Not that I know anything about the local art scene in tourist hotspots like Paris, but has it ever been different? I strongly suspect this kind of hustle (like

Not that I know anything about the local art scene in tourist hotspots like Paris, but has it ever been different? I strongly suspect this kind of hustle (like most tourist hustles) has been going on for a long time, it's just that now the paintings have been imported from China instead of being mass-painted on the cheap more locally. According to wikipedia [1], the scam has been going on in some form since the early 2000's. No mention of France or Paris in the wikipedia article though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_student_scam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_student_scam