7. The Night Café by Vincent van Gogh (1888)
In some ways van Gogh is more “realistic” than people give him credit for — look at the door in the left foreground, for example.
Still, he had an unmatched talent for making relatively ordinary places seem utterly magical. pic.twitter.com/4fxxsVrgSM
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
Many of the most famous paintings in history depict scenes created entirely within an artist’s mind. But there are hundreds of others that were inspired by actual locations you can pinpoint in real life. The best part is that, while some were painted hundreds of years ago, the spots that inspired them are still there for us to visit. The Cultural Tutor compiled some famous paintings and their real-life locations, creating a bridge between past and present, and art and spectator.
Among the paintings that are matched with photos of their real-world setting are some of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous works. For example, the charming cafe from Café Terrace at Night (1888) was a real place until recently. While the original one was destroyed during World War II, Arles residents built a new site that looks just like the one in Van Gogh’s painting. Sadly, it closed its doors in 2023, but it lives forever in the great Dutch master’s canvas.
Other sites have been luckier, and can be visited today, such as France’s Mont-Saint-Michel, the tidal island depicted by James Webb in his 1857 painting of the same name. In 2023, President Emmanuel Macron marked 1,000 years of the abbey with some engineering work to restore the site to its former glory. Today, 3 million people visit Mont-Saint-Michel each year.
The most interesting pairings are arguably those where the place still exists, but the painting captures a specific moment in time that has been preserved for posterity. One of the best examples of this is High Street, Oxford (1810) by J.M.W. Turner. While the architecture extraordinarily remains intact, the subtle changes in street signage and the clothes of passersby is what dates the composition.
Explore more paintings with their real-life locations below.
The Cultural Tutor compiled some famous paintings and their real-life locations.
Famous paintings and their real life locations:
1. The Church at Auvers by Vincent van Gogh (1890) pic.twitter.com/TeYY1bQ5jh
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
By doing so, they’ve created a bridge between past and present, and art and spectator.
4. American Gothic by Grant Wood (1930)
The house in the background — the Dibble House in Eldon, Iowa — still looks exactly as Wood painted it.
But you can see how Wood altered, and almost caricatured, the models: his sister Nan Wood Graham and his dentist Byron McKeeby. pic.twitter.com/cxVpmgKNdb
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
Among the paintings that have been matched to their real-world locations are some of Van Gogh’s most famous works.
Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent van Gogh (Arles, France) pic.twitter.com/GbDp0UgQKC
— Civixplorer (@Civixplorer) June 24, 2024
Some of the most interesting ones are those where the place still exists, but the painting captures a specific moment in time that has been preserved for posterity.
8. High Street, Oxford by JMW Turner (1810)
It’s tempting to say nothing has changed; the buildings of Oxford remain just as they were 200 years ago.
But consider the impact of cars and everything they bring with them, like signs and tarmac, on the appearance of the street. pic.twitter.com/czht9i1pFn
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
10. Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth (1948)
The Olson House in Maine remains more or less as it did when Andrew Wyeth made his legendary painting.
An ordinary, basically inconspicuous building in real life — one transformed into something almost fantastical by Wyeth. pic.twitter.com/SffwMxfqfL
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
13. A Moonlit Night on the Bosphorus by Ivan Aivazovsky (1894)
Another place — Istanbul, called Constantinople in Aivazovksy’s time — where the view is almost identical.
With the exception, of course, of the huge Bosphorus Bridge behind the (elongated, again) Ortaköy Mosque. pic.twitter.com/4guYJgfShU
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
It is amazing seeing the places and how they have been immortalized in art. Here is another example:
Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy
Watercolor by Emanuel Ritter von Stöckler (1877) on left and actual interior of the church on the right. pic.twitter.com/MXY8yswd4C— Culture Explorer (@CultureExploreX) June 24, 2024
3. El Khasné, Petra by Frederic Edwin Church (1874)
Not much has changed here since 1874 — and hasn’t much changed in the two thousand years since Petra was carved by the Nabataeans. pic.twitter.com/2DDSQGVckJ
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
2. Mont-Saint-Michel by James Webb (1857)
Notice how Webb has made Mont-Saint-Michel more vertical, elongating the buildings and steepening the hill itself.
A common method used by artists to make real places more picturesque. pic.twitter.com/Exxlu71w2s
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
5. Piazza San Marco, Venice by Canaletto (1730)
Not much seems to have changed, but the truth is that between Canaletto painting this picture and the photo being taken, the bell tower collapsed (in 1902) and was rebuilt brick for brick exactly as it had been. pic.twitter.com/ACQiFhRMkb
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
11. The Little Street by Johannes Vermeer (1658)
Little remains of the scene painted by Vermeer in Delft, his hometown — apart from, perhaps, an overwhelming sense of stillness seemingly unique to Dutch architecture and urban design. pic.twitter.com/2ne53Dw2tV
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
In Arles.
Vincent van Gogh pic.twitter.com/kSJaFGiI0G
— Alda Kreiter (@AldaKreiter) June 24, 2024
6. Sunrise on the Matterhorn by Albert Bierstadt (1880s)
The most famous mountain in the Alps painted by one of America’s greatest landscape artists.
A truthful enough depiction — but notice, again, how Bierstadt has subtly elongated the mountain to make it more dramatic. pic.twitter.com/LnjfXxkdBJ
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
Rainy Day, Boston by Childe Hassam (1885) https://t.co/rBC8PY1I6o pic.twitter.com/Sdc7ojU8GO
— らんでい「おはよう（ございます）」 (@raannndiiiii) June 25, 2024
9. Palazzo Dario, Venice by Claude Monet (1908)
Monet is hardly known for his “realism”, and yet his depiction of the Palazzo Dario is somehow more beautiful, and feels almost more truthful, than any photograph could ever be. pic.twitter.com/3zMWrisj1H
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
12. Interior of St Peter’s by Giovanni Paolo Panini (1760)
Little has changed here since 1760, but the curious thing about Panini’s painting — and so much art — is its impossible perspective.
Panini’s manipulated view is not something eyes could ever see or cameras capture. pic.twitter.com/sJ0LWpRwkB
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
14. The Doge’s Palace by Claude Monet (1908)
Perhaps Monet’s disinterest in detail and his love for the effects of light is a drawback here — the delightful arcades of the palace have melted away.
And yet, once again, the painting is somehow more captivating than the photo. pic.twitter.com/dDYeEvw2CY
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
15. Interior of the Church of St Bavo in Haarlem by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (1648)
Saenredam’s highly accurate paintings of church interiors are still used by restorers in their work.
The only major change is the colossal 18th century organ — once played by Mozart, no less. pic.twitter.com/4PrpDPlPHP
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
16. Abside de Notre Dame by Charles Meryon (1854)
The peculiar thing about these views is that Meryon painted the Notre-Dame after the original Medieval spire had been taken down and before the new one was added in 1859… which burned down in 2019.
Two spireless Notre-Dames. pic.twitter.com/O5UA83geUc
— The Cultural Tutor (@culturaltutor) June 23, 2024
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