Getty wasn’t the first place that’s promoting this kind of imaginative and creative challenge on social media. Still, their challenge became so popular that it’s now known as the “Getty Museum Challenge.” One of the forerunners for this idea was a Dutch Instagram account called ‘Tussen Kunst & Quarantaine,’ which means “between art and quarantine.”
The rules of the Getty challenge are relatively simple: you choose your favorite work of art, then you try to recreate the work of art with things you have lying around at home.
Thousands of Submissions
According to Getty's assistant director for digital content strategy, Annelisa Stephan, they've "lost count" of all the photos that people have submitted and says that there are "as many as in the thousands."
"In addition to the ones shared publicly, there have been hundreds more that were sent directly to our private inbox! We didn't expect such a response in our craziest dreams—we thought a only few people might participate, but it sure struck a chord!" Annelisa said.
Creativity Around the World
With many people being so creative, others have been so supportive of other people's creations, celebrating their favorites and cheering them on. They've received creative responses from all over, starting from the US, Canada, Europe, even Asia, and Australia.
There have even been kids of all ages getting into it, with teachers planning their art history students to work the challenge into their curriculum. It's a great way to look at and learn about art while being creative within our set limitations.
Hilarious Recreations
This is one for the books, not only does it feature dogs, but they're playing poker! The original masterpiece may have been kitschified into t-shirts and magnets, but what makes it so special is how it humanizes dogs.
This gentler sense of humor, with the inherent tension between what we see and what remains unseen, it definitely makes for an entertaining painting.
Modest Recreations
Getty has hand-picked some of the most bracing recreations. The famous American Gothic was painted by the artist Grant Wood, and he used his experiences of the Midwest to produce this depiction of modest rural life.
Looking back at these renditions of famous classics, we can take a tour of these classics artworks while taking a glimpse at the re-creations that have been made in tribute.