When we think of memes, we rarely associate them with something sophisticated or intellectual. Yet, such a genre exists: classical art memes. Well, they may not be particularly academic or require you to have a degree in Fine Arts; they're more of a bridge between the snobbish art world and the Internet spaces brimming with irony.
One Instagram page does classical art memes exceptionally well, pairing them with witty modern-day captions. The visual part of the memes is the acclaimed works from the masters of art, and the captions are about things that matter to our generation: Tinder, naps, and how many cats are actually too many cats.
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Same, our fellow Christians haven't even seen a Bible in their lives and it is evident when we see them interact with others, they are the reason our religion is so hated
Load More Replies...Nah, they're simply incapable of comprehending and much prefer to cherry pick. Essentially, some so-called religious people have created their own religious sects because actually following the precepts in holy books is beyond their ability.
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Also, really question what sin is. How is, for example, a loving relationship between two consenting adults of the same sex a sin? It's OK to have a rethink about the things that a desert religion originating 4-5,000 years ago declared a sin. Jesus did (as did all forms of Judaism outside of Orthodox).
Load More Replies...Maybe 1000 years from now we'll see statues of Sexy Margret Thatcher. Now that image is stuck in your head and you will never lose it.
Load More Replies...Sports women the same. How many medals have you won, but are you sexy?
Unfortunately people look at a lot of strong, fierce, intelligent, capable women the same way
I know for sure that many historians claim that she was sexy BECAUSE of all of these (maybe not the brother thing) and the fact that she was so charismatic.
This is plain wrong. We only know those things about her because of historians.
I've heard that for decades, and I can't believe I've never heard of that now-so-obvious-seeming response!
Load More Replies...The first time I heard that line was in 1971 and the 65 y.o. barn manager suggested it to one of the pretty college girls who would work with the race horses during the summer. He was fat and not hansome but she giggled, smiled and declined politely; Southern girls were always polite in 1970. Naive moi, was shocked he would be so bold.
"Why don't you take that face fungus somewhere downwind where I can ignore it better?"
The classical art memes account we're covering here has been going strong on Instagram since 2018. Today, it has over 300k ardent followers who like their humor, in the words of the great bard Harry Styles, mixed with a bit of intellect. The goal of the creator is simple: "I put modern day captions on classical paintings to make you laugh," the page's bio reads.
Back in 2022, when we covered the Instagram page for the first time, the creator told Bored Panda that art history was their hobby for quite some time before they decided to start this page. "I always used to come across these paintings that looked like they were exactly made for a meme," the creator told us back then.
I actually know the boring history behind that. Plato is gesturing upwards because his philosophy is about abstract concepts, and Aristotle is pointing down because his philosophy is more practical.
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Except perhaps the torches. Cats + fire is never a good thing.
Load More Replies...Why not? She and her like are the real ones running the country.
Load More Replies...At 42, I can confirm I will never again willingly live with another human, or without a cat.
I decided four years ago that I was done dating. I'll take a pet over a man any day.
Load More Replies...My cats look like that every night. I always wonder if I'll wake up in the morning, or if they're just going to eat me (my two 20 pounders are on diets)
Load More Replies...The creator of the page told us in a previous interview that they believe the key to the success of this page is its relatability. The captions are all about relationship problems, reflections on today's politics and religion, and, of course, some meta Internet stuff. "Even though the paintings are hundreds of years old, their expressions and captions make it seem they are one of us," the creator said.
Some say that pages like these make classical art more accessible to younger generations: making it funny, easier to understand, and more relatable. The creator of the meme page believes that tech in general helps make art and art history more accessible. "More and more people have started appreciating art after seeing them on their feeds and then trying to learn more about their backgrounds. Technology has made its interpretation and access inclusive."
More like, don't stress yourself about things you have no influence.
Load More Replies..."Observe the happy moron - he does not give a damn. I wish I were a moron - my god! Perhaps I am !"
Publilius Syrus (85-43 BC) quote: In knowing nothing, life is most delightful, which was updated in 1742 by Thomas Gray's phrase, ignorance is bliss.
The real problem appears when you're having sex and a cat comes to investigate
I returned to the States after several years overseas in a country where calling cats with "Psspss" was common knowledge and tried it on the first cat I saw. The look on the critter's face was one of complete astonishment, as if it had never heard a human being do that before. I tried it on several more with similar results.
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
I feed some stray cats and they come running when they hear the food hit the bowl.
