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Art might imitate life, but there are some people who absolutely adore doing the opposite and decide to imitate art. In astonishing detail! One of these incredibly creative individuals is Liza Yukhnyova, an artist from Saint Petersburg in Russia, who has recreated famous paintings daily for an entire year.

She takes the high road and does things the hard, old-fashioned way, without any digital mumbo-jumbo. Liza does everything by herself, from the gorgeous and realistic costumes to the makeup and historic hairstyles.

Check out some of the artist’s latest intricate art recreations below, upvote your favorite ones, and be sure to let us know which ones you loved the most and why. If you love Liza’s recreations as much as we do, then be sure to follow her Instagram for her latest updates. And when you’re done with this list, check out Liza’s earlier feature on Bored Panda right here.

Liza told Bored Panda all about her project and how she juggled it with a full-time job and volunteering, so be sure to read on for our in-depth interview with her.

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#1

Frederick Sandys "Cassandra" (1860)

Woman recreates classical painting with intense expression and flowing hair, capturing original artwork's dramatic style.

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    #2

    Albert Lynch "A Girl In A White Bonnet" (~1918)

    Woman recreates classical painting, wearing a white bonnet and dress, showcasing impressive art and costume accuracy.

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    #3

    Frederic Bazille "Young Woman With Lowered Eyes" (1869)

    Woman recreating one classical painting per day, wearing a white top and posing with eyes closed in soft light.

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    Artist Liza revealed to Bored Panda that she was born into a family of history professors and herself studied art, so her fascination with classic paintings seems natural. Because of her background, she saw that humanity has lots and lots of creativity during different time periods and in many cultural traditions.

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    Liza told Bored Panda that she herself was surprised that she could keep the daily posts up for such a long time. "I think the reason is that I see meaning and value in it. It's a big honor to serve art. At the same time, it's a great possibility to check [the limits of] my own possibilities and discipline. And I am proud that I can do this!"

    If that weren't enough, the artist kept the project up while also working full-time and also regularly volunteering for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, as well as at a hospital charity for the homeless.

    #4

    William Holman Hunt "The Bride Of Bethlehem" (1884)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing traditional red dress, headscarf, and silver jewelry, hands crossed on chest.

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    #5

    Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky "Portrait Of A Nurse" (1910)

    Woman recreates classical painting, wearing striped dress and white headscarf, matching original portrait style and expression.

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    #6

    Firs Zhuravlev "After The Marriage" (1874)

    Woman recreating classical painting dressed in white gown and veil, holding flowers, mimicking original artwork pose.

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    Because Liza focuses on the details of each recreation, each photo takes around 3 to 4 hours to get right. And that's not even counting the time taken to find the painting in the first place! According to the artist, the research can take an even longer time to do, though that depends on a case-by-case basis.

    Bored Panda wanted to find out which of Liza's recent recreations she's proud of the most. The artist was candid that she loves them all. "Each one of the recreations contains a piece of my soul, energy, and time. In some of the paintings, you can find people whom I love and admire, in some others—my state of mind. In other still—high ideals and patterns. So it's difficult to choose one or even a few," the artist shared.

    However, Liza did add that some of the most special recreations for her include the recreations of Turkish artist Osman Hamdi Bey's 'Girl Reciting Quran,' American artist Julius Gari Melchers' 'The Bride of Brabant,' and Virginie Demont-Breton's 'Fisherman Woman Bathing Her Children.' Liza plans to continue her amazing recreations after taking a short rest. It's been a year, after all. "I still have a lot of ideas and pieces of art in my mind," she said, adding that she's thinking about other things besides recreations, too.

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    #7

    Tito Conti "A Demure Beauty" (19th Century)

    Woman recreates classical painting with detailed costume and expression, showcasing impressive artistic dedication and skill.

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    #8

    Ivan Kulikov "Wildflowers" (1913)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing floral patterned headscarf and traditional dress holding flowers and a basket.

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    #9

    Saturnino Herrán "Creole With Shawls" (1915)

    Woman recreates classical painting with floral shawl and pendant necklace, capturing original art's expression and pose.

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    For Liza, art is a true, all-encompassing passion. Earlier, she explained that she loves admiring beauty and talent, so she wanted to bring well-known paintings into people’s lives so that they can feel the same way that she does.

    What’s more, she hopes that her detailed recreations will inspire people to take a closer peek at paintings and notice all the small but important details hidden throughout. Not to mention the fact that Liza can make art seem like a lot of fun to some people who aren’t big on going to galleries and museums.

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    Originally, what inspired Liza to post her recreations was the LA-based Getty Museum challenge which we’ve written about before. In short, art lovers from all around the globe had a friendly competition to see who’d be best at recreating art masterpieces with the things they found lying around their homes.

