It’s been three weeks since Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced a “stay-at-home” ordinance for the state’s roughly 20 million residents. During that time, those of us with nonessential jobs have been searching for ways to stay busy. It started with binge-watching Tiger King (Why? We don’t know). From there, we moved on to botching every focaccia recipe on Pinterest, followed by joining TikTok even though we promised ourselves we wouldn’t. Now what?
Whether you’re culturally deprived, bored, or both, the latest social media challenge to grace our Twitter feeds might be just what you need to get out of the three-week-quarantine slump. Recently, a number of prominent museums, including the Met in New York and the Louvre in Paris, have begun challenging their followers to recreate famous works of art — art that, due to the novel coronavirus, can’t currently be enjoyed IRL. The rules, according to the Getty Museum’s Twitter account, are simple: Choose your favorite artwork. Then, find three things lying around your house, and recreate the artwork with those items. Share it.
We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home.
🥇 Choose your favorite artwork
🥈 Find three things lying around your house⠀
🥉 Recreate the artwork with those itemsAnd share with us. pic.twitter.com/9BNq35HY2V
— Getty (@GettyMuseum) March 25, 2020
In the weeks since the tweet was blasted out, over 3,800 responses have been uploaded to the Getty’s account alone. Thousands more have made submissions using the hashtag #MuseumChallenge, with artworks ranging from Old Master paintings dating back to the 1500s to renowned Dutch contemporary pieces like Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” being replicated by people around the world, from New York to the Netherlands, using only what can be found around the house.
In a fun and surprising (sort of) turn of events, many of the submissions included the use of pugs. So, you know, there’s that.
Other famous works that have made the cut so far include Rembrandt’s famous (and gruesome) “Head of John the Baptist” from 1648, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “Lady Lilith” from 1867, and Albert Anker’s “Mädchen die Haare flechtend” from 1887.
With that, scroll on for our favorite submissions so far and join the #MuseumChallenge today. Who knows? Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about art along the way.
“Portrait of a young woman” de Jean Etienne L.#MuseumFromHome #MuseumChallenge pic.twitter.com/DcW0P3aCSV
— 🌖 sherezade (@mamatingoesreal) April 11, 2020
My #MuseumChallenge and #ToiletPaperChallenge “rolled” into one pic.twitter.com/qCpDdFysjG
— Dodgers and Ducks (@LAducklove) April 14, 2020
Lindsay Lohan haciendo el #MuseumChallenge pic.twitter.com/b5wU7XdD2d
— Cinexcepción (@Cinexceptuits) April 12, 2020
We challenged our own staff to do that #MuseumChallenge from the @GettyMuseum and I gotta say, the early entries are 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vqoCjbfw1Y
— Gibbes Museum of Art (@theGibbesmuseum) April 8, 2020
Rosie and co. from Porirua have nailed the #MuseumChallenge with this recreation of Colin McCahon’s ‘The Angel of the Annunciation’. pic.twitter.com/V2dcNnVgYK
— Te Papa (@Te_Papa) April 9, 2020
‘Habitant with Blue Tuque and Pipe’ 1885 Cornelius Kriegoff at the AGO Toronto. I may have cheated by photoshopping in the oval. I like coffee @GettyMuseum #museumchallenge @agotoronto pic.twitter.com/NJyvN8q5nq
— Burl (@BurlCrone) April 14, 2020
quarantine fun with hubby #museumchallenge #vancouver #sistinechapel #adam #michelangelo #gettymuseumchallenge #quarantinelife #quarantine #gettymuseum pic.twitter.com/idK6yEhTSC
— Will Low (@willowyam) April 11, 2020
#museumchallenge
The Lovers by Rene Magritte. Photo was taken by Liebchen Cullins of Warren Ohio. Persons in the photo are Rachell Joy and Robert Tupaj. pic.twitter.com/RQj4oIpMVA— mcdonoughmuseum (@McDonoughMuseum) April 13, 2020
Girl with a Pearl Earring (that’s way bigger than mine) #MuseumChallenge #ThingsToDoDuringLockdown #NewZealandLockdown pic.twitter.com/oKDViRQDfF
— Alissa stays at home (@alissa_writes) April 10, 2020
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