An Instagram account that matches art masterpieces with sports photographs has gone viral. L.J. Rader, who works at a sports data company, launched social media account @ArtButMakeItSports a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. His genius picture pairings reference current and recent sporting championships, such as the Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 tournament in London this summer. In this case, Robert Fowler’s Dance of Salome (1885) has been paired with an image of the England footballer Alessia Russo scoring her backheeled wonder goal against Sweden, while Sebastiano Ricci’s Neptune and Amphitrite (1691-94) is shown alongside Russo’s teammate Chloe Kelly waving her shirt in celebration. Rader recently told USA Today that he has many of the art images already on his phone, taken during trips to museums. Then, when something “happens in sports”, he says, “I’ll see it and I’ll know what it’s going to be [paired with]”. Sounds like a winning combination.
Diaryblog
Instagram account pairing art and sport is a winner
1 September 2022
Striking a pose: for his Art But Make It Sports Instagram account, L.J. Rader paired Robert Fowler’s Dance of Salome (1885) with an image of the England football player Alessia Russo’s stunning backheeled goal against Sweden in the Women’s Euros semi-final earlier this year
Robert Fowler; Dance of Salome; 1885; Photo: © BarclaysWSL. credit: @artbutmakeitsports