STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WHTM) – To fans, sports is an art.
It’s an art to choose the best game-day outfit and to lay out the perfect big game food spread. There’s nothing more picturesque than your TV screen filling with a celebration from your favorite player after scoring the game-winning touchdown. It’s all an art.
There are also photographic moments from sporting events that look just like art as if they could be hung in the Louvre or The Met.
An account on X has leaned into this philosophy and has been posting side-by-side photos of famous works of art, typically paintings, and sports moments. The resemblance of some of these iconic sports moments to the art is uncanny, whether because of the poses of the subjects or the colors of the scenes.
Drawing inspiration from @ArtButSports on X, here are some moments from Penn State athletics that resemble iconic works of art:
First up, the Nittany Lion
The Nittany Lion is a bit more intimidating than Jean Metzinger’s seemingly docile house cat in ‘Chat a la balle’.
Two different sports with similar premises. On the left, Penn State’s Carter Starocci battles for an NCAA wrestling championship. On the right, two Minoan boys are shown participating in an ancient boxing match.
True love. On the left, Penn State player Austin Johnson embraces the Dan Rooney Trophy and on the right, Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Kiss III’ shows a couple sharing a kiss.
On the left, Penn State’s Chop Robinson is in the middle of a celebration with two teammates during a game against Rutgers. On the right, artist Philippe de Champaigne has created a full profile in one image of Cardinal de Richelieu, a bishop in France, in ‘Triple Portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu’.
Emotions can get high in sports and art is great for immortalizing those feelings. On the left, Penn State Head Coach James Franklin reacts to something during a game against rivals Michigan. On the right, this fragment from a larger work found in an ancient Italian city shares a similar expression to Franklin.
These outstretched arms have vastly different implications and meanings, but they share similar shapes in the placement of arms. On the left, Penn State men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Rhoades reacts to a call during a game against Ohio State. On the right is a photo of the iconic ‘Christ the Redeemer’ statue in Rio de Janeiro.
These subjects share similar hand placement, but one person is preparing for a football game and the other is depicting a much more serious event. On the left, Penn State’s Theo Johnson prepares to catch a ball while warming up for a game. On the right, a subject is pictured during the stoning of Saint Stephen, who is known as the first martyr of Christianity.
A couple of serious conversations. On the left, Rhoades coaches Ace Baldwin Jr. On the right, the Virgin Mary is depicted meeting with her cousin.
On the left, Beaver Stadium is covered in blue and white stripes for a home game against Michigan. On the right, artist Yves Klein utilizes the color blue and the whiteness of the blank space in ‘Yves Klein, des cris bleus’.
In the middle of a circle. On the left, Antonio Shelton runs in the middle of a Penn State huddle ahead of a Penn State game. On the right, a worker walks by the piece ‘Untitled (Circle)’ by David Annesley.
