From Art to Fashion

Ecstatic Madonnas

2012-01-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

With these Madonnas the British photographer Miles Aldridge goes even a little furhter like some of the already extreme originals.

Old M.C.Escher as Designer

2012-01-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

The lastest collection of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen is a clear reference to the famous Dutch artist M.C.Escher.

The Roots of the Patterns

2011-12-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

In the Vogue Italia appeared in December 2007 the famous editorial "Patterns" by Steven Meisel. Meisel received a lot of praise and acclaimation for these really breathtaking photos.

But what was unfortunately never mentioned, at least as far as I know, is how much this famous editorial is influenced by the paintings of the Japanese fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano.

I’m a great admirer of Meisel’s work but: Honor to whom honor is due!

Skoda quotes Art Nouveau

2011-12-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

In its latest ad campaign the Czech automobile manufacturer quotes the famous Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha.
Nothing wrong with that, because Mucha himself did a lot of advertising.

Skoda Ad

Mucha Original

Matrix Television

2011-11-18T00:49:00.000-08:00

Here Samsung pretends that their new LCD TV is inspired by art. And indeed it is, ad least the ad, which is quoting the Matrix films.

Foam-arisen Venus

2011-10-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

This ad for a L.A.M.B. Fragrance is another interpretation of good old Venus or Aphrodite arising of the sea foam. Maybe there are countless paintings of this subject here only one example.

Shoe Still Lifes

2011-09-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

This impressive ad campaign for Christian Louboutin was shot by the American photographer Peter Lippmann. He arranged every picture so that they emulated classic still life paintings from the 17th and 18th century.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

2011-09-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

This ad for a PETA animal rights campaign is quoting the famous film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), modifying the title into "Gentlemen Prefer Fur Free Blondes."

Odalisques

2011-07-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Kate Moss in a hammam by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. She’s posing in that Turkish bath like the famous odalisques on the 19th century paintings. Like for example this one by the French painter Jean Léon Gérôme.
Probably needless to mention, that this kind of women were more an invention of European fantasies.

Cool Art Deco

2011-06-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

It’s obvious that Steven Meisel has a strong affection to the cool design of the Art Deco era. This great editorial "Dinner at Eight" was published in the Vogue Italia in May 2008.

In my humble opinion it reflects not only the style of the 1930s, but it’s also quoting the paintings by Tamara de Lempicka.

Little Mermaid

2011-05-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

This ad for Hermès was done by the Italian fashion photographer Paolo Roversi. Without any doubt it’s quoting the statue of The Little Mermaid sitting on a rock in the harbor of the Copenhagen.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

2011-05-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

I think that it was kind of advertising campaign for shoes realized by the renowned British photographer Miles Aldridge. Published New York Times Magazine in 2006.

With his typical irony Aldridge is quoting the old American science fiction film "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman".

Patriotic Pinups

2011-04-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

This famous series with the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen was done by David LaChapelle for George Magazine in June 2000. It reminds a lot of the old patriotic World War II pinups.

like this by Billy de Vorss

or "At Your Command" by Earl MacPherson

Secret Agent

2011-03-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

This series of Bond girl Olga Kurylenko is by Ellen von Unwerth.

Maybe Unwerth was also thinking of the Bond films, but I believe she had more the female secret agents of the sixties in mind like Modesty Blaise, Emma Peel. But anyway it would have been retro like Bond himself.

Madame X

2011-02-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

This photo of Nicole Kidman appeared in June 1999 in Vogue.

Steven Meisel presented her as a modern version of the famous Madame X by the American painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925).

Call of the Wild

2011-01-14T04:09:00.000-08:00

Naomi Campbell by the famous photographer David LaChapelle.

To me it looks like a quotation of the paintings by the French Post-Impressionist painter Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (1844–1910).

Nighthawks

2010-11-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

This photo is part of the 2007 Lavazza Calendar and shot by the Spanish photographer Eugenio Recuenco. It shows a kind of super heroine but it’s also a quotation of the famous painting Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper.

Venus and Cupid

2010-10-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

This photo by the Italian artist Gian Paolo Tomasi integrates typical elements of classical paintings.

First there is Cupid how he could be seen on many paintings from the baroque onwards till late 19th century art.

