• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
    • Awards & Honors, Pomp & Circumstance
  • Blog
    • Modern, 18th, 19th Century
    • Baroque, Rococo
    • Renaissance
    • Ancient, Roman, Medieval
    • Culture, Festivals, Music, Literature
    • Art News, Current Events
  • FaceBook
  • Pinterest
  • Italian with Melissa
    • Studentessa Matta Italian Site
    • Learn Italian at home with Melissa
    • Study in Italy with Melissa
  • Melissa’s Books
    • Melissa’s Author Website
  • Store
  • Sign Up & Connect
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
Art of Loving Italy

Art of Loving Italy

Art & Beauty are all around us.

SmARTalec — Art Cartoons

March 26, 2020 by Melissa Muldoon Leave a Comment

Image Credit: H. Bliss (Modigliani, Léger, Munch, Picasso and Whistler cartoon) 

Today, just for fun…
let’s go a little art hysterical!

It’s time for a little levity in Art. These days we could all use a good dose of laughter.

Did you know that Art doesn’t have to be a dusty, recitation of intellectual facts?

No, not at all! You can always find humor in Art! And some of the most hilarious and imaginative parodies are based on Art produced by the great masters. If you are an art historian, the references are quite funny, but even if you don’t know Rubens from a Renoir, you can still get the joke.

FYI: First off, do you know the
origins of the word “Smart-alec?”

Smart-alec is defined in the dictionary as smarty-pants, smart-ass, and derives from the 19th “Smart + Alec,” a diminutive of the given name Alexander.

Research done by Professor Gerald Cohen in 1985 for “Studies of Slang Part 1,” as well as research by other historians, has shown that “Alec” was probably a real person, namely Alec Hoag. He was a clever man who, back in the 1840s tricked people out of money using his keen wit and clever insights into social behaviors. He and people like him were given the nickname “Smart Alec” by the police for being too smart for his own good. Hence the phrase—“Don’t be a Smart Alec”—was invented.

Now let’s take a look at some SmARTalec takes on art!

If this doesn’t brighten your day and put a smile on your face… I don’t know what will! Here is a series of parodies featuring the ever-delightful Mr. Bean rendered in some of the world’s most famous paintings.

And now for some more “SmARTY-pants jokes!

In the comments box below, let me know your favorite parodies and if you recognized the paintings and artists that are being poked fun of!

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Mark Anderson

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Gary Larson

Image Credit: Shannon Wheeler

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Reynolds

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Scot Hilburn

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Bizarro Comics

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Scott Hilburn

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Pinterest

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Pinterest

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Pinterest

art-cartoons-parody-arthistory-comic-origins-word-smartalec
Image Credit: Pinterest

Image Credit: Chas Addams, 1979 — “I think you know everybody”

Yours in smART history!

Be sure to share this post with someone
who needs a little smARTY Art today!

Find Art of Loving Italy on Facebook!

Share this post

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
Share
Email

Related Posts

Filed Under: Modern, 18th, 19th, Contemporary Tagged With: Art comics, Art parody

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment. I love hearing from you in English or Italian! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to the Art of Loving Italy Blog

Follow along on Instagram @studentessamatta

Friday afternoon vibe. Watermelon basil Margherita Friday afternoon vibe. Watermelon basil Margheritas.
Just think… you could be here with me in June. S Just think… you could be here with me in June. Spots available for the 2023 Matta Arezzo Italian Language program. Details on the Studentessamatta.com website and in bio.
The Great Creator made Adamo… and the next thing The Great Creator made Adamo… and the next thing he did was to give him a pair of Fruit of the Loom underpants. 

Indossa queste. Sta arrivando un gruppo di turisti americani! / Put these on. A group of American tourists is about to arrive!

Because of the incidents that past week involving a teacher in Florida being fired for teaching her class of sixth graders about Michelangelo’s magnificent statue of David during an art history lesson about the Renaissance…because 3 parents thought is was pornography…. Even Adam is getting himself dressed with God’s assistance!

Hard to believe, right? Seriously Florida, get over yourself, take an art history course, and grow up.

Young people need to learn about the David and the Renaissance. They need to know and understand the importance of this era and the changes that came about by artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, and Raphael. Educating students about art and culture helps to broaden their horizons and stimulate their critical thinking skills.

Learn more in a new post on the Studentessa Matta Website. Links in Bio.

#ArtHistoryKids #artHistory #RenaissanceArt  #Michelangelo #DavidFlorence #DavidStatue #FloridaTeacherFiredPresentingMichelangelo #FamousArt  #GalleriaDellAccademia #studentessamattacrazyaboutitaly
Apparently, someone in Florida just noticed Michel Apparently, someone in Florida just noticed Michelangelo’s 15th-century sculpture of David doesn’t have a stitch of clothes on! 

They just realized — David, infact, is stark naked! As a result, a teacher in Tallahassee, Florida, was fired. 

For an art historian, it is kind of exciting when a work of art has the power to ruffle feathers, cause scandal and make people think outside their little boxes. But firing a teacher for enlightening her students about Michelangelo’s extraordinary masterpiece, the David, is absurd! 

Learn more about this story in a new post on the Studentessa Matta website and what the Mayor of Florence has decided to do for the teacher who got fired. Links in Bio

#MichelangeloDavid #DavidFlorence #ArtinFlorence #ItalianArt #RenaissanceArt #FlorenceMasterpieces #Sculpture #TuscanyArt #FlorenceCulture #FlorenceTourism #Michelangelo #GalleriaDellAccademia #ItalianCulture #DavidStatue #TravelItaly #FlorenceHistory #artHistory #FamousArt #FloridaTeacherFiredPresentingMichelangelo #ArtHistoryKids #studentessamatta
agnolotti del plin … La mia scelta per cena at R agnolotti del plin … La mia scelta per cena at Red Ash in downtown Austin! Squisito! #redashaustin
Buon compleanno a me! Happy birthday to me! Adoro Buon compleanno a me! Happy birthday to me! Adoro il 28 marzo! Il mio giorno preferito dell’anno.
La Maremma photo di Wrejzlik Siete mai stati nell La Maremma photo di Wrejzlik

Siete mai stati nella Maremma! Una bellezza selvaggia.

Melissa Muldoon © 2023 Built with and Genesis Framework by Bellano Web Studio