Popularization of painting by technical means of reproducibility

The aim of the article is to try to determine the modern role of reproduction of painting in popularization of art. The article for the first time considers the types and functions of painting reproductions in contemporary culture. The definitions of such categories as “enlightenment”, “popularization” are clarified, changes in the popularization of painting related to infotainment, edutainment, museum and exhibition marketing are shown. The work reveals the specifics of perception of the reproduced image and the strategy of viewer's behavior. According to the authors, reproductions are only a signifier in relation to painting, which does not prevent them from influencing the perception of originals, changing the meanings and values invested by the author in the original. The work examines the peculiarities of mechanisms of communicative, memorial, aesthetic, cognitive, moral-educational and other functions in relation to reproductions. It also demonstrates the influence of contexts on the perception of reproductions.