Omg there sweet little orange cat that's a stray in my neighborhood and I've been leaving her food and water and the other day we let me pet her and when I went pspspspsps she came to me 😸
That looks like it could be a tablet in her hand. Maybe she's got carried away on board panda
So have i. Allways do everything that does not bring joy on sunday morning after breakfast and enjoy the rest of the day in peace who no nasty chores waiting for you. I can never understand this dong things later mentality, it would make me mad.
Load More Replies...Doing chores burns a lot of calories so if you do those, you can cross both off your list
Then I saw my book, bed, cup of tea and snack and all was lost that day!
One reason why classical art memes work so well is that they're captioned with modern-day takes. Classical art meme creators put two things that seemingly shouldn't work together, but they do. It's what makes them funny, actually. It might seem bizarre to draw similarities between meme culture and classical art, but it's that juxtaposition that makes it so funny.
Well, even I'm not reading a book, I just hallucinate vividly with no prompts, so I don't know which is weirder
"Staring at bits of tree for hours " is fun, I agree. Some day I might even try it indoors...
It's only surreal when you say it like that. If you would simply just say you're reading a book, then it's normal.
*gives my favorite bottle of vodka*
Load More Replies...Now look, BP gets money based on advertising. Engagement increases such revenue. So I'm engaging, just because. Also: I might not be lucky enough to have attained the age of 76 and I might need glasses already, but - yeah... 😁
That'll learn him. He was much happier when he was ignorant. Thinking complicates.
I'm ever so glad to be a Delta. Thinking is such hard work!
Load More Replies...But that’s simply your perception. You must suspend judgement until you recognize what other homework you’ve eaten and the treats and toys in your life…
He has to be a good boy. he's a dog all dogs are good boys (or girls)
Some say that Marcel Duchamp's famous "L.H.O.O.Q." repainting of the Mona Lisa can be considered a sort of classical art meme as well. Duchamp repainted Da Vinci's masterpiece and added a mustache and a goatee on the subject's face. The piece's title, "L.H.O.O.Q." translates into a vulgar French saying, "complimenting" the woman's behind.
Especially this time of year. The sound of parties and get-togethers whizzing by as I stay home by a fire and play with my dog :)
If that is a painting, it is the most realistic I've seen in 60 years.
Load More Replies...Everyone, especially as hectic as life has become, should regularly schedule some purposefull JOMO into their lives. JMO
Latest statistics show 56% of people need "alone time", so JOMO is now a majority yearning.
Yes actually good for mental health, just because we are social creatures doesn't mean we don't have social batteries that last different lengths of time
And here I sit, in 2024, and think for a moment she holds a mobile 🙃.
Looks like my friend thinks I am God. Just yesterday he contacted me after 2 years. He didn't even bother replying when I messaged him that i am getting married
I've heard of square people and square pants (Bob) but never square shoes!
Art historians say that we can call Duchamp's painting a sort of a meme because there's text on the replicated image, there's a humorous intention, and it's Duchamp's way of critiquing society. It became a symbol of the Dada movement, based on rebelling on everything that art represented.
People shouldn't be derided for bothering to be correct. He should be the one to remain single, for being ignorant and lazy.
Intellect, self-assuredness, and the freedom gained through independence are the main reasons.
Because she has better things to do! See the palette full of fresh paint, and the clean brushes ready to use? I think the white dress means something too but l can’t remember.
Next those paints it almost certainly means a cleaning incident
Load More Replies...I always hear that song, "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting..." despite the fact that nobody is kung fu fighting! Very disappointing.
Load More Replies...I was just watching some Batman in the animated series today, and marveling in The amazing orchestral sounds, love how every major character has their own theme music. ..
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
What about those who say that playing with classical art pieces to make memes is equal to desecrating them? Ross Carver-Carter has an answer: "Comical captions make art far more appealing and wide-reaching than they were sequestered away in temples of culture which shrouded works behind indecipherable jargon," he writes in his Medium.
Ha! Even the "pure" Christianity doesn't. The words that hell replaced are either grave (form of inexistence, compulsory state of deep sleep--hence the concept of resurrection) or Gehenna (greek word for a real place that was used for disposal of *dead* bodies, not torment--same for its symbolistic meaning). The concept of eternal torment comes from Egyptian religion.
Load More Replies...I think a majority of intellectual people know that hell is right here on earth, and only through death can we escape it. When governments spend more money on weapons of death than food while 12% of the world population goes hungry, and housing while 150 million people are homeless, and 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing, that's hell.
