Throughout history, artists have made work by reinterpreting art from the past. They have borrowed, or, as Picasso apparently said, ‘stolen’, elements of other artists’ work, to use in their own.
Take Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Warhol made a series of silk screens based on it. Frida Kahlo turned it into a self portrait. Many less well known artists have made work from it too, for example, these piece by Madhvi Parekh, Francis Newton Souza, Vladimir Zunuzin.
Pop artist Roy Litchenstein made his own version of Van Gogh’s Bedroom at Arles. Francis Bacon reinterpretated Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X. Jeff Koons made his Gazing Ball series and Cindy Sherman dressed up as characters from Old Master paintings for her History Portraits.
Picasso made this huge series of work based on just one painting by Velazquez, Las Meninas. And then Richard Hamilton made a painting from Picassos!
