Art might be hundreds of years old, but sometimes it feels surprisingly modern. From paintings that look like movie stills to portraits that could easily pass as memes today, people online have been sharing artworks that seem way ahead of their time. And honestly, some of them might just make you do a double take.
A recent Reddit thread on r/ArtHistory invited people to share old paintings that feel modern or ahead of their time. It didn’t take long for the discussion to go viral, with history and art enthusiasts flooding the comments with mind-blowing examples from different centuries. Some of these pieces really make you feel like you’re looking at something created today.
You might be surprised too, so don’t waste any more time – scroll down to check out some of the most fascinating finds from the thread we picked just for you.
#62 “Le Docteur François-Olivier Boucher” By Roy-Audy, Jean-Baptiste, 1826-1831
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7points
#64 “View Of Toledo” By El Greco, Created Around 1599–1600
Yeah, it's quite insane how modern it feels.
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6points
#65 “Portrait Of Guillaume Apollinaire” By Giorgio De Chirico, 1914
He would become the main inspiration for Magritte’s early works
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6points
#66 "The Jester" By Marx Reichlich, 1519–1520
This guy from c. 1520 (Marx Reichlich). He looks like David from my high school Spanish class.
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6points
#69 "Self-Portrait As A Nude" By Albrecht Dürer, 1500
Okay, it's Dürer, but his radical approach to painting his own nude body is what makes him modern. To me, it has a lot of expressionistic vibes.
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6points
#70 “Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 3, Youth,” From 1907
Hilma Af Klint was way ahead of her time!
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5points
#72 The "Veil Of Saint Veronica (Or The Holy Face)" By El Greco, Created In The Early 1580s
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5points
#73 "The Seven-Pointed Star, No. 1" By Hilma Af Klint, 1908
Everything by Hilma af Klint. Like this 1908 painting.
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4points
#74 “Girl At The Piano: Recording Sound” By Theodore Roszak, 1935
“Girl at the Piano: Recording Sound,” 1935, by Theodore Roszak always struck me as futuristic for the ’30s. Something about the line work? What do you think?
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3points
#75 "Adrienne" By Amedeo Modigliani, Created Around 1909
Modigliani. This is from 1909. Looks like something from the 1980s to me.
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3points
#77 Kangxi Emperor Of China, The Fourth Emperor Of The Qing Dynasty, Depicted At Approximately 45 Years Old
The use of colour in this portrait of the Kangxi emperor from 1699 always felt so modern to me somehow.
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2points
