Mineheart is here to inject a bit of artistic fun into our customers’ lives. We love beautiful things - and amusing things - so for us the perfect wall art combines the two.
That’s certainly the focus of our new range of framed art. Called the ‘Tongue Collection’, it follows in the footsteps of our much loved pencil and bubblegum series. The approach is something that we’ve labelled Modernaissance.
Designer Kirin Young has taken some original fine art paintings and given them a cheeky twist, with each painting’s subject rudely poking their tongue out at the viewer. Let’s take a look at them…
MAN WITH TONGUE OUT 1
Surely this picture can’t fail to make you smile. This fine example of parody wall art is unlikely to be how 17th century Dutch artist Michiel Jansz van Miereveld envisioned this oil painting turning out!
The original painting is on display in the National Portrait Gallery. The subject is Sir John Borlase (1576-1648), General of the Ordnance and Governor of Ireland.
Graphic Artist Kirin Young has had some fun with this portrait for the benefit of Mineheart customers. Kirin is one of our more prominent exponents of tongue in cheek art - but this time the tongue is cheekily on show.
What we love is the sombre and seriousness of the painting being totally derailed by that naughty tongue-poke.
LADY WITH TONGUE OUT 1
Our second piece of art in the Tongue Collection is this wonderful Elizabethan image. What’s not to love about that amazing ruff and lacy sleeves!
This is also a parody of a Michiel Jansz van Miereveld work, the original being simply entitled ‘Portrait of a Lady’. Painted in 1625, the artwork is now on display at the Musee de Beaux Arts in Lyon.
We like to think that she looks a little more comfortable and a lot more expressive in the Mineheart version!
LADY WITH TONGUE OUT 2
Our third and final piece of canvas art is this striking edition. In a similar vein, this image shows an older woman sitting for her portrait. We love how her expression is completely changed by the appearance of that cheeky tongue.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Kirin Young is a graphic designer and artist based in Bangkok, Thailand. Kirin works on lots of projects with Mineheart and is one of our most loved partners. He gets his inspiration from his extensive travels and exploring different cultures, experiences and art.
In his work, Kirin blends his photography skills with fine art, considering lighting, angles and shadows plus careful photo editing to create a believable and fun image.
When asked about what he loves best about his job, he says: “Working on jobs that are never the same, seeing and collecting new ideas and inspiring thoughts from working with a variety of personalities. The feeling when the job is done is the best feeling in the world, a sense of satisfaction and pride. Getting to be creative, it makes me happy to be able to make art.”
BUYING MINEHEART WALL ART
You might be wondering whether our Modernaissance art would suit your home or interiors project - and we can reassure you with a resounding yes!
While it’s pretty obvious that this kind of parody art looks great in an older home - Georgian, Victorian and beyond - it equally makes a great statement in a newer home or office. Just take a look at our Instagram account to see lots of examples from happy customers who have made a real artistic statement with some of our wall canvases and prints.
If you’re interested in having a piece of our Tongue Collection in your home, it’s easy to order online.
Each piece is a matt canvas placed in a wooden black box frame. Four sizes are available, each with a depth of 3.2 cm:
- Mini size: 50.8 x 40.6 cm
- Small size: 81.3 x 66.0 cm
- Medium size:127.0 x 101.6 cm
- Large size: 172.7 cm x 137.2 cm
Prices start at £104. The designs can be shipped anywhere in the world.
WHO WAS MICHIEL VAN MIEREVELT?
Van Mierevelt was a Dutch artist from Delft. The son of a goldsmith, he was apprenticed to a copperplate engraver. He subsequently became a pupil of Willem Willemz and Augusteyn of Delft, until Anthonie van Montfoort, who had seen and admired two of Mierevelt's early engravings, invited him to enter his school at Utrecht.
He registered as a member of the Guild of St. Luke in The Hague in 1625. Devoting himself first to still lifes, he eventually took up portraiture, in which he achieved such success that he was unable to manage all the commissions entrusted to him. To deal with this he employed many assistants, so that hundreds of portraits could be turned out almost in factory fashion.
Today more than 500 paintings have been attributed to Van Mierevelt. The works that are certified to be his own work are thought to be remarkable for their sincerity and colour, but comparatively few of the two thousand or more portraits that bear his name are completely his own handiwork.
So great was Van Mierevelt’s reputation that he was selected by royalty in many countries and as a result he acquired great wealth. The king of Sweden and the count palatine of Neuburg presented him with golden chains; Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, at whose court he lived in Delft, gave him a pension; and Charles I famously requested him to visit the English court - which he declined.
Though Mierevelt is chiefly known as a portrait painter, he also executed some mythological artworks. Many of Van Mierevelt’s works are on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
