While copying masters is a good way to learn, those copies--studies really--aren't sold. They're learning tools. But there are plenty of ways that classic art is copied, if not in exact detail, and used legally. The main way is by making a parody of the classic. There are masterworks galore that have been parodied and used advertising or sold outright. "American Gothic" by Grant Wood (an Iowa artist) is probably one of the top ten paintings that have been parodied in everything from TV commercials to artworks. A good example is "God Bless America," an enormous sculpture by Seward Johnson. The sculpture was temporarily erected in Grant Wood's home town of Anamosa not long ago and drew notice in the Des Moines Register.
The huge pair of figures is different from the two in American Gothic because they're full-length and there is no background. Nonetheless, they're a kind of homage and a parody.
 |
| Grant Wood, "American Gothic," 1930 |
 | |
| Installing Seward John sculpture "God Bless America" |
Like American Gothic, the famous and lonely image of late-night in a New York diner, "Nighthawks" (1942) has been widely parodied. The great Gottfried Helnwein made what is probably the most famous (and my favorite) in "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (1984) by substituting Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis Presley for the anonymous originals.
 |
| Edward Hopper, "Nighthawks," oil, 1942 |
 |
| Gottfried Helnwein, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," watercolor on paper, 1984 |
No comments:
Post a Comment