I can’t remember exactly how my Art History series began. It started about 2 years ago with a piece I called “VanGogh meets Warhol meets Parmigianino meets Kurek”. It was based on a Vincent VanGogh self portrait — but it also incorporated Warhol’s use of repetition — and it touched on late Renaissance Mannerism (Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck.)  Long, possibly bad, titles aside, the series has been well received and continues to grow. Here’s a look at my latest “victims”: Grant Wood and Max Beckmann. “Art History #4: Grant Wood’s American Gothic …. sort of…” is based on a painting that needs no introduction. “Art History #5: Max Beckmann Merlot” deviates a bit from the other pieces in the series. Warhol’s repetition wouldn’t have worked here. So, instead of creating four repetitive image cells, I added onto the original image. I changed the cigarette in Beckmann’s hand to a wine glass and added a table with a wine glass and bottle of wine. The image on the bottle of Beckmann Merlot features a miniature image of one of his still life paintings.

If it isn’t obvious, let me state that these works are all meant to be in good fun!  They are based on well known works, and I include “Art History”, the name of the original painting and/or the name of the original artist in each title. If you are not familiar with Max Beckmann, you should be!  He was an interesting character. Here’s a Wikipedia link to start you off:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Beckmann

You can find my originals and prints in my Etsy shop at:http://www.etsy.com/shop/SilentMyloStudio?ref=si_shop