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Museums Ask Quarantined People To Recreate Artwork At Home And 104 People Deliver
Even though most of us are stuck at home and can’t go out and enjoy art in museums, that doesn’t mean that life is boring or uncultured. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (or the Getty for short) challenged people to post photos of themselves recreating their favorite classic paintings from the safety of their homes.
The Getty’s fans responded with a lot of enthusiasm to their internet challenge and flooded social media with their unique artistic interpretations. We’ve collected some of the best recreations of famous paintings, so scroll down and feast your eyes. Don’t forget to upvote your faves and share which ones you loved best, dear Readers.
People are having a lot of fun becoming beautiful paintings, but this isn’t the first time folks have done this. In fact, the Getty Museum challenge was inspired by an Instagram account from Amsterdam called Tussen Kunst en Quarantaine (aka Between Art and Quarantine). So be sure to check them out as well. However, the Getty isn't the only art museum doing a challenge like this. The Pinchuk Art Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, also challenged the art community to reproduce their fave oil paintings from their art collection by taking part in the #mystetstvovdoma or #artathome challenge. Check out our post about the Pinchuk Art Centre's challenge right here.
More info: Getty.edu | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | PinchukArtCentre.org
Image credits: GettyMuseum
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The rules of the Getty challenge are very simple: you have to choose your favorite work of art, then pick 3 things lying around your home, and then recreate the art with those things. It sounds hard with only 3 things, but some people are using them very creatively.
Bored Panda reached out to the Getty to hear more about the museum's challenge and the number of submissions they've gotten.
According to Annelisa Stephan, assistant director for digital content strategy at the Getty, they've "lost count" of all the photos that people have submitted to them. She says that they number "many thousands."
"In addition to the ones posted publicly, there have been hundreds and hundreds more DM'd to us! We didn't expect such a reaction in our wildest dreams—we thought a few people might enjoy the activity, but it clearly struck a chord!" she said.
"People have been so creative and so supportive of other people's creations, cheering them on, laughing, and celebrating their favorites. We've received creative responses from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia. We've also been thrilled to see kids of all ages getting into the act, and high school teachers organizing their art history students to incorporate the challenge into their classwork. It's a great way to look at and learn about art while being creative with constraints," Annelisa shared the museum's enthusiasm at the reaction the challenge has gotten.
According to representatives at the Getty, the museum is continually developing new online resources. In fact, later on today, the Getty will be posting a video of their "wonderful but now-shuttered Michelangelo exhibitions."
The Getty’s social media lead, Sarah Waldorf, told Yahoo Lifestyle that the museum’s social media inboxes have been “flooded” with re-creations of masterpieces ever since they announced the challenge on Wednesday, last week.
“Our audience told us loud and clear that they wanted to see beautiful artworks, learn more about art from home, and find delight on social media,” Waldorf said. “We wanted to offer up a creative challenge to find refuge from the uncertain state of the world and to spark excitement to get creative—no extra materials required.”
The Getty is closed because of the coronavirus, however, the museum is helping out as much as it can. A week ago, the Getty donated thousands of gloves and hundreds of masks to UCLA Health to help out medical professionals on the frontlines in the fight against the illness. Since the museum donated its entire supply of protective equipment, it continues to look for ways it can be helpful both to the local and global communities.
Are you up for the art challenge, dear Pandas? What’s your favorite work of art that you’d like to recreate? Are you planning to take part in the Getty’s social media challenge? Let us know in the comments below.
I'd like to figure some kind of extra award for ambition and cooperation!
Great idea! Making art is a fantastic way to get your mind off the pandemic for awhile.
Great idea! Making art is a fantastic way to get your mind off the pandemic for awhile.