Clever Ads Reveal an Unexpected Side to Famous Artworks

This amusing series of ads reveal an unexpected side to famous artworks – one that's totally different when you're wearing glasses. Advertising agency Y&R: Paris created them for the France-based eyewear retailer Keloptic, and they demonstrate how the right pair of spectacles can put a blurred image into focus.

The campaign features Impressionist paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Georges Seurat. Visible brush strokes and an emphasis on light are defining characteristics of the 19th-century art movement, and this combination can sometimes look diffused and hazy. But here, Keloptic's glasses transform the works. A superimposed lens held over the painting causes the fuzzy appearance to look as realistic as a photograph.

The message in these advertisements is clear, and Y&R makes their point in a clever way. They even came up with the tagline, “Turning impressionism into hyperrealism,” to further riff on the two styles. Not surprisingly, this campaign was well-received. It was the recipient of a merit award in the Magazine/Full Page or Spread – Campaign Category at the 2014 One Show.

Y&R: Paris website
via [Reddit, PSFK, and Ads of the World]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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