For a while, artist Christian Silvain had to stand by while Chinese artist Ye Yongqing received recognition for his artwork, which he had copied from Silvain. But since August 2023, that has changed.
The Chinese artist who had copied Silvain’s work has now been convicted of plagiarism by a Chinese court in Beijing. Ye Yongqing must pay substantial damages and also apologize in one of China’s largest newspapers. This situation is an unprecedented reversal, especially considering that even Bill Gates owns some artworks created by the Chinese artist. Ye’s copied artworks were even sold at well-known auctions such as Sotheby’s at the time.
Ye Yongqing, now famous in China and abroad, has been painting in exactly the same style as Silvain since he visited an exhibition in Paris in 1990. For three decades, Chinese artist Ye Yongqing has been making paintings that are almost exact copies of Silvain’s work. Moreover, he makes good money from it: a painting made by Yongqing was sold at auctions at well-known auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s for sums of up to 400,000 euros.
Jos Depypere has compiled an extensive dossier on Ye Yongqing. The file shows that Silvain was actually the first to begin making paintings in his famous style. “Silvain was six years earlier. We can clearly prove that. We therefore think that Yongqing attended an exhibition of Silvain’s in Paris or obtained a catalog. Only after that did he start working in the same style. Meanwhile, he has already made millions by copying Silvain’s paintings. By the way, he does not limit himself to copying entire works. Sometimes he only enlarges details. With one such painting, he has even exhibited in Brussels. Depypere’s file also shows that Yongqing copied the famous artist Pierre Alechinsky. “But he soon stopped doing that. Presumably Alechinsky’s entourage spoke to him about it.”
– Jos Depypere
Christian Silvain’s first exhibition in China took place in Shanghai in November 2019, organized by JIC Bookstore in collaboration with Galerie Jos Depypere. A second exhibition soon followed in Beijing.
After the world was hit with a worldwide lockdown in March 2020, its success experienced a slight downturn. Meanwhile, work continued on filing and working out the lawsuit in China. Until August 23, 2023, a first instance court in Beijing published its verdict in China’s largest newspaper. Plagiarism by Ye Yongqing was established, which is an unprecedented victory for a Belgian artist filing a case in China. Ye is ordered to pay damages of 650,000 euros and must publicly apologize in the newspaper.
With the just recognition of his original artwork and winning the plagiarism lawsuit against Ye Yongqing, a promising horizon opens up for Christian Silvain.
Extra reading/information
- Artist page: Christian Silvain
- Event page: Exposition at Shanghai & Beijing, 2019
- Blog: First-ever exhibition off Christian Silvain in Shanghai & Beijing, China (2019)
- Het Nieuwsblad (2023, BE): "Hoe Belgische kunstenaar Christian Silvain na jarenlang lijdzaam toezien nu toch plagiaatpleger kan doen stoppen"
- VRT Nieuws (2023, BE): "Kunstenaar uit Kluisbergen haalt slag thuis in Chinese plagiaatzaak"
- VRT TV (2023, BE): "Kunstenaar Christian Silvain haalt slag thuis in Chinese plagiaatzaak: "Hij heeft mijn werk, mijn ziel gestolen""
- De Morgen (2023, BE): "Het geld verandert niks voor mij’: Belgische schilder wint historische plagiaatzaak in China"
- De Standaard (2023, BE): "Belgische kunstenaar Christian Silvain kan na jarenlang toezien nu toch Chinese plagiaatpleger stoppen"
- Het Laatste Nieuws (2023, BE): "Chinese kunstenaar kopieert voor 13 miljoen euro werken van Christian (72): “Als er geld mee gemoeid is, raakt mij dat”"
- VTM TV (2023, BE): "Chinees veroordeeld voor plagiaat van Belgische kunstenaar"
- Het Belang Van Limburg (2023, BE): "Belgische kunstenaar spant in China zaak aan voor plagiaat... én wint: “Ik heb eerherstel”"
- Gazet van Antwerpen (2023, BE): "Belgische kunstenaar Christian Silvain spant in China zaak aan voor plagiaat én wint: “Ik heb eerherstel”"
- RTBF (2023, BE): "Le peintre belge Christian Silvain gagne un procès pour plagiat contre un artiste chinois"
- Le Soir (2023, BE): "Un peintre belge gagne un procès pour plagiat en Chine"
- RTL (2023, BE): "Un peintre belge gagne son procès contre un plagieur chinois devenu millionnaire en copiant ses oeuvres"
- BRF (2023, BE): "Christian Silvain gewinnt Plagiatsprozess in China"
- Brussels Times (2023, BE): "Belgian painter wins plagiarism case in China"
- Belga News Agency (2023, EU): "Chinese artist convicted of plagiarising Belgian painter"
- News article (2023, CHINA): "终于出结果！叶帅被判抄袭西尔万，赔偿500万"
Interested in a work by Christian Silvain?
Given the overwhelming demand, we invite you to contact us with questions, requests, appointments or more. We do not have all of Silvain’s artwork on our website.
If you contact us, rest assured that we will make every effort to respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible.
