When Michel Foucault looked at Diego Velásquez’s “Las Meninas,” he saw the foundations of an intricate theory on objective representation — or, to hear the BBC’s Jason Farago tell it, a ballsy act of selfie-ism. In a piece commemorating the Velásquez retrospective opening this week at the Grand Palais in Paris, Farago writes, “The painting assumes our presence and ignores it at the same time. It is a work of artifice and a slice of life at once. […] And nothing in ‘Las Meninas’ confirms that double strategy more than the presence of Velázquez himself — a painter, albeit one with favour at court, who had the gall to photobomb a royal portrait.” That astute analysis got us thinking — how might we interpret other classic works of art within the paradigms of modern-day image-making? Below are a few classics given their proper hashtag-laden due.
— Anneliese Cooper (@DawnDavenport)
“Saturday nighttttttt #yolo #lovemyladies #turndownforwhat”
Edgar Degas‘s “Blue Dancers,” 1899
Uncanny make-up transformation selfie (#yaaaasqueen)
Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” 1503–1517
“No, but make it look candid, though.” (#nofilter)
Johannes Vermeer’s “The Girl With the Pearl Earring,” 1665
Jealousy-inspiring vacation shot. (#blessed)
Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” 1884
Jealousy-inspiring vacation shot, obligatory sky picture edition. (#soblessed)
Vincent Van Gogh‘s “The Starry Night,” 1889
Art student makes the most of family holidays. (#old #poignant #framing)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s “Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1,” 1871
“Dan and Becca are in a relationship.” (#4evr #mcm #pda #lol)
Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” 1907–1908
“Sunday haul #farmersmarket #healthy #health #fruit”
Paul Cézanne’s “Still Life with Basket of Apples,” 1890-94
“#HONY”
Grant Wood’s “American Gothic,” 1930
(Photos: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)