BP has allowed the viewing of an exposed breast. Great, now we're ALL going to hell
Since i have ADHD, coffee is like water for me in the caffinated department that is.
Same, I think it may be the meds though idk I haven't tested it because omg my parents would not be able to get me to do anything without medication
Load More Replies...And 10 minutes later springtime to the nearest bathroom
I have anxiety that can flair up even if I'm alone doing nothing. That inner quivering, heart palpitations, and rapid breathing is something I've lived with for most of my life. They're also pretty much the same symptoms for hypertension which went undiagnosed because I wrote my symptoms off as anxiety. Medical tech took my BP and it was 200, and I was allowed to leave on my despite that being a "hypertensive crisis". Anyhoo, I'm on meds and the "anxiety attacks" have simmered down quite a bit.
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Does not work with me because I tell myself where I have hidden them.
Load More Replies...And that's when the mozzarella cheese, pickles from the jar and olives come out.
Don't just lie there, have a displacement activity that occupies both hands. Take the cat for a walk, maybe ?
I'm watching TV and wanted something crunchy to snack on, so I got a couple celery stalks to scratch that itch. I suppose I should be proud I'm making healthy choices, but with every bite I remember how I could eat anything, in any amount, and remain rail thin.
In fact, meme-ing classical art has changed how we interact with it. What once seemed unapproachable and locked away in museums and private collections is now something we can alter and play with. "People can take and make meaning in old works and make them their own with no placards to tell them what to think and what to feel," Carver-Carter wrote.
So far my dog has never shown dislike towards a single human. If it ever happens, I will trust her judgement.
Why? If she's never shown dislike to any, she clearly has no judgement
Load More Replies...I've known since I was a kid that dragons are a figment of our collective imaginations, but it still makes me angry when I see/read about humans killing them. Screw you, George. And you call yourself a saint, you jerk.
Tell that to the 4YO round here who just had the back of her head ripped off by a dog in the street as she was going for a walk with her mum. Dogs should be on leads unless in a fenced-in area. Dog licences should also be reinstated so that dog owners can be identified more easily in the case of law-breaking. We have registration plates for cars, which are safe most of the time when used responsibly but need to be tracked if stolen or used dangerously. It should be the same for dogs.
Oh man, that's horrible. I agree dog owners need to be aware of their responsibility! I don't know how some of them are so reckless.
Load More Replies...He should have asked before he approached it. With dogs as with people, it's rude to assume that they're happy to be touched by you.
I have an Irish setter and a golden retriever, so they love anything with a pulse lol have paws, will cuddle
There are so many people on my Could Be Better list that I'd develop carpal tunnel signing all the cards.
Found it!! It's from DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/baklaher/art/Forest-Keeper-622833330
Load More Replies...Ah, you really shouldn't do that unless you know the species. Spiders adapt to specific places and temperatures, so not all spiders will survive outdoors. Best thing to do is move it to an area of your home that isn't often used and let them be.
In my case, the wasps I catch in a resealable container and set free outside. We have yet to figure out where they come from, because it happens in the winter too. I keep saying they have to be in the walls somewhere. It’s a mystery, but I just don’t want to have to tear out all the walls to solve it. Besides, we’re renting right now, so they’re not our walla anyway. We have told the landlord, so the ball is in his court.
But yeah, helping the smallest creature is the biggest thing. Every time. You do that
A thing that will will never , ever happen in my life unless it is so big i can not wrestle it down anymore, in this casel i burn the house down
Aside from memes, is art even more accessible to us today than it was, say, 20 years ago? Some would argue that yes. Some call exhibitions like The Immersive Van Gogh Experience and merchandise like the Dr. Martens x Jean Michel Basquiat a step toward more accessibility. Others call it kitsch, not "real" art.
All day today I felt like there something important to do, but can't remember what!
Don’t worry. It’ll come to you at about 2am, jar you wide awake, and keep you from being able to get back to sleep the rest of the night.
Load More Replies...That’s how I am with money left in my account. “Why do I still have money!? What bill did I forget to pay!? I should be broke! THIS IS TERRIBLE!!!”
I'm afraid forgetting to do things is actually the only way to get some free time.
It's my first day of 2 weeks annual leave, so last night I dreamed I was extremely late for work because I left the house naked and had to go clothes shopping 🤷🏼♀️
Yes! Fat should be a basic descriptor, not an insult. It's as acceptable to be fat as it is to be blonde, or tall, or brown-eyed.
