are available for only a couple of hundred dollars each.

The Louvre in Paris is a museum which definitely can not be seen in one day. Vast halls of sculpture and paintings go on and on in this huge palace. It was funny to see the crowds swarm towards the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The portrait appeared postage stamp sized when viewed from the middle of the room. Mona Lisa smiled at the endless crowd of tourists who crushed up to shoot photos on their cell phones. Many couldn’t get close enough, so they raised the cameras up over their heads to get a clear shot. Her image echoed across every view screen. One tourist decided to shoot a black and white sign with Mona Lisa’s likeness that pointed towards the room. In the hallway outside there were several more paintings by da Vinci, but they went largely ignored. One woman almost sat in the lap of a statue’s lap when she wanted to rest. Security guards quickly asked her to move.

Terry and I put in a marathon effort, seeing as much art as we could in one day. Terry wanted to see the Napoleonic Apartments which I thought would be a bore, but I was well impressed by the lavish, excessive opulence. I’m amazed the rooms survived the French Revolution. I didn’t sketch until we left the museum. Seeing so much art left me itching to draw. I immediately sat down opposite this Louis XlV statue as the sun set. I should have thought twice because half way into the sketch, the sun burst out from behind the clouds blinding me as I stared straight at it. In another way it was a blessing because it forced me to only see bold simple silhouettes. Artists seem able to work in absolute anonymity in Paris. I was surrounded once by a Japanese tourist group. I didn’t understand a thing they said but I have to assume that the chatter was positive. Terry and I went out for a magnificent diner that night, I believe at Un P’tit Coin Du Cuisine. The fine dining and wine helped us recoup from our museum burn.