Sims 2 Art Historical References

[strangetomato]

Is everyone here? Okay, then we're ready to start.




Good evening, fellow art enthusiasts, and welcome to the Deja View gallery.




My name is Wavey Oleander, and I am the curator.

Have you ever noticed that many of the paintings found under the decorative wall hanging objects category in the Sims 2 are based on the work of well-known artists from the non-sim world? Many off these references are quite obvious, but have you ever taken the time to examine them piece by piece?

Would you like to? Well you've come to the right place.




I've designed this tour of the gallery with these homages in mind. The game designers are surely well-versed in their art history, since they've packed the game with art historical references.

Our first, a rather obvious one, is hanging right behind me. Cantankerous Splatters has a rather cheeky name, and is obviously created in the style of Jackson Pollack.

Pollack was, of course, the first person to take abstract expressionism to the this extreme. Or, at least, he was the guy who got the credit for doing it first. Anyone can do this, but it doesn't matter, because the point was only made once. Love it or hate it, you have to give him credit for thinking of dripping paint onto a canvas and calling it a painting before you did.




Next, we have these fresh new artworks from the new FreeTime EP. Fresh, in the sense that they are new to the game, but very recycled in their appearance. Clever simmers will recognize these as being inspired by the work of Edward Hopper.

Also from FreeTime, we have "On Their Toes" by Peder Dahnet. This is undeniably a reference to the work of Edgar Degas.

This tribute was no doubt selected for this EP because of its imagery, with the new ballet elements coming into the game.

Beautiful work, if you can get past the perviness of a man whose only subject seems to be fourteen year old girls. Though, to be fair to Degas, he's hardly the only perv in the history of painting.






Next we have Lily Pads by Myo Pia. The artist's name is a reference to impressionism.

Myopia is a condition of the eye, also known as nearsightedness, which makes distant objects blurry, and Impressionism saw a breaking away from strict realism, to focus on the the overall "impression" of the scene, and how it is perceived by a human (or simulated human) viewer. Other features of their work included visible brush strokes, vibrant colour, and an emphasis on the quality of light in an image. 

Lily Pads is a very direct reference to the waterlilies of Claude Monet's work.

You can thank Monet for a legacy of dreamy, painterly tissue boxes, and paintings of nature in hotel bedrooms, but we won't hold that against him. His original work is beautiful, and very significant to the history of art.




Let's move along to something completely different: Pop art.

The Glamour Life Stuff Pack included, among other things, two very lovely, and very large, Pop art inspired paintings.

The first of these is, and it is a reference to the work of Roy Lichtenstein.

Like many pop artists, Lichtenstein was influenced by both popular media, specifically the comic book, and the conventions of advertising.




This next piece is also in the Pop art style, and  is very well known, so you just might know it already. If you mention The Surreal Life, though, I will have to slap you. It's fine to like work that has been created based on other sources, since there are very few truly original ideas left, but one should be aware of this fact. It is never acceptable to be ignorant of the original source.

But I'm digressing here. Let's return to the artwork in question.

This is, quite obviously, a take on Andy Warhol's work.

Warhol used the iconic Marilyn Monroe for his screenprint, so it was appropriate that Maxis chose to use the equally iconic sim character, Bella Goth, for this piece. When we compare their fates, it makes the work resonate with meaning.





This next piece is easy to recognize. It matches it's source material very well.

This is obviously in reference to the work of Gustav Klimt.





This one may be a little trickier.

It sucks you into its bold colour, doesn't it?

One of the key purpose of colour field paintings is to engulf you in the sensation, so this is really the only way to give you the full effect. It's better in person.





Surely, everyone knows this last one.

It's the ever-popular, Vincent Van Gough.

There are others, but perhaps we should save them for another time.




Don't even get me started on conceptual art.

When dealing with such things, it's best to retain your sense of whimsy. Do NOT, under any circumstances, attempt to use this toilet.

This piece is quite possibly a heavy-handed take on Marcel Duchamp's Fountain.

There is no doubt that, without him, we'd never even conceive of using a toilet as fine art under any circumstance.




We have to give Jeff Koons the credit for the idea to place this object in a glass tank, though.

For me, this is a very successful piece of conceptual art. It really hits on something essential about The Sims 2, since we all know how sims love to find the most inconvenient toilet in any location. This artwork serves to portray the very essence of being a sim. The frustration of this piece really speaks to the condition of being a simulated person, under the influence of imperfect AI.

Thank you for your attention during this tour. Next time, we can get started on the Cezanne and the Picasso. Oh yes, they are in there.

Look closely.

 

 

 

Comments

[hidden-kitten.livejournal.com]

The flaming toilet will always hold a special place in my heart.

[fantasyrogue.livejournal.com]

I was aware of most of these (although I missed the colour one) but this was really nice and informative :) I do feel I have to point out though, nitpicky (and dutch) as I am, it's Van Gogh, no u. :P

[simtopi]

Ahhh brilliant! I was actually setting up a building the past few nights and trying to figure out artwork to put on the walls when I actually noticed some of the names of the artists. I already knew the influences of those paintings but never read the blurbs until then. It was awesome!

I never knew about Jeffrey Koons though. I personally love conceptual art. It makes a lot of people angry though, not sure why. ;)

[budgie-budgie.livejournal.com]

What a fun idea :D. Thank you Ms Oleander, it was very informative ;)

[lafemmedulac.livejournal.com]

I've always chuckled to myself at all the paintings in the Sims that Maxis have slipped in. I'm glad someone else has too :)

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I actually didn't know about a lot of these, but they seem so obvious when you point them out! I did know the Andy Warhol one, though. :P

Very cool. Thanks for the tour!

(Didn't realise that the other post was a link, at first. Moving the comment here. :P)

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Edward Hopper! Finally! I was looking for this name in my head for so long but I didn't know any names of his paintings nor I have a book with his works at home so I couldn't find it. Thank you thank you thank you! He's like the best. I planed to post more paintings references this week on my site, I hope I'll be able to do so. They're so much fun. :) Thanks again!

[lolawastamed.livejournal.com]

I loved this! If there are more Sims 2 art history/references you'll be doing, I'm definitely interested. This is cool.

[a-gates.livejournal.com]

AWESOME ! ^_^