And there is the women looking like one of that odalisques on the popular 19th century harem paintings like this by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904).

Waterbabies

2010-09-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

This stunning mermaid is by the British photographer Zena Holloway, who is famous for her underwater creations. Still I’m thinking that you cannot make photos of mermaids without quoting late 19th century paintings like for example that of the British artist John Collier

The Birth of Venus

2010-08-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

The spectacular advert for the new fragrance Alien by Thierry Mugler shows a siren or a goddess in gold. But in my humble opinion it’s mainly influenced by paintings showing the birth of Venus, the best know that by Sandro Botticelli to be seen in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

A Tribute to Klimt

2010-07-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Dior's 2008/2009 spring/summer haute couture collection by John Galliano was more than influenced by the art of a certain painter, it was a pure tribute to the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt (1862–1918).

Pre-Raphaelite Knights

2010-06-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

These photos by Sean Ellis were published in The Face in august 1998.

Maybe they are not quoting but at least they are strongly influenced by Pre-Raphaelite paintings, for example like this by the English painter Sidney Harold Meteyard (1868-1947)

Hommage a Frida Kahlo

2010-05-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

These nice photos by Chris Nicholls (an advertising for wedding gowns) are dedicated to Frida Kahlo.

Rhine Daughters

2010-04-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

This Advertisement for a Lolita Lempicka fragrance...

is in my opinion more than a little influenced by the Rhine Daughters by the English illustrator Arthur Rackham (1867–1939).

Hommage a Rousseau

2010-03-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

These photos by These photos by Max Cardelli are for the Etro collection Fall Winter 2008.
are for the Etro collection Fall Winter 2008.

The whole campaign seems like a pure hommage to the French painter Henri Julien Félix Rousseau, (1844-1910).

Sexy Pirates

2010-02-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

For the Winter campaign 2008 of Agent Provocateur posed Helena Christensen as a sexy pirate.

I don’t think that there is a reference to any particular pirate painting. But the whole series seems to be inspired by the pirate pin ups of the thirties.

Mermaids

2010-02-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

In his editorial in the May 2008 issue of US Vogue Craig McDean presented also a Mermaid.

This photograph is not a quotation of any special mermaid painting. But it’s an ironic interpretation of the stories which are spun around that old legend.

Compared for example with the pretentious painting "A Mermaid" (1901) by John William Waterhouse it’s obvious that McDean’s interpretation is anything but serious.

La Belle Epoque

2010-01-30T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Italian Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was one of the and most successful portraitist of the Belle Epoque and one of his best known paintings is the "Marchesa Luisa Casati, with a Greyhound" (1908).

And because John Galliano is a great admirer of Boldini and especially of this painting he ordered that the campaign for his new perfume should be a reference to the Marchesa Casati and the spirit of the Belle Epoque.

Oriental Dreams

2010-01-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

In the Vogue Italy appeared in May 2009 this great editorial by Steven Meisel. The Russian model Sasha Pivovarova presented John Galliano’s Spring/Summer collection.

With his photos Meisel refers not only to oriental fashion but rather to oriental paintings of the 19th and early 20th century and above all the famous odalisques by Henri Matisse (1869- 1954).

Pocahontas

2010-01-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

Annie Leibovitz is well known for her "Disney Dream Portrait Series" where different stars are posing as Disney fantasy heroines. Here it’s Jessica Biel as Pocahontas with the title "Where Dreams Run Free".

To me it’s not only a simple quotation of the Disney movie, it matches much more the pretension of Leibovitz to tell stories, to be narrative. There’s not only a model running trough the woods, it’s a whole legend, which is told.

Maybe Bauhaus

2009-12-30T00:17:00.000-08:00

These fantastic photos by the French photographer and designer Serge Lutens probably from the 1980s remind me a lot of the Bauhaus design of the 1920s and 1930s.

Bond Girl

2009-12-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

In the US Vogue appeared in May 1999 the editorial "License to Thrill" with Carmen Kass and done by Ellen von Unwerth.

In her typical ironic manner Unwerth is quoting the Bond heroines, here especially the first of all Bond girls Ursula Andress as Honey Rider, in Dr. No (1962).

Nighthawks

2009-12-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

This nice photo by the Spanish pohotographer Eugenio Recuenco and published in the Lavazza calendar 2007 is quoting one of the most famous paintings in American art history: "Nighthawks" (1942) by Edward Hopper (1882-1967).

