Kira art

Relatable?

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Vincent Van Gogh fell in love with his cousin Kee Vos Stricker. On one occasion he asked to marry her, putting his hand over a candle to show his love for her and saying he would not remove it until they could marry, however, Kee’s father blew out the candle and banned Van Gogh from their house.

Some art historians believe that Dutch master Johannes Vermeer used a camera obscura to create his paintings. This was an invention which could project a scene onto a wall in a dimly lit room. This theory came about as scans show that Vermeer didn’t use initial outlines for his paintings and yet was able to achieve a near-perfect perspective.

The prank was soon undone by its inadequate glue, but for a few hours Crimewatch UK Has Ruined the Countryside For All of Us was hung in one of the world’s most famous museums. It also inspired Andrzej Sobiepan, a Polish art student, to a similar feat in 2005, where for three days he successfully passed off his work as part of the National Museum’s collection.

What’s that, you say? He inhaled a painting?? The man must be enormous! Not quite. Wigan’s works are ‘micro-sculptures’, so tiny they must be viewed through a microscope. In creating his art, Wigan has to slow his heartbeat and work between pulses. The work he inhaled was Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, but apparently she was even better when remade.

Over the years many have fallen prey to the portrait’s ‘limpid and burning eyes’, leaving her offerings of flowers, poems and, yes, love notes. Artist Luc Maspero allegedly took this fervour to a new high – and then low – in 1852, diving off a hotel balcony because “For years I have grappled desperately with her smile. I prefer to die.” Who knew art appreciation could be so dark?

So, you’ve just hung your new Bluethumb masterpiece and you’re having some friends around. There will, of course, be compliments galore on your impeccable taste and “the feel of the space”, but why let the ego-boosts stop there? A casual mention of these cultural tidbits will see you being fought over at the next trivia night and cement your position as “the artsy one”.