The founder of 'Classical Damn' believes that so many people relate to the content of the page because all the captions deal with modern-day life and its problems: from relationship problems and the coronavirus to satire about politics and religion.
"Even though the paintings are hundreds of years old, their expressions and captions make it seem they are one of us," they explained to Bored Panda.
"Creating original content does become difficult at times because finding paintings with accurate expressions and resolution is a time consuming process," the founder said when asked whether it becomes challenging at any point to create so many fresh memes.
"In my opinion art and art history can be made more accessible by increasing public access to art spaces. Instagram has done a tremendous job in this by providing a platform to artists, content creators, and curators," the creator of 'Classical Damn' shared a very positive outlook on the relationship between art and tech.
"More and more people have started appreciating art after seeing them on their feeds and then trying to learn more about their backgrounds. Technology has made its interpretation and access inclusive. The future is going to be an exciting period for art and I'm looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, Shelby, a former art gallery director living in Florida, believes that art doesn't have to be more approachable because in her opinion it is not unapproachable. "Art is not snooty and complicated. Art is in literally everything we do, it makes the world go round. It is how we market, it’s what we decorate our homes with, heck it is what we decorate ourselves with," she told Bored Panda.
"You literally cannot turn around without seeing some form of art, in architecture, logos, billboards, television, everything. And that came from somewhere," she noted that the idea that art is unapproachable may be outdated.
Bored Panda asked Shelby about whether classical art will ever come back into fashion and about her favorite styles. "Everything is cyclical. We develop new styles that hold qualities of the old while still addressing and innovating in the now. So do I think there will be an exact regurgitation of the older movements? No. But I do think we can see common themes from what once was," she said.
"I don’t think I could pick one movement that would be my favorite, but I am very fond of the Rococo movement. I love the frivolousness and whimsey of it. It was idealistic and excessive and a bit of an absurd expression of a carefree lifestyle," Shelby shared her thoughts about art movements with Bored Panda. "It definitely shows the disconnect of the French aristocracy from the plights of the common people, but for me, in this day and age, it serves as an idealistic escape into whimsy and a carefree land of nonsense. It just makes me giggle."
According to the art expert, there doesn't always have to be something "to get" when it comes to appreciating art. "If you don’t care for one style of art there are plenty others to choose from. I have never really understood why there is such a block. Art is what you make of it, if you don’t like 'x,' move on to 'y.' And if you really want to understand something, do your research and dive into it. Figure out what the beginnings were. What is the artist trying to say? Are they trying to say anything? Is it for aesthetics? Are you supposed to interpret it or are you looking too far into it? You don’t have to understand everything to like it, and you don’t have to like everything to appreciate it. If you can’t get past disliking a particular movement you can find another one."
Classical art memes are a popular subject on Instagram. There are lots of popular pages that use old-timey paintings as templates for modern memes with great success.
For instance, Bored Panda recently featured the ‘Classical Sarcasm’ project, run by Adnan Cirak from Bosnia Herzegovina, who runs it with his parents. “My inspiration is to promote art and also young artists who are painters and creators,” he told us.
"When creating memes, I just need to look at one painting, and immediately the brainstorming starts in my head. Also, many followers are sending their own creations. I'm so proud that my page has motivated soo many people to express their own creativity,” Adnan, who created ‘Classical Sarcasm,’ told Bored Panda.
The young creator was very happy that his art memes help break cultural barriers as they reach people from all over the globe.
"Paintings are perfect because they all have a story behind, also everyone has an opportunity to tell the story in their own way," he said that social media users enjoy having the freedom to interpret the art and the memes through their own subjective lens.
Australian art historian Mary McGillivray from Melbourne explained to Bored Panda a bit earlier that art history tends to make a lot of people feel overwhelmed because they think it’s very serious and important. This can also make them feel like it isn’t meant for them to decode.
“This isn't true! I've said it before and I'll say it again, art history is just old memes. Once we start to see the humor and the humanity in art, it becomes far less intimidating," she said.
Though the art expert is a fan of painting-related memes and humor, one thing that gets her blood boiling is ‘The Da Vinci Code film. “The fiery rage it sparks within pushes me to go on. Nothing like pure hatred to fuel creativity," she quipped that this keeps her passionate about educational and fun TikTok videos about art.
Meanwhile, former Florida art gallery director Shelby said some time ago that a lot of people find art history “intimidating and difficult to grasp” because it’s not a subject taught in many schools.
"I don’t necessarily think art history is an inaccessible entity, but I know that people tend to feel intimidated by things they aren’t experts in. Since art is often, if not always subjective, it feels even more intimidating than a subject with a 'right answer,' like math for example," she told Bored Panda. "I think often that leads to a disconnect between the desire to dive into the subject of art and by relation art history, and the execution of it."
