Concept

Appropriation (art)

Summary
Appropriation in art is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. The use of appropriation has played a significant role in the history of the arts (literary, visual, musical and performing arts). In the visual arts, to appropriate means to properly adopt, borrow, recycle or sample aspects (or the entire form) of human-made visual culture. Notable in this respect are the Readymades of Marcel Duchamp. Inherent in the understanding of appropriation is the concept that the new work recontextualizes whatever it borrows to create the new work. In most cases, the original "thing" remains accessible as the original, without change. Appropriation, similar to found object art is "as an artistic strategy, the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images, objects, and ideas". It has also been defined as "the taking over, into a work of art, of a real object or even an existing work of art." The Tate Gallery traces the practice back to Cubism and Dadaism, and continuing into 1940s Surrealism and 1950s Pop art. It returned to prominence in the 1980s with the Neo-Geo artists, and is now common practice amongst contemporary artists like Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, and Jeff Koons. Many artists made references to works by previous artists or themes. In 1856 Ingres painted the portrait of Madame Moitessier. The unusual pose is known to have been inspired by the famous ancient Roman wall painting Herakles Finding His Son Telephas. In doing so, the artist created a link between his model and an Olympian goddess. Edouard Manet painted Olympia in 1865, inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino. His painting Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe was also inspired by the work of the Old Masters; specifically, its composition is based on a detail of Marcantonio Raimondi's The Judgement of Paris (1515). Gustave Courbet is believed to have seen the famous color woodcut The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai before painting a series of the Atlantic Ocean during the summer of 1869.
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