25 Sports Images That Accidentally Recreated Famous Works of Art

There is an old, tired saying that goes something like, "Art reflects life." However, sometimes the opposite is true as well. Sometimes life has a way of reflecting art back at us, even in the most unexpected of places. Sports, for example, might seem like the total opposite of fine art; they are messy, chaotic, and filled with raw energy. Yet, when frozen on the right frame, the movement, symmetry, and emotion of athletes in action can look weirdly similar to the brushstrokes of history's greatest painters.

Think about it: the contorted body of a tennis player mid-serve could easily echo a Renaissance fresco. A perfectly-timed basketball dunk has the same drama and grandeur of a Baroque masterpiece. Even the chaos of a soccer field can have the same visual and energetic rhythm as a piece of abstract art. Intentional or not, these side-by-side pictures and paintings remind us that art isn't just for galleries and museums; art is alive all around us, even on the field, the court, or the track.

Back in high schooles, athletes and art kids might not have run in the same circles, but it turns out they were connected all along. These 25 sports snapshots pove that that the world of competition and the world of creativity aren't so different after all.

01
Saint George and the Dragon by Bernat Martorell (1434-35), photo by Micharl Dawson

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
02
The Uncertainty of the Poet by Giorgio de Chirico (1913)

via @artbutmakeitsports
03
Le Disque Blanc by Frantisek Kupka (1950), photo by Adam Hagy

via @artbutmakeitsports
04
Cupid and Psyche by Benjamin West (1808)

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
05
Synchromy in Blue by Stanton Macdonald-Wright (1916), photo via @643studio

via @artbutmakeitsports
06
The Visit by Marie Laurencin (1916)

via @artbutmakeitsports
07
Howling Wolf (Waterdog) (500-200 BCE), photo by Nick Ieradi

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
08
The Flight of Moloch by William Blake (1815)

via @artbutmakeitsports
09
David Slays Goliath by Gustave Dore (1866), photo by Rich Lam

via @artbutmakeitsports
10
View of Lyse Abbey near Bergen by Johan Dahl (1826)

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
11
La reproduction interdite by Rene Magritte (1937), photo via Bleacher Report

via @artbutmakeitsports
12
D'Apres Personnage de theatre by Aleksandra Ekster (early 20th century), photo by Antoine Couvercelle

via @artbutmakeitsports
13
The Circus (flipped) by Charles Demuth (1917), photo by Junfu Han

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
14
Men and Machine by Stuart Davis (1934), photo by Nick Ieradi

via @artbutmakeitsports
15
The Falling Angel by Marc Chagall (1923-47), photo by Nathan Ray Seebeck

via @artbutmakeitsports
16
The Fall of Icarus (rotated) by Merry-Joseph Blondel (1819), photo by Luiza Moraes

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
17
Mephisto by Joaquin Espalter y Rull (1872), photo by Stu Forster

via @artbutmakeitsports
18
The Massacre of the Innocents by Francois Joseph Navez (1824), photo by Lindsey Wasson

via @artbutmakeitsports
19
The Monkey Prince Angada delivers Rama's message to Ravana by Manaku (1725), photo by Steph Anderson Chambers

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
20
Saul and the Witch of Endor by William Sidney Mount (1828), photo by Eakin Howard

via @artbutmakeitsports
21
Saint George and the Dragon by Jacopo Tintoretto (1555), photo by Scott Bowers

via @artbutmakeitsports
22
La robe ensanglantee de Joseph apportee a Jacob by Francois-Joseph Heim (1817), photo by Miguel Medina

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
23
The Expulsion of the Money-Changers by Master of the Kress Epiphany (15th century), photo by Andy Buchanan

via @artbutmakeitsports
24
Descent into H*** by Duccio (1308-11), photo by Noe Llamas

via @artbutmakeitsports
25
First part of the prose novel Lancelot du Lac (14th century), photo by Charly Lopez

via @artbutmakeitsports
Advertisement
26
The Swan No. 24 Group IX by Hilma af Klint (1914), photo by @artbutmakeitsports

via @artbutmakeitsports
27
Anxious Red Painting Sep 24th by Rashid Johnson (2020), photo by Steph Anderson Chambers

via @artbutmakeitsports
28
Untitled (rotated) by Perle Fine (1959), photo by Jeff Haynes

via @artbutmakeitsports