Shadows

2009-11-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

By the meantime these impressive photos are a little famous in the web.

They are by the Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø and were first published in Numero 93. Even though I don’t know if Sundsbø knows the film, I discovered a big resemblance with a scene in the science fiction film “Cherry 2000” from 1987.

Christina’s World

2009-11-20T00:48:00.000-08:00

This photo by Carter Smith appeared in Vogue 1997 as a quotation of the famous painting "Christina’s World" (1948) by Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009).

Spiderman

2009-11-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

This picture by the Italian photographer Gian Paolo Tomasi is an obvious quotation of Spiderman coming up a skyscraper.

Post Apocalyptic Zombies

2009-11-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

This Editorial by Steven Meisel was published in the Vogue Italia in 2004.

Despite it’s no quotation of any specific artwork it refers to a lot of post apocalyptic zombie movies. With its dark and morbid atmosphere is it not atypical for the kind of Editorials by Meisel.

Pure American

2009-10-27T04:28:00.001-07:00

On the occasion of the presidential elections in 2008 Harper's Bazaar published this photo of John McCain and his wife Cindy by the photographer John Huba.

The McCains are posing as pure Americans like the couple on the famous painting "American Gothic" (1930) by Grant Wood.

Mondrian once more

2009-10-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Chinese actress and pop singer Fan Bingbing featured on Harper’s Bazaar China for the month of January 2008.

Maybe it’s not necessary to say that this is also a Mondrian quotation.

Christina Barbarella

2009-10-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

In 2008 Ellen von Unwerth made a photo shoot with Christina Aguilera for the greatest hits album, "Keeps Gettin’ Better".

It’s a nice retro shoot which reminds of good old Barbarella.

Egyptian Goddess

2009-10-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

This photo is from Vogue Russia, January 2009.

Maybe I’m going to far, but it reminds me of the statue of the Egyptian goddess Selket, found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun. It’s not only the pose, but also the gold and the eyes.

Hommage to Roy Lichtenstein

2009-10-04T00:50:00.000-07:00

Probably in 2008 published Zinc Magazine an editorial called “masterpiece” by the famous fashion photographer Mike Ruiz.

It’s a hommage to Roy Lichtenstein.

Iwo Jima Flag

2009-09-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

Very popular in advertisings is the famous photograph of the Iwo Jima flag rising.

The original is from 1945 and probably the most iconic photo of the United States.

Gilette’s Venus

2009-09-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Gilette’s new campaign for female razors utilizes the old image of Venus the goddess of love and beauty.

Although there are a lot of artistic interpretations of this subject, I prefer Botticelli because of the wind and because it’s the best known.

Crucifixion

2009-09-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

This photo was published by Harper's Bazaar China September 2008 in celebration of the Olympic Games.

It’s a quotation of the painting by Salvador Dalí Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951).

Star Wars Fashion

2009-09-13T00:33:00.000-07:00

In Highlights Magazine Fall 2008 appeared a series called 'Armour Karma'. The photographer was Kah Poon.

Without any doubt nice pictures, but I see a strong influence of the dresses of queen Amidala from Star Wars.

Vanity Fair's Pin Ups

2009-09-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

I just have mentioned, that pin ups became fashionable. Probably it’s the colors and the artificial poses which made them so attractive to photographers and designers. Anyway, since some years Vanity Fair presents a relatively new and up-coming actress in form of a 50s-style pinup shot.

The Vanity Fair edition of October 2008 shows the actress Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis.

But Mila Kunis is not only posing as "a" pin up, she’s exactly copying the pin up by Edward Runci which was published with the title "They're Easy To Handle" in 1953.

Sin City Fashion by Steven Meisel

2009-09-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

In spring 2005 the film Sin City by Frank Miller was real sensation. The impressive colors and the perfectly arranged film noir and pulp esthetics made Sin City also to an ideal pattern for a special kind of dark fashion.

Because of that it isn’t very surprising to me that it was Steven Meisel who has an inclination to dark and sometimes violent arrangements shot in the same year a Fashion Editorial for Vogue Italy, inspired by the film.

