… I look at a story like this and think $11.70? What a deal!

Vancouver artist Mike Svob*’s latest acrylic painting, East Side Snowfall, can be purchased from a Whistler gallery for $1,970.

Or you can spend five minutes on the Web and buy a knock-off for $11.70 (U.S.) from the appropriately named chinaoilpaintingwholesale.com, the latest in a string of Chinese websites that unabashedly copy Western art pilfered by replicating images from the Internet.

chinaoilpaintingwholesale.com, the outfit in the Globe’s story, seems to be shut down, but there are lots of other options out there.

Maybe Too Many Quinces needs something like this for her new violet office – at these prices, they’re competitive with a framed poster. Of course, you have to give your credit card number to mysterious companies in the PRC.

Canvaz.com breaks down its offerings into categories including:

Cubicism
Music
Entertaiment
Love theme
Sports
Animal
Stilllife
Religion
Floral
Women Related
Buddha Art
Modern Decor
Erotic paintings
Matador Painting

Doupine.com of Shenzen hints at the less welcome possibilities:

5. What kind of quality do the paintings have?

All the paintings listed on our website are in Medium quality.

* author of Paint Red Hot Landscapes That Sell!