The Resurrection, by Raphael, 1499-1502, by @JohnDortonPhoto pic.twitter.com/VUvpBKv8Nz
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) July 3, 2023
For many, art and sports are almost opposites. One is elegant, academic, and contemplative, while the other is rowdy, sometimes aggressive, and definitely loud. But a clever social media account is making a visual connection between the two, revealing just how similar they can be. Art But Make It Sports takes some sports images and expertly matches them with an uncannily similar artwork, with hilarious results.
The account is run by LJ Rader, who surprisingly doesn’t rely on AI to find matching images. He simply sees a great image and pairs it with art he’s seen. A good amount of his combos rely on a similar pose, like an image of Shohei Ohtani looking upset after tearing his UCL and a similarly somber-looking sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon. His funniest combinations are those that find a similar composition, a shared expression, or a common motif.
Among the most fascinating aspects of Rader’s work is that his portfolio includes an extensive variety of both sports and art styles. One day he may be matching the exact moment Novak Djokovic breaks his tennis racquet with Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, and in another he may match a save from the U.S. Male National Team goalie with a Raphael painting. Not limiting himself to traditional media, he also compares a baseball player running into a fence with an installation of a taxidermy horse embedded into a wall.
Though Rader already has a deep archive of sports and art comparisons, competitions rarely stop around the world, so you never know where the next funny image could come from. Ultimately, by marrying art and sports, this project reminds how they are both spectacles to lift us up, or at least keep us entertained for a while.
To stay up to date with Art But Make It Sports, you can follow it on Instagram and Twitter.
Art But Make It Sports takes some examples of sports photography and expertly matches them with an uncannily similar artwork, with hilarious results.
The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dalí, 1931 pic.twitter.com/swWJJyclEx
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) July 16, 2023
The account is run by LJ Rader, who surprisingly doesn’t rely on AI to find matching images. He simply sees a great image and connects it to art he’s seen.
Fat Red Boomerang, by Alexander Calder, 1972, by Andy Kuno pic.twitter.com/cxzzdohkR2
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 18, 2023
A good amount of his combos rely on a similar pose, like this image of Shohei Ohtani looking upset after tearing his UCL and a similarly somber-looking sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon.
The Winter, by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1783, via @BenVerlander pic.twitter.com/MGRzejy4fC
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 24, 2023
His funniest combinations are those who find a similar composition, a shared expression, or a common motif.
Golconda, by René Magritte, 1953, by Joe Murphy pic.twitter.com/bSb6Tbl1rB
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 20, 2023
Among the most fascinating aspects of Rader’s work is that his portfolio includes an extensive variety of both sports and art styles.
Some @NBADraft images as art, a thread: American Gothic, by Grant Wood, 1930 pic.twitter.com/TUhEFe1jhj
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) June 23, 2022
Though Rader already has a deep archive of sports and arts comparisons, competitions rarely stop around the world, so you never know where the next funny image could come from.
Madonna and Child, by Paolo di Giovanni Fei, 1370s, by Chris Hyde pic.twitter.com/myxj7iTNIY
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 3, 2023
Die Testamentseröffnung (Reading of the Will), by David Wilkie, 1820 pic.twitter.com/yogeau45nR
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) June 22, 2023
Ultimately, by marrying art and sports, this project reminds how they are both spectacles to lift us up, or at least keep us entertained for a while.
Two Women at a Window, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1655-60, by @Sportsnapper71 pic.twitter.com/clMPpzLOSD
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 20, 2023
Ossian and Malvina, by Johann Peter Krafft, 1810, by @MikeEgerton_PA pic.twitter.com/W9jlkJs92R
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 11, 2023
Untitled (Taxidermy Horse in Wall), by Maurizio Cattelan, 2007, by @lindseywasson pic.twitter.com/V5uLUnzR4w
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 9, 2023
Mercury Departing from Antwerp, by Peter Paul Rubens, 17th c, by Chris Szagola pic.twitter.com/OjxNWa7GpF
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) July 26, 2023
Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, by Edward Bowser, 1640, by @CooperNeill pic.twitter.com/ab8uDprF6J
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) July 14, 2023
Self-Portrait, by Joseph Ducreux, 1783, by @melisportphoto pic.twitter.com/CpEazQQlzx
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) August 8, 2023
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