Medea

2009-08-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Despite it happens frequently that older (and lesser known) art is used as an inspiration in advertising without any reference or quoting, there are also many a modern photographer who are paying their respects to art history.

So did for example the british digital artist Rebecca Parker with her photo Medea:

It’s a well arranged quotation of the famous artwork from 1898 by the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860 –1939).

There you find more examples about Medea in art.

Beer Surfer

2009-08-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Few days ago a friend showed me this nice clip on Youtube about the Guinness Surfers.

A wonderful clip without any doubt by I wished that the English painter Walter Crane (1845-1915) would have been mentioned.

Walter Crane: Neptune's Horses (1892)

Campari Fairy Tales

2009-08-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

A very popular method to tell stories with advertising is to quote fairy tales. The 9th edition of the Campari Calendar for the year 2008 is composed of twelve fairy tales all with the beautiful Mendes.

Cinderella

Puss in boots

Levi’s on a Skyscraper

2009-08-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

This nice ad for Levi's Cling fits is from 2007 and was made by JWT Advertising Agency in Bangalore. The photographer was Steve Koh.

To me it looks like a quotation of the famous photo by Charles C. Ebbets "Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper" from 1932. Above all because I think that no photographer in the whole world can take a picture of a crossbeam with people on it without thinking of Ebbets.

Post-Apocalyptic Fashion

2009-08-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

In Vogue Italia appeared in November 2003 this series by Steven Meisel with the title “Mother Nature”. We see some skinny models posing in abandoned buildings or a deserted landscape.

These images didn’t quote any paintings but they refer in my opinion to a lot of post-apocalyptic movies and fiction. Here only a screenshot from the movie "Downstream" (2009).

Here you will find more about post-apocalyptic stuff.

Pandora

2009-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

The photos for the Versace Catalogue Winter 1998 where made by Steven Meisel. All are dealing in a mysterious manner with mythological subjects. It’s not mentioned what characters Meisel had in mind when he arranged his photos. But this one reminds a lot of Pandora.

Pandora the curious girl with his box who brings all the evils to mankind as can be seen on this painting from 1894 by the British artist Henrietta Rae (1859-1928).

Fashionable Pin-Ups

2009-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Pin-ups had become fashionable. Since years photographers and designers discovered the nostalgic charm of that once despised artwork.

A very beautiful series was made by the photographer Bruno Dayan for Chantal Thomass.

Probably Dayan didn’t think in a special painter when he made his photos. But he wanted to imitate not only the costumes and poses but also the colors and the artificial surface.

It sounds good to me (1942) by David Wright (1912–1967)

Sleepy-Time Girl (1930s) by Gil Elvgren (1914-1980)

Catwoman

2009-07-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

The modern "Carousel of Ideas" is moving and it’s not always easy to decide where icons, once put on in move, had their strongest impact.

For example Catwoman is a fictional comic book character associated the Batman comics. Catwoman first appears in Batman 1940. As a very popular character Catwoman has been featured in many media adaptations like other comic series, toys, television series and movies. Best known are the film with Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in 1992 and that with Halle Berry in 2004.

In the May 2008 issue of US Vogue the photographer Craig McDean presented a series called “Daring Do” where the Canadian supermodel CoCo Rocha poses as Catwoman.

Ophelia

2009-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

In the Dazed & Confused magazine appeared in December 2007 this Ophelia by the fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco.

I don’t think that Vivanco had a special painting in mind when he took this photo. But since the 19th century Ophelia is a popular icon in art. And because of this the images will resemble the most times as this painting may illustrate:

Ophelia (1876) by the French painter Antoine Auguste Ernest Hebert(1817-1908).

Coppertone Girl

2009-07-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Italian fashion photographer Gian Paolo Tomasi has an inclination for new interpretations of artwork. That he isn’t only interested in the "big" art represented in the museums shows this example:

It’s a nice quotation of the "Coppertone Girl" from 1959, which was invented and done by Joyce Ballantyne (1918–2006) a well known painter of pin-up art.

Meisel - Tissot

2009-07-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

In the May 2007 issue of American Vogue appeared a series by the fphotographer Steven Meisel called "Fashioning the Century".

This is one of the very well composed pictures (how Meisel used to do).

