The reproduction of works of art has been practiced since old times with different techniques and aims. However, only since the 20th century the reproduction of the artistic image has been used for the commercialization and styling of objects made by industrial design, causing repercussions both in the artistic production and in the ways in which art is perceived and consumed.

With the development of the potential of the industrial system and the growth of the world’s population, the diversification of production has become necessary.

Art, historically produced for an elite society, has entered this system as the most efficace way to represent a status symbol. Although this practice has brought an increasing audience to the artistic world, its indiscriminate use has also caused the loss of any rituality in the consumption of the cultural meal. Moreover, the current media network has implemented this phenomenon, increasing the number of references to the world of art, but reducing its awareness.

This process has been analyzed by different personalities of the 20th century.

Walter Benjamin, in the 1935, wrote The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, for example. In this book, in addition to analyzing the technical and technological phases that characterized reproducibility, Benjamin also analyzes the consequences that this practice has determined on the perception of the original work of art. In particular, he comes to the conclusion that the loss of the unique value of artworks has led to attribute greater respect towards the original.

On the contrary, Gillo Dorfles, in 1972, in his book Kitsch, anthology of bad taste, emphasizes how the increase in references to the artistic world has led to a loss of awareness of the art world. 

Consequently, Dorfles believed that the industrial treatment of the artistic image has determined, in the user’s attitude, a different consideration of the original and a consequent loss of value of it.

During the 20th century, the commercial role of the museum institutions has become increasingly important, making them the largest retailers and producers of objects with artistic images on.

The reasons for this can be related both to economic reasons, fueled by the human need to reach a certain status symbol, and to emotional reasons driven by the increasing of the cult of past experiences. The past, in fact, is extraordinary suggestive from the emotional point of view: it is proper to it a kind of harmony, a particular aura, which became tangible through souvenirs.

Based on these findings, in the Arty catalogue are collected more than 1635 articles, coming from 34 online bookshops. In the catalogue, these products were subdivided according to the artistic movement from which the image used for their styling comes from. The aim was to highlight the diffusion that has had the practice of commodification and how the artistic image, regardless of its characteristics, is completely distorted and used indiscriminately for any type of product.