In recent years, innovations in laser scanning have allowed many collecting institutions to digitally conserve priceless paintings through the microscopic scanning of colors, textures, and even layers within the canvas. A recent museum-launched initiative has even paired this technology with AI to solve a century-old fine arts mystery.
Today, a printmaking company from Austria has utilized this new advanced technology to let art aficionados get a chance to own a high-quality and stroke-for-stroke reproduction of a masterpiece, as reported by CNN.
The Company Behind the 'Indistinguishable' Reproductions
That company is Lito Masters, which was recently founded in 2022. Its current endeavor is to use 3D printing to craft a ludicrously detailed copy of artworks, down to the minuscule cracks of paint, from known masters like Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Wassily Kandinsky.
Lito Masters also collaborated with known and established museums to be able to perform the necessary scans of the originals for the project, with each scan taking up to six hours per square meter of the painting.
Its co-founder, John Dodelande, describes this new process as a variation of lithography, which can produce indistinguishable paintings based on established classics for a small fraction of the original's price. He also added the scanning process is often carried out in the after-hours of the museums.
Art Offerings Based on Van Gogh and Monet Paintings
One notable reproduction available in the company's catalog is the facsimile of "Bedroom in Arles" originally painted by the post-impressionist legend himself, Vincent van Gogh. Currently, it is priced just below $4,000, however, a $493 paper version is also available.
The total reproductions hover around 150 to 999 iterations per artwork. A certificate of authenticity is provided with every sold copy, a document that is endorsed by the museum the original is currently held in.
Recently, the company has collaborated with Paris' Musée de l'Orangerie in the scanning of its Claude Monet collection of murals, "Water Lilies." As of date, only two reproductions from the collaboration have been launched, since last Tuesday, Dec. 19, which comprise the pieces "Nympeas I" and "Nympheas II." Both of these facsimiles are priced at over $500.