It reminds me of the painting "Lilacs" (c. 1875) by the French painter James Jacques Tissot (1836-1902). Maybe this wasn’t intended by Meisel. But anyway, it’s not only the similar pose and the flowers, it’s the same cool arrangement of luxury, the perfection of both pictures.

Transformers

2009-07-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

The conjunctions between artwork and advertising have a lot of variations. A nice example is in my opinion the movie Transformers (2007), which was the result of the old Transformers toy advertising campaign.

After the success of the new movie these images where used by Citroën and Nissan for new advertising campaigns.

Tribute to Magritte

2009-06-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

In Genlux magazine appeared on January 29th, 2009 a formidable editorial by the photographer Andrew Matusik. It’s called "Sir Realist" and gives a new interpretation of the well known paintings by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte (1898–1967).

René Magritte: La Magie Noire (1933/34)

and the new tribute by Andrew Matusik:

René Magritte: La Chateau des Pyrenees (1959)

and the interpretation by Andrew Matusik:

Patriotic Pin-Ups

2009-06-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

On the cover of Vanity Fair in January 2009 was a very patriotic photo by Annie Leibovitz (so it may be more ironical).

But this photo is a quotation of a pin-up by the painter Rolf Armstrong (1889-1960). It dates from 1945 and was called "The Winning Combination". So it was a celebration of the end of the Second World War.

Maybe Leibovitz was just celebrating the end of the Bush era.

Fairies

2009-06-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

In 2008 Paris Hilton started the new promo for her fragrance Fairy Dust. There she dressed up as a fairy or as something that she thought may look like one.

But the modern conception how fairies has to look like is strongly influenced by paintings from the 19th century like this one by the British artist John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893).

Spirit of the Night (1879)

Mondrian

2009-06-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

In the US edition of Harper's Bazaar appeared in September 2008 a nice series by the British photographer Alexi Lubomirski with the title "Bright Ideas"

I cannot avoid but to me it seems like a quotation of the famous paintings by Piet Mondrian (1872–1944).

Greek Fashion

2009-06-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

This picture by the British fashion photographer Clive Arrowsmith reminds of the neo-classicist painting by the British artist John William Godward (1861 –1922).
I don't know if Arrowsmith knows Godward but I suppose that he has seen similar ones (there are a lot in the web and in museums).

Godward: Memories (1891)

Charming Facism

2009-06-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I think in 2008 there was a new clip for the Citroën C5, which should be sold with the slogan: "Unmistakeably German".

Well, why not. But it's a strange image of Germany, which is used by this clip. The whole scenery is taken from the thirties, the blond SS-styled guy and the Wagnerian music. To me it seems like a production by Leni Riefenstahl.

But the best, and I don’t think that this is a pure coincidence, the protagonist looks almost exactly like Jonathan Littell that English/French writer, who became famous with his novel “The Kindly Ones” the fictional memories of an SS officer and mass murderer.

So what the hell they are doing here? Telling their customers what cool guys have served in the SS and that this is unmistakeably German?

Madame X

2009-05-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

In Harper's Bazaar of 2006 was this photo by Anton Ismail. It belonged to a series showing women with masks.

I don't know if the photographer knows this painting by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), but I think so, because Sargent and especially this painting are really famous.

And then I think that there are enough similarities. The elegant style, the pose, the illumination.

Madame X (1884)

Academic Art by Leibovitz

2009-05-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

These two images are by the famous American portrait photographer Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz.

She made them for the Lavazza Calendar 2009.

Despite I got no special paintings as model for this images, I find them very typical in the style of 19th century academic painting.

There is the narrative arrangement, the perfect surface, the cool colors and the subjects: a couple on a bridge over the Tiber and Romulus and Remus in the Colosseum.

Sure that Leibovitz got more irony than these academic painters but anyhow it’s a kind of quotation, not of a special painting but of a style.

Dancing in the Dark

2009-05-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

The 2006 advertising spot from Guerlain Perfume with Hilary Swank dancing reminds me in general of late 19th century painting.

Especially of the art of the Spanish painter Luis Ricardo Falero (1851-1896). I don't say that these guys, who made the clip, knew the painting, but they knew that kind of art.

Moonlight Beauties (1880s)

The clip can still be seen at Youtube:

San Sebastian

2009-05-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

New interpretations of famous paintings are very popular among photographers. I think, it’s a kind of honoring the great master from whom they learned so much.

