Christophe D. Petyt: The Man Behind the World's Largest Collection of Old Masters Copies

Since 1992, the world's largest collection of Old Masters paintings copies has been touring the globe. It all started with a Frenchman, Christophe D. Petyt.

Christophe D. Petyt was born into a family of doctors. His grandfather was a leading breast cancer expert in France, owning a clinic in the northern part of the country. Continuing this legacy, Christophe's father made a significant mark on the medical industry by introducing the revolutionary Doppler, a tool now used by doctors worldwide. Despite his family's medical roots, Christophe took an unexpected detour into the world of art. With a business school background and an early career in real estate launched at just 20, he seemed set on a different path—until a single glance at an article in a magazine altered the course of his life forever.

PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR- PAYSAGE À BEAULIEU, 1889

In July 1992, during a business meeting about Spanish investments in his Paris office, Christophe leafed through a magazine. An article about a Van Gogh painting selling for over $7 million at auction caught his eye. Impressed but unable to afford it—as the painting went to a Swiss private collection—he thought of having it copied. Remembering a friend at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris who could do it cheaply, he ordered about 25 paintings in two months, starting his collection.

In September 1992, a business school friend in London called Christophe, seeking a two-month job for his diploma. Christophe was hesitant, knowing his friend’s fondness for parties. But when the friend visited his French office and saw the 25 paintings, he was impressed by their quality. Familiar with original artworks thanks to his aunt, a well-known collector in Geneva, he encouraged Christophe to display them. Christophe agreed—and told his friend he could organize an exhibition.

A month later, the first Art du Faux collection exhibition opened at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, for two weeks. Four hundred guests, seven ministers, local officials, and Moroccan business figures came to see it. All the paintings sold, and he returned to France with over 60 new orders.

Since then, he has taken his collection around the world. His exhibitions have been held at some of the most prestigious hotels globally. His art has adorned the walls of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, Les Bergues & Richemond in Geneva, L’Amigo in Brussels, and The Breakers in Palm Beach. He has sold more than 4,000 paintings, and his collection of 3,500 masterpieces was entered into the Guinness Book of Records in 2000 as the world’s largest collection of Old Masters copies.

Christophe has shared insights about the artists who create these works. “The painters who make these copies—first and foremost, it’s an exercise for them. All the great painters—Van Gogh, Monet—at some point in their lives, they copied the works of others. It was the best way to learn. Why? Because in theory, you’re reproducing a work considered nearly perfect—or at least well-loved by the public. That’s really the point.” Today, he works with 82 specialized artists, each highly skilled in their craft.

One memorable experience took place at an exhibition in Marbella, Spain. A man walked into the Puente Romano Hotel show, said nothing, and went straight to a Gauguin painting. After spending 15 minutes studying it, he inspected all the other Gauguins in the collection—then bought every one of them, along with a Van Gogh. The man later explained that he had spent five years trying to buy the first Gauguin he saw at the National Gallery in London, willing to pay up to $25 million, but they had refused. Christophe’s copy gave him the same feeling as the original. Today, those replicas hang in his villa alongside more than 20 original paintings.

After organizing over 100 exhibitions, Christophe took a break to pursue a new passion: photography. Today, Christophe D. Petyt is focused on fine-art photography, crafting a portrait collection of people from around the world etc …. These limited-edition images are printed on Hahnemühle’s museum-quality fine-art papers. Once framed and sold with certificates, they are destined for museums, high-end art exhibitions, and galleries worldwide