The Simpsons is a cultural cornerstone that has entertained kajillions of people for years with everything from nuggets of wisdom about the meaning of stories to the hope of one day having no kids and three money. But it’s also a work of art, and like all good art, it is open to interpretation… and re-interpretation.
While Matt Groening’s most enduring creation is an all-time classic, most of the all-time classic artists have long been six feet under, so it seems The Simpsons is without a worthy artistic peer to put their spin on its aesthetic. Enter David Barton, a self-described “UK based web developer, tech tinkerer, and frustrated wannabe artist” who decided to pick up the brush and create inspired visualizations of what the show’s characters might look like as depicted by or as famous artists.
In the gallery below, there are takes on Groundskeeper Willie, Apu, Homer, and Marge in the styles of Van Gogh, Dali, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. We’re surprised Api Dali hadn’t been done sooner, because it’s absolutely spot-on. Barton also took a stab at depicting Darth Vader in the style of Monet and—in a clever, clever move—Ferris Bueller’s Day Off‘s Cameron Frye in the actual Georges Seurat painting he so intently stared at the day in the museum. Both were handled masterfully. Check out all the mentioned paintings in the gallery below.
Prints of a few of Barton’s paintings are available for sale here, so supporting the “wannabe artist”—who we think is pretty legitimate ourselves—would be a nice gesture that also spruces up your walls.
HT: Bored Panda
Images courtesy of David Barton
