The Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam adhering to the idea born from the Instagram page Tussenkunstenquarantaine of recreating masterworks, have populated social media with many revisited works of art! From The Creation of Adam to the Girl with a Pearl Earring, from The Birth of Venus to The Starry Night, the paintings have come to life in the houses of the people forced into isolation due to the Coronavirus emergency.
A challenge that tests creativity in isolation
This game of recreating masterworks, born to pass the time, is actually a way to review (or discover) artists, works, styles, and – why not – even the history of art.
In times of isolation the museums invited people to reproduce famous works. Users are improvising settings and costumes with the available everyday objects. From the Madonna with Child to Munch’s Scream, the best were shared on social media.
The rules given by the museums promoting this initiative are simple: no special effects, no photoshop, no strange filters. In fact it is the imagination that must guide the hands, to find among the thousand objects that surround us the perfect ones to create modern adaptations of the most famous artworks!
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was among the first to propose the new challenge. This is depopulating among Instagram feeds from around the world, officially launching the #stayathomechallenge with the remaking of one of Vermeer’s best-known paintings.
From there, it has been a crescendo, especially this past week. Every day 140 thousand people peek at the funniest outcomes of artistic reproductions.
The Art of recreating masterworks
Many accepted the challenge by paying tribute to Magritte and his The son of man. The new version of Dogs playing poker by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge has really succeeded. Another very creative user made Les demoiselles d’Avignon become Barbies.
In the challenge launched by the Getty Museum, the works are already so many that they can create a virtual “double” of the museum. Various living paintings reproduce Arnolfini’s Spouses by Jan van Eyck and also Vermeer’s Milkmaid. Particularly eccentric is Monet’s painting Rue Mosnier with flags as a shelf in the library with volumes, puppets and flags.
Quarantine Classics on Instagram
This sort of “artistic cosplay” is surely a great success as shown by the very popular hashtag #covidclassics. In Italy it has had some special variations that are worth mentioning. Mibac is surely very active in these days to relaunch cultural activities under the motto #iorestoacasa (I stay at home). Additionally, it coined another hashtag for the occasion: #lartetisomiglia (art resembles you).
Coronavirus has closed museums around the world, but hasn’t stopped culture. For weeks, in fact, the initiatives that foundations, art galleries and art collections have launched to keep their home-bound visitors company are multiplying. Some offer virtual tours, those who offer free digital content, those who share insights with videos and podcasts. All culture lovers are satisfied. From those who take the opportunity to study a bit of art history to those who take it only as a pastime.
We are sure of one thing: art will survive the Coronavirus. Because it is through it that all stimulate the imagination in the cultural field. Between online museums, streaming exhibitions, new projects by illustrators and painters, art has not stopped even with isolation!