If you're a family of art lovers looking for something fun to do, you're in luck. Many museums out there are looking for ways to keep the love and appreciation of the fine arts alive while their physical facilities are shut down. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles hit it out of the park with a recent challenge posed to its social media followers.
The Getty issued a challenge on Twitter encouraging everyone to get in touch with their inner artist. The museum challenged art lovers to re-create works of art with household objects. The rules stipulate that you use only three objects for your re-creation, so you have to make sure to make them count. The museum even provided some examples of its own, which were both very creative and very funny.
The response to the challenge has been nothing short of amazing. It's a blast to see how many iconic works of art have been re-created, and hilariously so. It goes to show that the arts are in all of us, if only we seek them out.
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has found an excellent way to keep art enthusiasts engaged while the museum's physical location is shut down. The Getty issued a challenge to art lovers on Twitter that requires a lot of creativity. It's the kind of fun the whole family can get in on.
On March 25, the Getty Museum challenged Twitter followers to re-create artworks from its collection. The catch? You can use only three household items in your re-creation. The Getty shared some examples to get the creative juices flowing.
The examples alone provided a lot of inspiration for how people could really get into the challenge. One woman re-created Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier using just a beret and a field hockey stick. She got it down perfectly.
It wasn't long before fan submissions started flowing in. Another woman shared her re-creation of Edward Burne-Jones' Temperantia. She fashioned a sheet around herself into a dress and substituted toilet paper for water and a thermos for a jug.
Some fans went for super-close re-creations. This couple nailed their re-creation of American Gothic by Grant DeVolson Wood. The substitution of sunglasses gives it a nice modern touch that also ups the funny factor.
As more and more fans started pursuing the challenge, Getty followed up with some suggestions for people who hadn't tried it out yet. Among the suggestions were enlisting pets, matching the facial expressions, and paying attention to lighting. The simple suggestions really made the difference in how some people pursued the challenge.
A few people went for modern interpretations of the art that were too good to pass up. Most people don't have a gramophone sitting around their house, of course. That's why an old iPod is almost as good. Then there's the pup, who totally nails his part.
This couple are clearly big fans of René Magritte. For their first attempt, they re-created The Lovers. Once they hit their stride, they went for The Son of Man. The photos look simple enough, but they're pretty genius re-creations nonetheless.
It's hard to say who did the better job with Vermeer's The Astronomer. The guy in the first image totally nails the lighting and the pose. Then again, how do you say no to a cute baby and a tiny globe? You can't.
Any interpretations that involve kids and pets seem to be a sure-fire hit. When this family tried tackling Liotard’s Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age, they realized their real dog wasn't as enthusiastic a participant. The stuffed stand-in did great.
This pooch was the perfect stand-in for this re-creation. If you like seeing a cute dog one time, you'll love seeing him three times even more. Triple Self-Portrait or triple self-puptrait? Either way, it's adorable.
Some people took their artistic reinterpretations to a snarkier place, and we're here for that, too. A re-creation of the Campbell's Soup cans would have been too easy with the current run on canned goods. Like the museum points out, it's relatable.
In these reinterpretations, there were some artsy folks who reminded us how we got here. Take this take on Portrait of Madame X, for example. It would have been easy to just re-create it straight, but what's art without a little social commentary?
It's been amazing to see how many people are eager to celebrate art in new and innovative ways. Many people feel disconnected from the things that we consider culture right now. Getty has reminded us that our ingenuity can bring all kinds of art to life in the comfort of our own homes.
