- The Getty Museum in Los Angeles tweeted on March 25 challenging people social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic to recreate their favorite works.
- The challenge asked people to use three items from around the house to recreate the artwork. Some used less, while others used a lot more.
- Participants used everything from food to their pets to recreate historical works of art. Here are the most hilarious submissions.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles sent out a tweet on March 25 challenging people social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic to recreate artworks by taking photos in their own homes.
We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home.
🥇 Choose your favorite artwork
🥈 Find three things lying around your house⠀
🥉 Recreate the artwork with those itemsAnd share with us. pic.twitter.com/9BNq35HY2V
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
People got to work recreating antique tools using more mundane contemporary props like in this recreation of an oil painting from around 1530 called “Portrait of a Halberdier” by Jacopo Carucci, where a hockey stick resembles a two-handed 16th-century weapon called a halberd.
We stan.https://t.co/K3JVGpFPAJ pic.twitter.com/rIqXzr5hIK
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
Others recreated still life paintings, which are scenes full of food and other objects, using 21st-century items, like this recreation of "Still Life with Fish, Vegetables, Gougères, Pots, and Cruets on a Table" made by Jean-Siméon Chardin in 1769.
The three food groups: canned tuna, cheese, and olive oil.https://t.co/DErWcO2Kbe pic.twitter.com/vPv8VM5ZVG
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
People are also using common household items like toilet paper to recreate abstract paintings, like this recreation of "Mirabelle" by Helen Frankenthaler.
@GettyMuseum - Mirabelle (1990) by Helen Frankenthaler pic.twitter.com/YvFzGa3TxH
— Linda G. Hatton (@LindaGHatton) March 29, 2020
Toilet paper, despite shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic, seems to be a common prop. It is magically transformed into flowing water in this depiction of Edward Burne-Jones's "Temperantia," originally made in 1872.
Edward Burne-Jones, Temperantia pic.twitter.com/fXMrFIHvv5
— Suzanne King (@thesuzeum) April 1, 2020
Source: Business Insider
People are even using their pets as characters, like in this depiction of Master of St. Cecilia's "Madonna and Child" from around 1290 ...
Madonna and child.https://t.co/ZbnVeToUPE pic.twitter.com/7Vkl91CF6D
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
... and this recreation of Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" from 1665.
Pug with a Pearl Earring. Original from @mauritshuis.https://t.co/lYB8sLgRZm
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) April 4, 2020
The recreations highlight which common household items stood the test of time through the centuries, like the globe in this recreation of Johannes Vermeer's "The Astronomer" from 1668.
https://twitter.com/annzeekay/status/1244085381584359424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Submissions seem to be getting more and more creative as the pandemic continues, including the use of tape in this depiction of Quentin Matsys's "The Ugly Duchess," painted around 1513.
#Getty museum challenge. recreate a painting with stuff you have.... the ugly duchess. pic.twitter.com/mnyINLgwLP
— charissa afshar (@CharissaAfshar) April 2, 2020
Some participants included funny tweets about social distancing, like this one, who recreated Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" from around 1480.
Yeah my family’s doing great in isolation thanks for checking in. Nothing strange happening here at all. #gettymuseumchallenge @GettyMuseum pic.twitter.com/9x48gWsbuJ
— Maggie Ginoza (@MaggieGinoza) April 4, 2020
Some people have even taken to using food as a canvas, from this depiction of "Birth of Venus" on pizza ...
Ok if you count pizza, veggie ham and cheese as three things lying around then... pic.twitter.com/mPHmYbmNVK
— Ruby The Perpetually Exhausted♥️ (@Rubrovski) March 31, 2020
... to Edvard Munch's "The Scream" from 1893 on toast.
https://twitter.com/rudi_anggono/status/1244321031415910410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Getty Museum did not respond to request for comment.