HOW BANKSY SAVED ART HISTORY (HB)

Through the dark satirical lens of Banksy’s mischievous reimagined masterpieces, art history is viewed afresh and brought into unexpected focus. From his droll lampooning of the Lascaux cave paintings to his reinvention of Monet’s enchanting water-lily pond, a reboot of Gericault’s tragic gut-wrenching vision to Vermeer's girl now instilled with street cred, everyone’s genius is grist for his spray-paint mill. Far from being diminished, the works that Banksy parodies are refurbished. Banksy’s iconoclastic works force us to rethink our affection for, and appreciation of, great works of art that define cultural history.