The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
Tattoo: Oozy
Great works of art are timeless, transcending the artists who created them. Think about paintings like Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Van Gogh’s Starry Night—they’re permanently embedded into our memories. Their beauty and cultural significance inspires us in our everyday lives and often in ways you might not expect. As tattoos grow increasingly popular, people are using their skin to honor art history.
From classical busts to bold cartoons, these types of tattoos run the gamut in subject matter. Some are by-the-book interpretations of an artwork while others take creative liberties. In one version of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, tattooist Rita Zolotukhina depicts it with incredible accuracy. Others, like Oozy, alter their sources. On his client’s chest, the Seoul-based tattoo artist has visually fractured some of Da Vinci’s greatest works. The result is a stunning fusion of history and modernity, all contained on the skin.
Check out 29 of these museum-worthy tattoos, below. Which ones are your favorites?
Based on The Creation of Adam by Michaelangeo
Tattoo: Phellipe Rodrigues
Guernica by Picasso
Tattoo: Okan Uckun
Rothko
Tattoo: Jamie Luna
Water Serpents I by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Alexey Buzunov
Picasso (left) and Matisse (right)
Photo credit: Cristina Folsom
Jackson Pollock
Tattoo: Anton Senkov
Keith Harring
Tattoo: Megan Oliver
Starry Night by Van Gogh
Tattoo: Bob Price
Water Serpents I and II by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Amanda Wachob
Frida Kahlo
Tattoo: Fredão Oliveira
Inspired by Cubism
Tattoo: Peter Aurisch
Kim Hong Do
Tattoo: Oozy
Inspired by classical sculpture
Tattoo: Tanya De Souza-Meally
Alphonse Mucha
Tattoo: Natan Alexander
Wheatfield with Crows by Van Gogh
Tattoo: Chris Walkin
Dance by Matisse
Tattoo: Omegalfa Tattoo
Banana by Andy Warhol
Photo source: Postmodernism Ruined Me
Picasso
Tattoo: Olivia Harrison
Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp
Tattoo: Lucas Cordeiro
Judith and the Head of Holofernes by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Ville Prinsen
Da Vinci
Tattoo: Oozy