{"id":365523,"date":"2025-10-12T01:52:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/?p=365523"},"modified":"2025-10-12T01:53:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:53:43","slug":"dafen-oil-painting-village-from-chinas-van-gogh-to-the-future-of-ai-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/dafen-oil-painting-village-from-chinas-van-gogh-to-the-future-of-ai-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Le village des peintres \u00e0 l'huile de Dafen : du \u201c Van Gogh chinois \u201d \u00e0 l'avenir de l'art g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 par l'IA"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"peinture<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, the award-winning documentary China\u2019s Van Gogh<\/em> brought worldwide attention to Village de peinture \u00e0 l'huile de Dafen<\/strong> in Shenzhen.
The film followed Zhao Xiaoyong<\/strong>, a man with only a middle-school education who became known as China\u2019s most devoted Van Gogh painter<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Vincent van Gogh<\/strong> created over a thousand paintings and sold only one during his lifetime \u2014 painting purely for himself \u2014 Zhao Xiaoyong spent two decades painting thousands of Van Gogh reproductions for survival<\/strong>, never once creating an original work of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhao\u2019s story reflects the paradox of Dafen: a place where art was once mass-produced, yet where countless dreams and identities were quietly forged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"peinture<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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01. \u201cWorld Oil Paintings, Made in Dafen\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Located in Buji, Shenzhen, Village de Dafen<\/strong> covers less than 0.4 square kilometers<\/strong>, but its impact on global art is immense.
At its peak, Dafen produced five million oil paintings per year<\/strong>, supplying 70% of the world\u2019s oil paintings<\/strong> \u2014 and 80% of China\u2019s oil paintings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story began in 1989, when Wong Kong-chiu<\/strong>, a Hong Kong art dealer, introduced the idea of reproducing famous Western masterpieces in Dafen.
With low rents and a quiet suburban environment, the village soon became a factory-like art community<\/strong>, where painting was not merely expression but industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each painting was divided into parts \u2014 background, figures, flowers, shadows \u2014 and assembled by multiple workers on a painting assembly line<\/strong>.
There was no single \u201cartist,\u201d because everyone contributed to the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the mid-1990s, hundreds of painters from across China had settled here, turning Dafen into a thriving ecosystem of replica art production<\/strong>.
Today, the village hosts over 1,200 galleries and 8,000 art professionals<\/strong>, forming the heart of China\u2019s oil painting industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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02. Brushes That Changed Lives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This industrialized process transformed lives.
Painters like Zhao Xiaoyong<\/strong> spent long nights painting Van Gogh\u2019s Sunflowers<\/em>, sometimes finishing one in just 28 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another painter, Jiang Qingbei<\/strong>, escaped a life as a coal miner to find new meaning in art.
After years of hardship, he founded a training program for disabled and hearing-impaired students<\/strong>, helping over 120 young people<\/strong> learn to paint \u2014 80% of whom now make a living through art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among his students, Fu Xiaolan<\/strong>, who lost most of her fingers in a childhood fire, went on to exhibit her works in France.
For many like her, the brush became a tool of rebirth<\/strong>, proving that Dafen is not just a factory, but a gateway to personal transformation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"peinture<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

03. The First Transformation: From Copying to Creating<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Dafen, the difference between a \u201cpainter\u201d and an \u201cartist\u201d is just one word \u2014 yet it defines identity.
Copyists paint for survival; artists paint for expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Zhao Xiaoyong visited the Netherlands and saw Van Gogh\u2019s original Sunflowers<\/em> for the first time, he was deeply moved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different,\u201d he said \u2014 realizing that true art is not about imitation, but about who you paint for<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After returning to China, Zhao created his first original painting<\/strong> \u2014 a scene of his hometown and family.
That moment marked his rebirth, from China\u2019s Van Gogh<\/em> to simply Zhao Xiaoyong, the artist<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dafen\u2019s broader shift came in 2008<\/strong>, after the global financial crisis slashed export orders.
Painters who once thrived on mass production began exploring originality and self-expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists like Xiao Shuihui<\/strong> became pioneers of Dafen\u2019s original art movement<\/strong>, blending Chinese cultural elements \u2014 pandas, pagodas, and temple motifs \u2014 into creative, playful works.
Their paintings, once worth a few hundred yuan, now sell for tens of thousands, and inspire art prints, T-shirts, and cultural merchandise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus has evolved from quantity to creativity, from imitation to cultural identity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Dafen hosts over 400 professional artists<\/strong>, including 50 members of the China Artists Association<\/strong>, supported by local government initiatives to promote artistic innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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04. The Second Transformation: The AI Era Begins<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By 2024, Dafen\u2019s oil painting industry reached a total output value of 3 billion RMB<\/strong>, supporting over 20,000 workers<\/strong>.
But Dafen\u2019s ambitions no longer stop at canvas and paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2024, the village unveiled its digital ambassador \u201cLong Xiaofen\u201d<\/strong>, an AI Cultural Officer<\/strong>, and launched an AIGC Creative Art Competition<\/strong>.
Artists and AI now co-create works blending Renaissance, cyberpunk, and futuristic styles<\/strong>, showcasing a new form of artistic collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feng Jianmei<\/strong>, a longtime curator and Dafen advocate, believes the village\u2019s DNA \u2014 \u201coil painting\u201d \u2014 is its greatest creative asset:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cArt, technology, and industry together are Dafen\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Through programs like the International Artist Residency<\/strong>, Dafen now welcomes global artists to create, collaborate, and exchange ideas \u2014 transforming creativity into sustainable livelihood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite challenges such as natural disasters and market fluctuations, Feng remains optimistic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDafen Oil Painting Village is not a finished work \u2014 it\u2019s still being painted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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05. From a Village to a Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From factory-style reproductions to original art, and now to AI-powered creativity, Dafen Village embodies resilience and reinvention<\/strong>.
It stands as a living example of how technology, humanity, and art<\/strong> can evolve together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Dafen steps into the future \u2014 hosting art festivals, cultural events, and immersive oil painting experiences \u2014 it continues to redefine what it means to paint, to create, and to dream.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, the award-winning documentary China\u2019s Van Gogh brought worldwide attention to Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen.The film followed Zhao Xiaoyong, a man with only a middle-school education who became known as China\u2019s most devoted Van Gogh painter. While Vincent van Gogh created over a thousand paintings and sold only one during his lifetime […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":365529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dafen-oil-painting-village"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dafennet.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}