Since the boom in meme culture, art history has had something of a renaissance on the net. Accounts such as Classical Art Memes, Art-Lexa Chung and Call Me by Monet have ushered art history into the mainstream, marshalling a whole new internet fan base for the type of art more commonly relegated to fusty old museum halls. @billetdoux.jpg is the latest Instagram account to pique our interest by splicing pop culture with high art, resulting in a bright and colourful feed that is as much entertaining as it is aesthetically pleasing. Like all good art meme accounts, @billetdoux.jpg has a catchy premise: classic paintings such as, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s At the Moulin Rouge, or Klimt’s Adele, are Photoshopped to include celebrities and pop cultural icons like Kiernan Shipka, January Jones, Sissy Spacek, and most significantly, Disney star and feminist spokesperson, Rowan Blanchard.
@billetdoux.jpg is the brainchild of L.J.Matine — a Los Angeles-based student — and began as a “personal project” a little over three years ago. “I started this account because I have a genuine interest in art history, so searching for paintings and using them in my work became a way for me to learn more about art”, L.J. tells SLEEK. Certainly, @billetdoux.jpg is an enchanting catalogue for any lover of brilliant, luminescent painting — L.J. has an eye for highly saturated and richly textured scenes, take for example, Daybreak by American neo-classicist Maxfield Parrish, which sees a romantic Blanchard poised against an incandescent, mountainous dreamscape. It goes without saying that in works such as this, old art gets a charming new lease of life.
And why Blanchard? “At the time that I started editing, Rowan was becoming a vocal supporter of feminism, which I really admired. Seeing her be so outspoken about social and political issues has been really inspiring for me”, reveals L.J. about her fangirl obsession. “Rowan and I are around the same age, and seeing how much she has grown over the years makes me feel like I’ve grown up with her to some degree.” Since then, L.J has expanded her repertoire to include other celebrities such as Zendaya and Elle Fanning, and the whole thing is the perfect treat for some much needed #followfriday escapism.