I’ve blogged now and again about the unethical practices of some (that’s SOME, not ALL) street caricature artists who steal the work of others from books or the Internet and display them as if they were their own. I’d like that practice to go away, but I certainly wouldn’t want to see this happen:

New York Seeks Limits on Art Vendors in Parks

According to the linked article from the New York Times, NYC’s Park and Recreations Dept. has proposed to limit the “number of vendors allowed in parts of Central Park and all of Union Square Park, Battery Park and the High Line Park.” The proposal would limit the number of artists selling visual arts and printed texts to a total of 81 (given on a first come-first-served basis), where over 300 now operate in those areas. There would also be limits on the dimensions of tables and the proximity to things like monuments and benches.

The proponents of the idea say the number of vendors is overwhelming the parks, creating pedestrian movement issues and hazards by blocking sidewalks and walkways. There are also complaints that too many vendors don’t sell real art, but cheap mass-produced souvenirs, but I didn’t see anything in the proposal that addresses what is being sold.

Those critical of the proposal say it will ruin what makes New York City such a bastion of art and free expression… and thin out their wallets of course.

I can understand the idea that there must be some limits as to how many of these vendors can be set up at a time… after all the parks are there for people to enjoy and if they are packed fence to fence with people selling tiny statue of liberties and “I heart NYC” shirts it would be pretty hard to enjoy. Still, the street vendors are a part of NYC’s charm, and it would be a shame to see them too severly limited. Also, I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue with 300 vendors trying to show up to be first-come-first-served for one of only 81 spots. Violence? No doubt. Better to use some kind of advanced random lottery licensing system to avoid that kind of debacle.

Better yet, make all street caricature artists submit samples for approval that they prove they actually drew themselves! That would weed out about 150 of the 300 current street artists right there!

Caricaturist Jan Ibelings, a fellow member of the National Caricaturists Network, posted a few pictures on the NCN forum of some live caricaturists he saw working on Piazza Navona on a recent visit to Rome. He snapped the following pictures to show how several of the street artists had samples on their display boards that were copies or rip offs of many NCN members or well known caricaturists (click the pics for a closer look):

In the photo above there are two Sebastian Krüger‘s that I recognize.
The others are of varying styles as well.

Krüger’s Stallone, as well as Joe Bluhm‘s Tom Cruise. On the display
in the background I can see my Julia Roberts.

Joe’s Tom Cruise again and an old Tom Cruise of mine
in the lower right with someone else’s Nicole Kidman.

I wish I could say this is an odd occurrence. Here are some pictures I’ve displayed here before with some more examples of street artist’s using examples of mine and others on their displays:

From two different artist’s display boards in Time’s Square, New York City.
My Marilyn Monroe and an old Will Smith.

I saw the above display board at the Place de Tertre, Montmartre in Paris. That’s my Busta Rhymes, Julia and Marylin again. I’ve had reports from friends who’ve seen my work in a similar fashion in London, Greece, San Diego, San Fransisco, etc. etc. These were all taken from my website, many from the old version as I don’t even have most of these caricatures anymore.

Why do these street artist’s do this? If they can draw well enough to do it for money in a place like Times Square, Rome or Paris, why not do their own samples?

I can’t answer that for certain. For some, it’s a matter of simply not being a very good caricaturist. Some of those Times Square artists are awful, and can barely draw at all. They sell their wares the same way the people next to them sell watches that look like Rolexes but stop running within a week. They show one thing (like other people’s samples) and then sell another and rely on tourists getting confused or not wanting to create a scene to get their money. Those people have no choice but to show other people’s work as their display art, as they are incapable of doing their own. They, incidentally, give real street caricaturist a bad name.

Others, though, have the art skills to do their own samples. So why the rip-offs? I think it’s just plain laziness. They don’t want to spend the time needed to work up good looking samples… they’d rather steal another artist’s work as opposed to doing it themselves. Maybe it’s because they know they aren’t as good as Krüger (who is???) so they show his work rather than display their own honest skill.

A few years ago I was visiting the local Renaissance Festival here in Minnesota and happened on the cart of a caricaturist there who i had met only briefly but knew by reputation as a fairly good local artist. I was shocked to see many of my samples on his board, redrawn to some extent but very clearly copies of my work. I did not confront him about it on the spot, but wrote him a letter asking that he remove my samples. I received a very apologetic response from him and his only excuse was that he was having personal difficulties and did not have the time to do all his own samples. To his credit he removed the copied samples and I never heard of him using my work that way again. He was extremely embarrassed.

I have a feeling that is a rare exception… someone who is actually embarrassed by doing something like that when caught. Most of these artists could care less, as evidenced by the fact that some have the hubris to have the same ripped off samples on their board as the artist drawing only feet from them also has displayed! They must really think tourists are stupid.

There are some caricaturists who respond to this by saying “you should be flattered. They must think a lot of your work to do that!”. Sorry, but those artists are not showing any respect or admiration to the artists they are ripping off. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I don’t begrudge anyone the chance to make a living, and despite this post I don’t get worked up over seeing my stuff being used in this manner. No, I don’t like it and don’t condone in, but I am a big believer in Karma and the old adage “what goes around, comes around”. If these folks want to still be doing caricatures on a soggy street corner 20 years from now for a few euros a pop, then they are going about it the right way. It’s very sad, actually. I feel sorry for them… but I still wish they wouldn’t steal my work nor that of my colleagues.