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Claude Monet

Photography

Multiple Exposure Photographs Inspired by Impressionist Paintings

By Chloe Pantazi on

Influenced by the Impressionist aesthetic of Monet and Turner’s work, these gorgeous multiple exposure photos by the artist Eeva Karhu (via Faith is Torment) possess the evocative quality of painting. Indeed, they look more like paintings than they do photos; note the grainy, hazy texture of Kahru’s photos and the way the light blurs the landscape within each frame. Her work doesn’t just emulate the Impressionist masters, however — it straddles that liminal space between mediums and worlds. In fact, Kahru’s portraits seem more like imagined renderings than real ones, but of course they are real. These pictures remind us that there’s something innately beautiful and painterly in our surroundings. … Read More

Art

Famous Paintings to Peruse on Google’s New Indoor Maps Feature

By Leigh Patterson on

Ever wanted to see the Met’s Impressionist wing without booking a trip to New York? To browse presidential portraits inside the White House? Take in the newest MOMA exhibition from your couch? You can.

While Google Maps may get you to the front door of your destination, its newest feature, “Indoor Maps,” can help you figure out where to go next. Originally a feature exclusive to Android, last week Google expanded Indoor Maps to be available on web browsers, bringing the user inside an assortment of transportation, shopping, and cultural destinations, from airports to malls, casinos to train stations; a full list of locations is available here. … Read More

Art

Fascinating Video Footage of Famous Artists at Work

By Marina Galperina on

Art in action! Sometimes, strolling through museums and galleries, one can disassociate the works from the artist, reducing them to pleasing pretty independent objects strung to walls, not the product of someone’s expression, labor, and intent. For that reason, please refer to our sparsely annotated, mini-clip-playlist of artists at work on their art. Watch Picasso delight himself by drawings flowers. See Yayoi Kusama scribble madly away. Behold Basquiat spray painting wisdom on the walls of downtown New York. Remind yourself that this all did not just come to be, but spilled, splattered, and flowed out of our visual art icons — and it didn’t always come easy. … Read More

Art

Extremely Silly Photos of Extremely Serious Artists

By Emily Temple on

You might think visual artists have it easy — hanging out with models and making pretty pictures — but after a long day of churning out portraits (at the Factory, perhaps) or patiently mixing colors, every serious artist needs to cut loose and let his silly side shine. After all, writers can’t have all the fun, can they? In fact, from what we can tell, artists come up with some of the strangest and funniest ways to play, and we’ve collected a few snaps of their most ridiculous escapades, both candid and posed, here. Click through to check out our gallery of very silly photos of very serious (or at least seriously acclaimed) visual artists, and when you’re through, you just might consider putting aside your work for the afternoon and going out to play. … Read More

Art

10 Famous Artworks Inspired by Other Famous Artworks

By Judy Berman on

We tend to think of appropriation as a postmodern thing, with artists in all media drawing on, referring to, and mashing up the most influential works of the past. But we forget that this has been happening for centuries — millennia, actually — as Renaissance painters paid tribute to Greek art, ideas circulated within the 19th-century French art scene, and Dada hijacked the course of art history, mocking and inverting everything that came before it. After the jump, we round up some of the best, most famous, and all-around strangest artworks inspired by other artworks. Some are homages, some are parodies, some are responses, and a few seem to function as all three. … Read More

Art

A Casual Voyeur’s Mini-Tour of Paris Through Art

By Marina Galperina on

There are reasons we fall in love with cities. Those who are luck enough to experience them firsthand get wrapped up in the sights, the smells, the sensations, or whatnot. Then there are the others, the voyeurs who haven’t been there yet, who spend hours squinting over the cities’ visual culture. Here’s one for the swooning, the dreaming, the superficially attracted, and the deeply in love. First stop: Paris, France. Let’s hop around some of the city’s definitive and iconic painting and photographs. Let’s happily wallow in that luscious Parisian propaganda that makes us our hearts beat faster, from a distance. Do you want to go to there?  … Read More

Art

Fantastic Pop-Culture Mash-Ups of Famous Paintings

By Judy Berman on

Nothing will bring an artist Internet fame more quickly than a clever appropriation of pop culture. But although we see dozens — really, we’re not exaggerating — of gimmicky juxtapositions of high and low art every day, we’re really quite taken with Hillary White’s “pop-reinterpetations,” which we discovered via The Mary Sue. Inserting the Muppets in a familiar Rembrandt or Freddy Krueger in Van Gogh’s ubiquitous Café Terrace at Night, White shows both wit and skill, seamlessly integrating contemporary characters with centuries-old masterpieces. Click through to see some of our favorite remixes, and visit White’s website for more. … Read More

Art

Amazing Whiteboard Remakes of Famous Paintings

By Judy Berman on

Office cubicles aren’t known for inspiring creativity. In fact, they have a reputation for doing just the opposite. But working in a confined space doesn’t always have to be stifling. Meet Bill Taylor, a data manager in Durham, North Carolina who recreates iconic works of art on a whiteboard in his cube. He spends only two to five minutes per day on his drawings, taking roughly six weeks to finish each piece — and then he leave it up for a day or two, photographs the finished product, wipes the board clean, and gets to work on his next masterpiece. “[T]here’s something about doing it this way that forces me to be patient, something I could always use more practice with,” Taylor told the Telegraph. Click through to see some of our favorite whiteboard paintings, and then visit Taylor’s website to peruse the entire collection. … Read More

Art

Inside the Sketchbooks of Famous Artists

By Nicole Rallis on

Whether you’re an artist or an aficionado of the arts, there’s no question that peering into the sketchbooks of lauded virtuosos is a valuable experience. They serve variously as illustrated diaries or catalogs of casual drawings, paintings, and musings — lending a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner thoughts of beloved artists. From a reprint of Frida Kahlo’s diary full of vibrant drawings and writings to the silkscreened lips of Andy Warhol’s portrait subjects to Tim Burton’s sketches, our roundup of adored artists’ sketchbooks is sure to give you some insight into the creative process. … Read More

Art

Cover Art: Surprising Recreations of Famous Paintings

By Romy Oltuski on

The most iconic paintings of eras past can’t escape traveling the world economy class, as cheap Monet posters taped up on dorm-room walls and off-brand Rothko reproductions hanging in the living rooms of the gullible. But who said knockoffs couldn’t be creative? Some of our favorite songs are covers and mashups — just like the reimaginations of famous paintings after the jump. The “cover” artists featured below used everything from coffee to balloons to celebrities — everything but paint, really — to pay homage to the classic artworks that inspired them. … Read More