I'm fat and disagree with you. First of all, you can change how fat you are, but it is damn hard to change height or eye color. Second thing, there are so many health risks related to being fat, but very few related to being tall (except getting forehead bumps) or being blonde (except higher risk of skin cancer, because blonde people usually have lower melatonin. But being fat is like smoking. That was normal in 80's and look now.
Load More Replies...I'm going to have to think about that - and my instinctive answering thoughts - for a while. I think.
Looks like a picture of ennui to me. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ennui
Now I have a word to describe my life when people ask me how I'm doing.
Load More Replies...It's never too late to explore the Earth. There's plenty to see for many lifetimes
Ah, a fellow nihilist. Good news Buddy, you give life your own meaning. If you want purpose in this ridiculous life, you got to do it yourself.
But the reality is that "real" art is still behind closed doors in museums and galleries and millionaires' private collections. In a way, classical art memes can be an act of rebellion; the context of the artwork itself has little to do with the meme itself.
''Memes don't seek to tease meaning that was ever intended in pieces, they confer a meaning by manipulating them," Carver-Carter points out. "That is their power. They are not a misunderstanding but a deliberate alteration."
I lived with bipolar for three years and I believe it is not controllable by any known means. You live with it... or not.
Load More Replies...Or "just focus on all the good things in your life." This from my primary health provider. SO frustrating. Highly doubt they say that to their DMII, cardiac or cancer patients.
The happiest people are SINGLE women that earn more than $ 80,000 a year.
I’m saving this, purely so I can continue rubbing the fact that I was right about macaroons vs macarons in my friend’s face.
Only way I could get my ex to STFU was proving him wrong. I am indebted to Google.
It is a tie on if Google or Wikipedia is the source of ultimate truth.
So, Pandas, what did you think of this collection of classical art memes? Did you recognize any of the paintings? Let us know in the comments! And if you want to see our previous articles about this classical art memes page, head over here, here, and here for more!
In this case the planet's probably either »Tooth Gap« or »Hack Face«...🦷 🦷
Load More Replies...Fell asleep this morning. Woke up and could not figure out why it was so bright outside at what I thought was almost 10 pm. Then I thought maybe its June but was pretty sure it was december? Had to get up and look outside.
When you aren't sure of the season, never mind the day of the week, or the time - that was a helluva good party !
Load More Replies...This happened to me in the wee hours this morning. I work nights, go to class during the day, and have 2 school-aged kids. My sleep schedule is...not routine, to say the least.
Me when I'm sick, I don't take naps but once I fell asleep when I was sick and woke up the next afternoon not knowing what just happend or why I slept that long
I went to a German immersion school and was traumatized by one of those in first grade. It ended up being cancelled later on because some parent got angry at the school for scaring their kid.
Load More Replies...Ha, just watched the new Jack Black movie with kids that started off with this very mishap!
That's a Victorian era Christmas card! I have a whole collection of them.
Yep, phones and headphones to the rescue there or chai honestly, social but I'm also not socializing, just how I like it
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
I think the years in this caption need updating. To 2024, at least, and it's not looking too good for the next four, either.
I can't wait until the republicans get what they asked for. They are already talking about scaling back veterans administration
Load More Replies...Lol I know. I can't wait for future generations to learn about this period and be simultaneously horrified and amused.
Load More Replies...And I'm in the history books for some reason idk I was in the very back of a video someone recorded and put on TikTok because who knows why
Not that I was actually in a tictok but my old school did have a youtube video I'm pretty sure I was in one Christmas
Load More Replies...So tired of the inevitable political comments. Can we ever escape it-anywhere????
Why are they keeping a list of my old passwords? And are they protecting the list to any reasonable standard? (Answers are (1) they are mothering (parenting?) us and (2) probably not.) ((I am trying to see how many nested parens I can use in a reply.)
I worked in IT (education then banking). Any unique userid was not allowed to ever use the same password again at two of the organizations I was at. Security don't ya know.
Load More Replies...New password :fGju74€AK&?Ouj8 "Too weak, write with at least a Capital letter, number and special character"
Though, tbf, that shouldn't matter as you have a different login. For me, the worst is "that email address is already in use" when you start the 'forgot my password' routine...
Load More Replies...Or think about all the suffering in the world and what about all the ignorance.
My past mistakes interrupt my waking hours - it's my future mistakes that give me nightmares
This plan didn't work all through school, yet we continue to pin our hopes on tomorrow morning.
