Famous Chinese Painter Ye Yongqing Found Guilty of Plagiarizing Foreign Artists' Works, Ordered to Pay 900 Million in Damages

Belgian Author, 2019 So Jegi
Original Work Worth 10 Million KRW...Plagiarized Version Valued at 500 Million KRW

A famous Chinese painter representing China lost a lawsuit four years after being embroiled in a plagiarism controversy. He was ordered to pay compensation amounting to approximately 900 million won after losing the case.

According to local media reports including Maeil Business Newspaper on the 4th, recently, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court ruled that Ye Yongqing (葉永靑, 65, former professor at Sichuan University), a renowned Chinese painter, was found to have plagiarized works by Belgian artist Christian Silvain (73). Accordingly, the court ordered, "Ye Yongqing must compensate Silvain 5 million yuan (about 900 million won) and issue an apology."

In response, the original artist Silvain posted on his social media (SNS) on the 31st of last month, "After four years of waiting, I am pleased to announce that I won the lawsuit in China and that plagiarism was clearly recognized by the Beijing court. Thank you to everyone."

Christian Silvain's work (left) and Ye Yongqing's work
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Silvain filed a damage compensation lawsuit with a Chinese court in 2019, claiming that Ye Yongqing had habitually plagiarized his paintings. At that time, he expressed frustration, saying, "Except for the titles, the works look exactly like mine," and "His works were auctioned for 400,000 euros (about 570 million won), but my works only sell for 5,000 to 15,000 euros (about 7.1 million to 21 million won)."

Ye Yongqing was a leading artist in the massive avant-garde art movement called the '85 New Wave Art Movement' that swept through China during the reform and opening-up period in 1985. He also held exhibitions domestically in 2007. He gained fame not only in China but also overseas by holding multiple exhibitions in places such as Singapore, London, and Munich.

Ye Yongqing's works were also very popular in the art auction market. At the time of the lawsuit filing in 2019, 387 of Ye Yongqing's works were traded for a total of 163 million yuan (about 29.6 billion won) in the auction market, with an average price per piece of 411,000 yuan (about 76 million won).

Sichuan University, where Ye Yongqing was affiliated, launched an investigation into the plagiarism allegations in March 2019, stating, "We will apply a zero-tolerance policy toward unethical issues and will not tolerate them if proven true." However, shortly afterward, they abruptly halted the investigation, citing difficulties because "Ye Yongqing had already retired and resided in Beijing," which sparked further controversy.

Meanwhile, not only the mid-career artist Ye Yongqing but also a promising young Chinese painter has been accused of habitually plagiarizing works by foreign artists.

In April, the China Academy of Art, a national art university in China, launched an investigation after allegations arose that Xu Baicheng (40), a professor at the school, had habitually plagiarized works by British artist Seana Gavin and American artist Jim Kazanjian.

Works by Schweichung (above) and Seana Gavin [Image source=Yonhap News]

At that time, Gavin criticized on SNS, "I checked six of his paintings, and they clearly plagiarize my works," adding, "His paintings sell for $100,000 each (about 130 million won). Since they are fake paintings, it is better not to buy his works."

The plagiarism allegations against Xu Baicheng were first raised by an internet user. This user stated, "I accidentally discovered that several of Xu Baicheng's works are plagiarized. He has been plagiarizing other artists' works for over ten years," and pointed out, "This is a despicable act that should never happen in the art world."

Xu Baicheng was selected as the "Most Promising Young Artist" by the German Bell Art Foundation in 2014 and was also shortlisted at the 2nd Nanjing International Art Exhibition, being regarded as a promising young artist in China. He submitted a leave of absence immediately after the plagiarism allegations surfaced.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.