11 amazing recreations of art masterpieces done by Russians staying at home

A Facebook group has offered the world a glimpse of what the creative arm of humanity can accomplish when indoors for a really long stretch of time.

The answer? Artistic masterpieces, but in real-life.

The Изоизоляция (Izoizolyacia) Facebook group, which translates to "art isolation", invites its members to take a masterpiece and recreate it, post it side-by-side with the real thing, and then upload it for its half a million members to judge.

What began as a competition run by well-known Russian cartoonist and artist Vasya Lozhkin has quickly amassed a cult following, with hundreds of thousands of plucky members taking part.

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The result, as you can imagine, is the kind of thing social media scrolling dreams are made of: pure, unabashed joy.

Works by masters including Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo are given a modern reworking here, using everything from real-life models to kitchen scraps.

Naturally, Johannes Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' has been recreated several times, by women and men of all ages, while there are also several attempts at abstracts – Picasso quickly becoming a hot favourite.

A Mihaly Zichy masterpiece has been remade with sweet wrappers, onion shavings, paper clips and more. Animals feature rather a lot, too. A dog recreating Vincent van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear'? You bet it's been done.

The group was created less than two weeks ago, on March 30, 2020, but already has 417,428 members.

In its description, the founder of the page, Lozhkin, a well-known Russian artist who is famous for his cartoons, issued a public challenge: for people to recreate famous artworks.

Ten of the best would win a prize consisting of merchandise from his own brand: t-shirts, books and prints of his paintings. The winner will be chosen on April 20, though it seems Lozhkin will have his work cut out for him.

In the last 24 hours the page has welcomed 1,673 new posts. Since its inception, more then 10,000 posts have compared modern masterpieces to everyday life.

Here are a few of our favourites:

1. Filipp Malyavin's 'Laughing Girl'

#изоизоляция Ну что, друзья, мы, сидящие в самоизоляции, по-прежнему решительно приветствуем вас! Сегодня мы решили...
Posted by Мария Эм on Sunday, April 12, 2020

2. Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', with someone's child

Ян Вермеер «Девушка с жемчужной серёжкой». Девочка, наволочка, скатерть.
Posted by Liudmila Uvarovskaya on Saturday, April 11, 2020

3. Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', with someone's pet

Девушка с жемчужной серёжкой. Автор Johannes Vermeer Модель английский бульдог Мая. 11.04.2020
Posted by Edita Vitkė on Saturday, April 11, 2020

4. An ingenious take on a Picasso

A Picasso painting recreated with part of a wall. Daria Karamba / Facebook

5. A very 2020 riff on Yuriy Pimenov's 'New Moscow'

Юрий Пименов "Новая Москва" 1937г. Вспомнив эту картину, нам тоже захотелось куда-нибудь поехать. Мы сразу собрали...
Posted by Валерий Ше on Saturday, April 11, 2020

6. Mihaly Zichy's 19th century painting of the Ballroom in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, but with food scraps

Mihai Zici's 'Ball in the Winter Palace Concert Hall during the official visit of Shah-ad-day in May 1873', recreated with sweets, onions, paper clips and more. Mikolaj Dadela / Facebook

7. Inge Leek's beloved cartoons recreated with a quarantine buddy

Неунывающие старушки финской художницы Инге Лёёк Я в роли первой старушки, в роли второй - Эммочка, единственная, кто...
Posted by Anna Velizki on Saturday, April 11, 2020

8. The Great Wave in Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, remade in a washing machine

Наш отпуск 2020. Хокусай "Большая волна в Канагаве" Майка, полотенце,, прищепки, пена для бритья, стиральный порошок и тазик. #изоизоляция
Posted by Tanya Khodova on Saturday, April 11, 2020

9. Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear'

Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait, recreated with a dog. Facebook.

10. A 2002 piece entitled Dandelions by Andrey Cikacev

Андрей Чикачев. Картина "Одуванчики. Три грации." 2002 год
Posted by Сергей Миронов on Saturday, April 11, 2020

11. Rose Freymuth Frazier's Cornucopia

Rose Freymuth Frazier's 'Cornucopia'. Iryna Levit / Facebook.