For a given value of 'high enough'. In the same way that you can pole-vault over Everest if you have a long enough pole.
No. Even assuming you translated all of your forward momentum into vertical with no losses. You'd only get as high as would be required for the fall to get you to that speed. Assuming the air resistance is the same both ways.
Load More Replies...They all want something from you... Each of them... Everybody... Every. Single. Time.
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Since BP began this campaign of not taking no for an answer, I can't respond to comments on my comments because the pop-up ad interrupts the scroll down. I've even written to them about it, but they don't care. There more interested in censoring us.
Load More Replies...Me too. There was a time I would get them a couple times a year, but it's been a couple years now since I last had one.
Load More Replies...Yes, it is the specific strangers you have to go after :P
Load More Replies...I’m too busy being drunk in my bathtub while watching Dante’s Inferno.
Don't do that here in the Caribbean. Someone will whack you hard as hell!
If there are no mobile phones Rae, then who took the picture?!
Load More Replies...I looked this up (because of course I did), for those similarly curious, this depicts the supposed martyrdom of the Prophet Isaiah
It depends on WHERE. There WERE times in the past that were better than now. With almost 25% of the world living with food insecurity (if not starving), and women being treated badly if not horribly in large populations, with more slaves (sex and house slaves) then ever before (of course we have a much higher population, too), things are not good now for a huge number of people.
Not to mention wars, which now tend to impact civilians like never before (to my knowledge). Syrians, the Palestinians, Ukrainians, and so many others - not just the warriors being killed (which is tragic enough), but so many others, including children. My work friend's father and two young neices and nephews were killed by the Syrian government in a bombing. His mother was badly injured and would never walk again. The only person bringing in money was an uncle driving taxi. The taxi was bombed.
Load More Replies...BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Picked up that torch and carried it through most of the 90s and 2000s for you! ;-)
Load More Replies...She is done with this. (Also i think it is, those are her traditional color clothes)
Load More Replies...BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Looking at the labelling on the people - what the hell has happened to Britney ?
Maybe migrate - if "It's morning in America" then it's afternoon in Europe
"Stop doing that" but for me it hurts no matter what so I have to push through
BP stop putting those annoying ads in the bottom semi right corner of the screen asking us to go premium. Sounds like amazon tactics.
Unfortunately, it takes a very advanced training in Physics to be able to build the time machine needed to choose your parents
Load More Replies...And his boss is still asking him to get his shift covered
Load More Replies...Send this to trump, Jesus knows who he really is and knows he has not one religious bone in his body
As a Brit .. is not trump supposed to be god fearing bible belt supporter ? I assumed so because he spouts religious trope when he wants the votes ? Genuine question . I just assumed he was hypocritical
Load More Replies...Messily, apparently, but with gusto. It's called 'survivor bias'
Load More Replies...Why is his hat so far behind his head? Or is Darth Vader standing inappropriately close?
I hope they had ice back then because he needs some for that sear to his heart
"Life could be a lot worse, Jane." "Really? How long are you staying?"
I didn't think Putin could look any weirder than he already does, but there you go
And you don't know why the you are wrapped tight in. Athletic tape. ... Must break free
This is why Moses was so excited when God passed by and Moses got to see his back. .....I'm going to hell, aren't I.
I thought God was not allowed to be depicted, not even his/her äss.
That's the Muslims - Christians were rather keen on it, look in any of their churches (if you can enter without combusting ;-) )
Load More Replies...Upper left is Marcus Aurelius. The last of the "Five Good Emperors". He was also the first and only one of the five to be succeeded by his own son. It didn't work out well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius ("The only people that inherited anything by right of birth were the congenital idiots." -- Isaac Asimov)
Keep the high standards and get the cats. (or pet of your choice. Though I'm on the fence about Tarantulas...)
Here's Lady Mary Wortley Montague from the 18th century, giving a list of how high her standards are and how she refuses to lower them: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44761/the-lover-a-ballad
The problem is: this is what I want from BP, only I can't think of much to post in response - hence, lack of engagement, hence lack of ad revenue for BP. Only: more like this, please? Thank you.
Yepper. and I keep forgetting to upvote posts at the start of the page.
Load More Replies...The problem is: this is what I want from BP, only I can't think of much to post in response - hence, lack of engagement, hence lack of ad revenue for BP. Only: more like this, please? Thank you.
Yepper. and I keep forgetting to upvote posts at the start of the page.
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