See some of the world’s most famous pieces on a new canvas. In these artistic body paint images, Trina Merry paints the works of Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and Basquiat onto nude models to discuss art history for those who hate boring museums.

Claude Monet

“People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand when it’s simply necessary to love.”

Water Lilies

Impressionism was a radical art movement of the late 1800s. Impressionist artists valued modernity and preferred to create work that reflected the world around them. Artists during this period preferred to paint outside and focused on the ways light could define a moment in time and used color for providing definition to their art instead of black lines. An iconic impressionist piece is “Water Lilies” by Claude Monet. In his “Water Lilies” paintings, Monet omits the land and sky, representing their presence by reflections in the water. Monet makes it easy for the viewer to distinguish the clouds using white, but the blue water and skies become one. Monet’s “Water Lilies” series helped to open doors for abstract painting by omitting unnecessary elements and focus on vivid colors.

Merry held a contest at the Superfine! Art Fair. In her bodypaint challenge, Trina camouflages the contest winner, Marissa, into one of Monet’s “Water Lillie” paintings. Trina selected the piece as part of her Lust of Currency series, where she body paints some of the world’s most expensive art pieces. Trina uses greens, purples, blues, and whites to hide her model into the Monet’s scenery. The product is a rendition of Monet’s famous painting that is as lively and serene as Monet’s painting itself.

Van Gogh

“I put my heart and my soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process.”

Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 Starry Night painting is one of the most famous art pieces in the world. To some, the composition is more famous than its creator. Starry Night is a part of the post-impressionism movement. This movement arose from impressionist artists that rejected the limitations of the impressionism movement. Post-impressionism went away from an emphasis on natural depictions of light and color and focused on symbolism and abstract qualities. One of the leaders in the post-impressionism movement was Vincent Van Gogh, and his piece Starry night is one of the most recognizable pieces from the movement.

Van Gogh painted Starry Night during his stay at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de- Mausole, where he was given a studio for painting. At the asylum, Van Gogh relapsed and fell into a depression, marking a shift in the tone of his artwork. This shift can be observed in Starry Night. Our model for the body paint challenge is Lauren Ailes, an NBC morning news anchor Trina found through Instagram. Behind a large backdrop of Starry Night, Trina camouflages Lauren into the distinctive scenery of the night sky and city in the piece.

Picasso

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

Les Demoiselles

Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907 and it is one of the most famous pieces that represent Cubism. Cubism was an influential art style of the early twentieth century started by Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism rejected the idea that art should reflect nature and artists emphasized the two dimensionalities of their canvases. To do this, artists fractured their objects into geometric shapes.

Many artworks of the late 19th century featured female bathers. The bathers were often used to romanticize the intimate act and to objectify the female body. For Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Picasso neglected all known representations of traditional art and used the female body and geometric forms to challenge female beauty expectations of the time. The piece took Picasso nine months to complete, with Picasso creating numerous sketches along the way to prepare for the final piece. Another important aspect of the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is Picasso’s usage of African Masks in the painting. Picasso moved to Paris in the early 1900s, where he was introduced to African art, and several of his art pieces around this time are inspired by the art. According to Architecture Digest, Picasso “became so moved by the shapes, lines, and angles of the African masks that he famously declared that he learned what painting is really about.”

In her body challenge, Trina Merry was faced with the task of reflecting a major cubism piece on a three-dimensional human canvas. With her model, Roshni, Trina recreated the same geometric shapes that Picasso uses to highlight his abstract form of female beauty. Using a female body as a canvas helps bring the artwork to life and provide a deeper meaning. Merry explains that “the nude in art history has usually been women, and it’s largely been painted by men. It was a means of not only objectifying them but also obsessing about and possessing them within private quarters.” Merry turns the male gaze on its head as she recreates this piece on a nude female body.  

Basquiat

“I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.”

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an influential artist who rose to fame in the 1980s. Basquiat first received attention for his graffiti art that was spotted around New York City under the name SAMO. Basquiat drew inspiration from his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage. His art consists of spray-painted crowns, scribbled words, pop icons, and bible verses. Another unique aspect of Basquiat’s art is how he portrayed African art through his work, similar to European artists such as Picasso and Matisse. Basquiat’s art was unique, meaningful, and full of emotional depth and it was essential to maintain all of these aspects when transferring it to a human canvas. For her body challenge, Trina Merry camouflaged Carolina, a New York fashion model and musician concealed in a piece titled “GRILLO” featuring one of his iconic crowns. Basquiat used crowns within many of his pieces. It is believed that they symbolize Basquiat’s view of himself, to acknowledge people who have influenced him, and his desire to become great. Onto her model, Trina recreated the figures, words, and symbols elements that are distinct to Basquiat’s work.

Each one of these pieces represents an important part of history. We hoped you enjoyed Trina’s recreation of each piece onto her models to bring the pieces to life. If you interested in these body painting challenges, check out our YouTube channel to find this challenge and others. Tell us which famous piece inspires you most and what project you would like to see Trina take on next.