25 Sports Snapshots That Bear an Uncanny Resemblance to Famous Masterpieces

Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor

Jun 25, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

You know what they say: life imitates art. Or is it the other way around? Creating art is inherent to human nature. Even people that have never taken an art class feel drawn to doodling on the edges of notebooks, idly tracing patterns on a foggy window, or admiring a masterpiece at a museum. Artists – especially visual artists – must draw inspiration from reality – from abstract shapes and colors to actual interpretations of physical objects.

However, art and the subjects that artists choose to depict – and how they do so – help shape our understanding of reality. Perhaps a sunrise is beautiful in and of itself, without having seen a painting of it. But certainly the vast catalogue of artwork from across history and the globe depicting this natural phenomenon help us file it in our brains as a thing of beauty.

Back in high school, the jocks didn't much interact with the artsy kids. However, it seems that the two subjects are deeply linked. @artbutmakeitsports's astute comparisons between sports snapshots and visual artwork only deepen this age-old debate over the relationship between life and art.

01
Suprematist Design for a Facade by Vera Ermolaeva (1920), photo by Kelsey Grant

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02
Untitled (Women Fighting) by Leonard Defrance (late 18th century), photo by Michael Conroy

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03
White Line (rotated) by Wassily Kandinsky (1920), photo by Garrett Ellwood

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04
Another Storm by Lee Krasner (1963), photo by Adam Davy

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05
The Irritating Gentleman (flipped) by Berthold Woltze (1874)

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It's interesting how adding the painting next to a candid photographs immediately adds a new narrative.
06
The Kiss of Judas by Luca Giordano (1655-75), photo by Al Bello

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07
Blue at Night (rotated) by Adolph Gottlieb (1958), photo by Mark Blinch

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08
Massacre in Boston by Jacob Lawrence (1955), photo by Brian Babineau

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09
Old Man on a Swing, Bordeaux Album II, Folio 24 (1824-28) by Francisco Goya, photo by Maddie Meyer

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10
Les Trapezistes by Jean Dufy (1929), photo by Aaron Ontiveroz

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11
Le Blanc de Blanc (1987) by Georges Mathieu, photo by Cato K.

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12
The Washing of the Feet (2004) by Ghislaine Howard, photo by Carlee Calf

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13
The Falling Man (1882) by Auguste Rodin

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14
Flag of the Isle of Man (adopted 1932)

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15
Der Gesturzte (1915-16) by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, photo by Richard Heathcote

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16
Curves and Straight Series (1948) by Alfredo Hlito

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17
The Hermit (II solitario) (1908), by John Singer Sargent

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18
Alexander the Great and the Fates (1667) by Bernardino Mei, photo by Sarah Stier

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Sports fans are right, this stuff is totally epic. All I needed was some classical artwork next to it to realize.
19
Anthropometry (1950) by Yves Klein, photo by Alex Slitz

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20
Nympeas (1897-99) by Claude Monet, photo by Sam Blum

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21
The Monk by the Sea (1808-10) by Caspar David Friedrich, photo by Jack Ellis

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22
Cain Smiting Abel with God's Expulsion of Cain from the Garden of Eden (1716) by Sebastiano and Marco Ricci

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23
Untitled (1992) by Joan Mitchell

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24
Still Life in the Studio (1889) by James Ensor

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25
Jacob Wrestling the Angel (17th century) from Italian School, photo by Minas Panagiotakis

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