As an art history junkie I appreciate the occasional reference to prior artists and their works. With the growing popularity 
of user generated content, making a witty e-card or meme can be produced with just a few clicks. I will discuss how art history has inspired and influenced current practices in popular culture, fashion and even advertising. As illustrated, current trends in popular culture utilize the use of images, especially in this case, references to historical artworks while providing some form of user generated content in conjunction. By using historical references to art and placing them within a context of present popular culture the humor and familiarity with the famous images provides a connection between both the past and present.
Here are a few of my favourites…
Do you think others may not this enjoy the untraditional presentation of art?
Apart from user generated images of historical art, popular culture has been referencing the past through fashion as well. A fantastic blog, In an Art Loving Fashion discusses art, fashion, how they intertwine and everything in between. My favourite section of the blog discusses the influences of past art work on current runway fashions from renowned designers.
Observe the fashions of Carven and how Renaissance painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch heavily influenced the theme of the collection.
While it is enjoyable to see one of my favourite pieces of Renaissance donning the runway in Carven’s collection, I and the Art Loving Fashion blogger agree that the use of such a highly intricate and prized art work as a material print is questionable. This use of the painting is not an variation or simple inspiration but copies the entire painting onto a material print without changes.
Is this use of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights similar to the use of memes created by users as seen above, or is Carven’s use of the artworks as design more controversial?Another designer, Carolina Herrera features a collection utilizing a print similar to the floral inspirations of Botticelli’s Primavera. This artistic inspiration as demonstrated is significantly less explicit than Carven’s and still maintains a strong influence of fauna and flora as seen in Botticelli’s Primavera.
Finally, I would like to examine how the advertising industries refer to the past through creative and innovative ads which signify a strong connection between our culture’s knowledge of historical pieces in relation to the desired product or service being advertised. This post features fifteen creative ads that incorporate or were inspired by famous paintings.
What is your favourite advertisement on the list?
Does the prevalence of historical art works online, in fashion and advertising and other creative industries allude to a possible trend or basic premise that our current society enjoys such historical pieces as much as our past societies?
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I like the Andy Warhol Absolute – it’s true to Warhol in so many ways.