American Gothic, Grant Wood. 1930. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat. 1884-86. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci. Late 15th-century. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
The Scream, Edvard Munch. 1893. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
The Night Cafe, Vincent van Gogh. 1888. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Nighthawks, Edward Hopper. 1942. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 1879. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman), David Hockney. 1968. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Untitled, Keith Haring. 1987. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
The Kiss, Gustav Klimt. 1907-08. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Gold Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol. 1962. Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci. 1503-06. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Son of Man, René Magritte. 1964. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul. 
Dance, Henri Matisse. 1910. Courtesy Jeff Roy and Drake Paul.
OAKLAND – Two Chicago-area natives put their photoshop skills and advertising backgrounds to good use by recreating priceless works of art with a lonely twist.
Jeff Roy, 29, from Lincoln Park, and Drake Paul, 30, from Northbrook, were seeing the effects of COVID-19 as it hit the Bay Area at the beginning of March and it sparked an idea.
As the longtime friends and work colleagues began to work from home, Paul starting doing research into the long-term projections of the outbreak and social distancing.
“I came across Edward Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’ painting, which is in the Art Institute, and wondered what that would look like if it was more isolated,” Roy said.
Roy then told his work friend, Paul, about making “Nighthawks” and other famous pieces of art a little more isolated. Paul quickly came up with the tag “Stay home. Save lives.” and the campaign was launched.
Everything was done in photoshop,” Roy said. “Clonestamp tool was my best friend during the whole process.”
Some took Roy a half hour and others took four hours; like arguably one of the best pieces, the recreation of The Last Supper.
After Roy finished more, like placing Mr. and Mrs. in American Gothic inside, Paul created the website The Art Of Quarantine to showcase the recreations.
The collection recently caught the attention of the Art Institute, who recently featured it online.
Buying prints for large framing normally would cost a decent amount of money, but not for this project. Instead, Paul and Roy will send you high-resolution images for free, but ask that you make a donation or support a local business instead during these tough times.
“It doesn’t feel right to charge for any of this stuff,” Roy said. “We thought instead of charging, it could go to a local business.”
The two friends are grateful for their advertising studio being so supportive of the project and hope for the best in Chicago.
“We just hope everyone keeps staying at home to save lives,” Roy and Paul said.
To view the recreations or get a print emailed to you click here.
