“Unlocking the Enigma: Discover the Hidden Mysteries Behind the Mona Lisa’s Smile”
The case, however, is not definitively closed yet, and our dear smiling lady may surprise us again in the future.
Bonus Fact:
In 1964, a new avant-garde artist was introduced to the art scene in the Swedish city of Gōteborg. The fresh new artist was Pierre Brassau and his work received rave reviews from critics and art fans alike. One critic in particular, Rolf Anderberg, was so overwhelmed by Pierre’s talent that he wrote the following review about his work, which appeared in print the morning after the exhibition: “Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer.” The reviews were almost universally glowing. All but one, that is. One critic’s commentary on the new artist was short and to the point: “Only an ape could have done this.”The opinion was unpopular, despite that the pieces of art looked strikingly similar to “art” you commonly see stuck to refrigerators, produced by 2 year olds the world over.
It turns out, though, that the “ape” review more or less hit the nail on the head. Pierre Brassau was actually none other than a young West African chimpanzee named Peter who lived in the Borås djurpark zoo in Sweden. The mastermind behind the hoax was journalist Åke “Dacke” Axelsson. Axelsson worked for the Swedish tabloid Gotebors-Tidningen and came up with the idea of featuring the primate paintings in an exhibition in order to put the critics to the test- could they distinguish between the work of true, highly skilled avant-garde modern artists when compared to the work of a random chimpanzee? It turns out the answer is mostly no. Although it should be noted that we’re guessing the chimp couldn’t have painted a perfect black square. So that’s something I guess.