Here an example by Italian photographer Gian Paolo Tomasi. The Italian actress and fashion model Anna Maria is posing as San Sebastian.

The quoted original is from the 1480s and be the Italian painter Andrea Mantegna (1431 - 1506).

Fantasy Nymphs

2009-05-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

As well a strong influence can bee noted in the poster for Opium perfume from2006.

It should be compared with the painting "The Moon Nymph" from 1883 by Luis Ricardo Falero (1851-1896). It's not only using the same light effects and forms it also uses the same fantastic erotic context.

Fascinating Orient

2009-05-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

In the British Vogue from July 2005 appeared a series by the photographer Tim Walker called "Lily takes a trip", which is dealing with the fascination of the Orient.

I don't know if Walker knows the painting "Muezzins call to Prayer" (1879)
by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904).

But I think so, and therefore I will call it a "Influence".

Mermaids

2009-04-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

This picture by the Italian photographer Marco Glaviano of Michelle Hunziker doesn't quote one special painting but uses the topic of the mermaid, which was very popular in 19th century romantic painting. Not only this the whole photo resembles a painting.

To compare: "The waternymph" by the british painter Herbert James Draper (1860-1920)

Knight and Lempicka

2009-04-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Photographers are not only secretly stealing ideas from older paintings. Many of them haven't any problems to show where they got some of their inspirations. Sometimes they especially honour a painting or an artist.

The British photographer Nick Knight did this with his photo Andromeda.

With this he is showing his respect to the Art Déco painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898 – 1980) quoting her painting Andromeda from 1929.

Lilith

2009-04-23T01:22:00.001-07:00

This weeks (17/2009) cover of the German newsmagazine "Der Spiegel". Nice cover, related to something about the health system.

Now I want to compare it to the painting "Lilith" from 1887 by the British painter John Collier (1850–1934).

I think it's clear where the cover designer got his inspiration from. Nothing against this. But it's a shame that Collier isn't even mentioned in the editorial.

Cleopatra

2009-04-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

In Vanity Fair Magazine of February 2009 were a series of photos from Cate Blanchett, who is posing as a actress in different roles.

The pose and exotic costume reminds of countless odalisques in art. But even more of Theda Bara in the film Cleopatra from 1917.

But already this film got its inspirations and its images from history paintings of its time. There are a lot of Cleopatra paintings in this time. I will only show this from the Austrian painter Hans Makart (1840-1884).

The Death of Cleopatra (1875)

Ophelia

2009-04-16T01:05:00.000-07:00

In an issue of the British style magazine Dazed & Confused can be found a series by the famous photographer Nick Knight presenting Gareth Pugh’s Spring/Summer ‘09 collection.

Interesting is especially this one:

It should be compared with the painting "Ophelia" from 1851.

Its by the English painter John Everett Millais (1829–1896), one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Here not only pose and background are similar, it's even the frame. So it should be called a real quotation.

The Three Graces

2009-04-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Sure three women together doesn't always refer to the Three Graces. But if they are in a certain pose and dressed in a classical style there can be no discussion.

The term "Three Graces" refers to three Greek goddesses of charm, beauty, and creativity. Or sometimes to Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. In European art they are one of the oldest topics.

Because it was a good excuse to paint three naked women the examples may be uncountable. So I want to present only two nice and typical ones.

This is by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) a German Renaissance painter and from about 1535.

The second is by Charles-André van Loo (1705–1765) a French Rococo painter and from about 1763.

And the last one is by Annie Leibovitz and was the cover of Vanity Fair in April 2008.

In this case Leibovitz didn't make a quotation of a special painting, its more her own interpretation of the old art topic.

Ingres - Thompson

2009-04-06T09:13:00.001-07:00

One of the best known examples is the photograph Michael Thompson, which is a clear quotation of a famous 19th century painting.

Its called "La Grande Odalisque" (1814) and is by the French artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780 - 1867).

Michael Thompson today one of America's leading fashion photographers took this photograph in early 2003 from the actress Julianne Moore. Later it was used as a cover for American Photograph magazine.

Moore took a similar position, also the decoration is alike. But the important thing is the perfect surface and illumination. Ingres wanted to show an object of luxury, and here is the quotation of Thompson perfect.