Image via Complex Original
This year, art history mash-ups took over the Internet, from Beyonce-inspired Tumblrs, to Vines of Marina Abramovic, to Lady Gaga's Jeff Koons-designed album cover, to Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" music video. Photographer Ed Wheeler is another artist who mixes pop culture with art history in his series "Santa Classics," a project he has been working on for the past 20 years. In Wheeler's compositions, jolly old Saint Nicholas appears in famous masterpieces, bringing holiday cheer to works by artists like Monet, Manet, and Michelangelo.
For the project, Wheeler dresses up as Santa Claus, photographs himself, and then inserts the images into classic works. The Philadelphia Museum of Art likes Wheeler's work so much, that the institution is selling his "Santa Classics" as Christmas cards. Celebrate the holidays like a true art lover with 15 Works of Art Improved by Santa Claus.
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