Fitzwilliam Museum updates classic paintings with a 2020 twist

The Daughters
The Daughters 2020 edition, originally by Jan van Meyer, 1718. PHOTO: The Fitzwilliam Museum

Since 1816, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has housed some of the finest art that can be seen in the UK. Masterpieces by the likes of Picasso, Monet, Constable are just some of the collection that is on display at the museum in the present day in its Grade I listed building.

However, like all museums and art galleries, the Fitzwilliam was forced to close its doors to the public as the country entered lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. While admission to the museum is usually free, the donations that it receives from its 400,000 annual visitors that helps to keep the gallery open will have dried up.

In response to this, the museum has launched a range of greeting cards that are available to purchase on their website, taking five classic pieces of art and adding a twist that will forever be associated with 2020.

Paintings by Alfred Stevens, John Everett Millais, Jan van Meyer and Titian have all been updated by having face masks added to the subjects of the painting, adding a satirical edge to these pieces of art that date back hundreds of years.

La Liseuse
Before and after: La Liseuse by Alfred Stevens, c.1860. PHOTO: The Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam describe the cards as a “sympathetically designed range provides a playful perspective on our current lives through the art we know and love.”

The cards are priced at £3.20 and can be viewed and purchased on their website here: https://www.fitzwilliammuseumshop.co.uk/museum/fitzwilliam-masterpieces-2020/

This innovative idea combines two products that we are very familiar with here at Solopress; greeting cards and face masks. We wish the Fitzwilliam the very best of luck with their fundraising efforts and look forward to going to view the originals when the museum is able to reopen in the future.