Getty Museum Asks Public to Recreate Works of Art
2020-04-04
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1For years, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles has been famous for its large collection of European paintings, sculptures and other works of art.
2Recently, it has become popular for something else: an art challenge on social media.
3Last week, the Getty asked its followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remake famous pieces from its collection.
4"We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home," the museum wrote.
5The rules were simple: Choose your favorite work of art. Use three things from your house to recreate it.
6Then, take a picture and share it on social media.
7The public's response came in the hundreds, then the thousands, of creative and funny remakes.
8And, it has not stopped yet.
9When a coworker challenged Amy Retartha to do the art challenge, she knew exactly which painting she would use: Pablo Picasso's "Old Guitarist."
10Retartha, who lives in South Bend, Indiana, says she has always loved that painting, especially because of its history.
11"There's a story behind that piece because, at the time Picasso painted it, he was a poor artist and he had painted over a painting he didn't like to reuse the canvas."
12If you look closely at the painting in person, you can see evidence of another person's face behind the guitarist, she says.
13Retartha, who has been making art since she was a child, says it took only 20 minutes to do the piece.
14She used blue and white bedding, a white mask, and one of her husband's guitars.
15The local library where she works put the picture on its Instagram page.
16Other people did the Getty challenge with something else they had at home: their children.
17CGathier on Twitter remade the famous oil painting "Self-Portrait with Pipe" by Vincent Van Gogh with her son as Van Gogh.
18In her creation, her son is wearing a gray hat and has white material around his head and a pipe in his mouth.
19With many parents now homeschooling their children, the Getty challenge came at a perfect time.
20One woman on Twitter used the challenge as an art lesson for her son.
21With a toy monkey, a cat and other objects, the boy recreated "Self-Portrait with Thorns and Hummingbird" - a painting by celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
22Other people included real animals in the challenge.
23A picture that is appearing all over social media is of a woman who remade a 13th century Italian piece with just two objects: a scarf and her dog.
24It comes from a painting called "Madonna and Child," whose painter remains a mystery to this day.
25Annelisa Stephan is assistant director for digital content at the Getty Museum.
26She has seen people use their dogs, cats, rabbits and even ferrets.
27As the challenge becomes more popular, one animal she would love to see people use is a snake -- a common symbol in Roman art.
28Stephan says the challenge was born when the Getty recently asked its followers on social media what they wanted to do from home and got hundreds of replies.
29"People really showed that they really wanted to look at art and engage with it and they were also eager to have fun."
30So, the Getty staff began looking online for fun ideas and were moved by the art challenges of the Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam and an Instagram page called Between Art and Quarantine.
31Similarly, those challenges asked people to use home objects to remake art.
32Stephan notes the Getty challenge has grown so much that people in the United Kingdom, Portugal and other European countries are doing it.
33She has even seen challengers from Australia.
34But is there something no one has done yet that she would enjoy seeing?
35She would love to see people do recreations of the Roman sculptures.
36Stephan suggests people look at the portrait heads and see if any "look like them or has an expression that might speak to them."
37I'm Alice Bryant.
1For years, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles has been famous for its large collection of European paintings, sculptures and other works of art. Recently, it has become popular for something else: an art challenge on social media. 2Last week, the Getty asked its followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remake famous pieces from its collection. "We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home," the museum wrote. 3The rules were simple: Choose your favorite work of art. Use three things from your house to recreate it. Then, take a picture and share it on social media. 4The public's response came in the hundreds, then the thousands, of creative and funny remakes. And, it has not stopped yet. 5When a coworker challenged Amy Retartha to do the art challenge, she knew exactly which painting she would use: Pablo Picasso's "Old Guitarist." Retartha, who lives in South Bend, Indiana, says she has always loved that painting, especially because of its history. 6"There's a story behind that piece because, at the time Picasso painted it, he was a poor artist and he had painted over a painting he didn't like to reuse the canvas." 7If you look closely at the painting in person, you can see evidence of another person's face behind the guitarist, she says. 8Retartha, who has been making art since she was a child, says it took only 20 minutes to do the piece. She used blue and white bedding, a white mask, and one of her husband's guitars. The local library where she works put the picture on its Instagram page. 9Other people did the Getty challenge with something else they had at home: their children. 10CGathier on Twitter remade the famous oil painting "Self-Portrait with Pipe" by Vincent Van Gogh with her son as Van Gogh. In her creation, her son is wearing a gray hat and has white material around his head and a pipe in his mouth. 11With many parents now homeschooling their children, the Getty challenge came at a perfect time. One woman on Twitter used the challenge as an art lesson for her son. With a toy monkey, a cat and other objects, the boy recreated "Self-Portrait with Thorns and Hummingbird" - a painting by celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. 12Other people included real animals in the challenge. 13A picture that is appearing all over social media is of a woman who remade a 13th century Italian piece with just two objects: a scarf and her dog. It comes from a painting called "Madonna and Child," whose painter remains a mystery to this day. 14Annelisa Stephan is assistant director for digital content at the Getty Museum. She has seen people use their dogs, cats, rabbits and even ferrets. As the challenge becomes more popular, one animal she would love to see people use is a snake -- a common symbol in Roman art. 15Stephan says the challenge was born when the Getty recently asked its followers on social media what they wanted to do from home and got hundreds of replies. 16"People really showed that they really wanted to look at art and engage with it and they were also eager to have fun." 17So, the Getty staff began looking online for fun ideas and were moved by the art challenges of the Rijskmuseum in Amsterdam and an Instagram page called Between Art and Quarantine. Similarly, those challenges asked people to use home objects to remake art. 18Stephan notes the Getty challenge has grown so much that people in the United Kingdom, Portugal and other European countries are doing it. She has even seen challengers from Australia. 19But is there something no one has done yet that she would enjoy seeing? She would love to see people do recreations of the Roman sculptures. Stephan suggests people look at the portrait heads and see if any "look like them or has an expression that might speak to them." 20I'm Alice Bryant. 21Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 22Have you tried the art challenge yet? If so, send us your art creation at learningenglish@voanews.com. 23________________________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made by carving or molding clay, stone, metal or something else 26challenge - n. an invitation to participate in a competition 27response - n. something that is done as a reaction to something else 28canvas - n. a specially prepared piece of cloth on which a picture can be painted by an artist 29pipe - n. a tube with a small bowl at one end that is used for smoking tobacco 30toy - adj. of a kind that is meant for a child to play with 31scarf - n. a long piece of cloth that is worn on your shoulders, around your neck or over your head 32content - n. the ideas, facts, or images that are in a website or in a book, speech, movie or something else 33engage - v. to become involved with 34eager - adj. very excited and interested