The painter Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to look at the unfinished work while Michelangelo was gone, and upon seeing the paintings, went back to a completed painting of his own at the Church of Sant’Agostino, scraped it off the wall, and started completely over.
During a 1964 hoax, a Swedish journalist exhibited paintings…
During a 1964 hoax, a Swedish journalist exhibited paintings done by a chimpanzee under the name Pierre Brassau. The journalist was testing whether critics could tell the difference between true avant-garde modern artwork and a chimp’s work. They could not, and in fact, praised the works.
Bob Ross did “The Joy of Painting” completely free of charge and only…
Bob Ross did “The Joy of Painting” completely free of charge and only made money through his art supply store. Most of the seasons were filmed back-to-back in less than three days.
Bob Ross was a Master Sergent in the US Airforce. He was required to be…
Bob Ross was a Master Sergent in the US Airforce. He was required to be “mean and tough,” to be “the guy who scream at you for being late to work.” After 20 years he left the military and decided “he would never scream again.” 3 years later he started “The Joy of Painting”.
Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings, would scream if a…
Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings, would scream if a painting was taken away from him before he was finished.
Salvador Dali made a painting for the prisoners at Rikers Island in NYC that…
Salvador Dali made a painting for the prisoners at Rikers Island in NYC that hung in the prisoner dining room for 15 years, when it was moved to the prison lobby for ‘safekeeping’. In 2003, three prison guards and a warden stole the painting.
Most of the paintings by Adolf Hitler, which he painted in his youth and sold to…
Most of the paintings by Adolf Hitler, which he painted in his youth and sold to a glazier ’s store during his Vienna years, were bought by Jewish customers.
In 2011, James Franco put his name behind a project called “The Museum of Non…
In 2011, James Franco put his name behind a project called “The Museum of Non-visible Art”. A woman paid $10,000 for a non-visible piece called “Fresh Air”.
A German art student illuminated and bound the entire Silmarillion…
A German art student illuminated and bound the entire Silmarillion by hand like a 21st-century monastic scribe as his final project.
There is a small village in Japan that invented the practice…
There is a small village in Japan that invented the practice of rice paddy art whereby 4 different strains of rice are planted in a pattern so that they form a picture once the rice matures.