    #10

    Francisco Laso "Santa Rosa De Lima" (1859)

    Woman recreates classical painting dressed as a nun with a floral crown beside a wooden chair and book.

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    #11

    Julio Romero De Torres "Rachel Meller" (1910)

    Woman recreates classical painting by posing with black dress and lace veil, mimicking original art details and setting.

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    #12

    Konstantin Makovsky "Tea Drinking" (1914)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing traditional dress and tall headdress while holding a cup and saucer at a table.

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    Meanwhile, the Getty challenge itself was inspired by the Dutch Instagram account Tussen Kunst en Quarantaine. So you can see what a long chain of artistic inspiration led Liza to grab the internet’s attention with her own photos.

    Two other things that have astonished us a lot are the artist’s incredible discipline and dedication to her project. At first, Liza only intended to do the daily recreations for 30 days.

    However, she’s been going strong ever since! Now that’s the kind of sustained passion that any creative would love to have, whether they’re a photographer, painter, or writer. In that time, Liza’s recreated a vast archive of art, from ancient paintings to some of the more exotic art found in regions like the Middle East and India.

    #13

    Cecilio Guzmán De Rojas "Nusta" (1936)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing traditional shawl and jewelry, showing impressive attention to detail and accuracy.

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    #14

    Vasili Pukirev "The Unequal Marriage" (1862)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing white lace dress and floral crown, capturing the detailed vintage look and pose.

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    #15

    Giuseppe Mazza "Suppression Of The Monastery" (1867)

    Woman recreates classical painting dressed as a nun, capturing details and expression in a creative art project.

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    After hearing about the Getty challenge on the internet, Liza first decided to try and push herself to go for an entire month of doing daily recreations. Back then, she wasn't sure if she'd succeed, she told Bored Panda. However, it turned out that she didn't give herself enough credit. "When the 30 days were done, I couldn't stop myself because I really wanted to show or remind other people about artists and artworks from the different epochs and cultural traditions. And I started to do it as series which reflect the ideas and personalities in art," she said.

    The entire project is a one-woman show. Liza does everything by herself, including the costumes and makeup. She styles her hair herself, uses a table lamp for lighting, and takes professional-quality photos using just her phone camera.

    She’s also very resourceful in how she uses props. The artist uses everything and anything she finds at home to make the photos come alive. With nearly 6k followers on Instagram at the time of writing and growing, we see great things for the artist in the future.

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    #16

    Jesus Helguera "Portrait Of A Girl" (1940)

    Woman recreates classical painting, holding a lace fan, wearing a pink dress and yellow flowers in her hair, posing elegantly.

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    #17

    Belmiro De Almeida "The Chatterbox" (1893)

    Woman recreates classical painting sitting with hands clasped wearing black top and white apron beside original artwork.

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    #18

    Vasily Surikov "Head Of A Glancing Nun" (~1884)

    Woman recreates classical painting, wearing black headscarf and dark clothing, closely matching original artwork’s expression.

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    #19

    Anton Ebert "Portrait Of A Young Spanish Woman" (1880)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing a red dress and lace hat, showcasing impressive art recreation skills side by side.

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    #20

    Vasily Surikov "The Head Of A Laughing Girl" (1890)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing a dark headscarf and gray shawl, matching the original artwork's pose and expression.

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    #21

    Kristian Zahrtmann "Christina In Palazzo Corsini" (1908)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing blue dress with gold lace, pearl necklace, and spoon balanced on lips.

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    #22

    James Sant "The Artist's Wife Elizabeth With Their Daughter Mary Edith" (1852)

    Woman recreates classical painting, posing with a baby doll wrapped in cloth against a green backdrop.

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    #23

    Lilla Kabot Perry "Mrs. Joseph Clark Crew" (1904)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing vintage dress and shawl, posing similarly to the original artwork in side-by-side comparison.

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    #24

    Robert Henry "Mexican Girl, Maria" (1916)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing floral headscarf and green shawl, capturing the original artwork's expression and style.

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    #25

    William Powell Frith "Alexandra, Princess Of Wales" (1867)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing a white dress, floral crown, and veil, closely matching the original artwork.

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    #26

    Jan Adam Kruseman "The Barted Bride" (1850)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing a turban and shawl, capturing the original artwork's colors and pose perfectly.

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    #27

    Conrad Kiesel "Spanish Woman" (1920)

    Woman recreating a classical painting, wearing a white dress with floral headpiece and holding flowers, posed thoughtfully.

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    #28

    Edmund Blair Leighton "Maternity" (1917)

    Woman recreates classical painting wearing a beige robe and black headscarf while holding and reading a book indoors.

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