Seated Bather by Dino Muradian, The little beggar by Dragos Ciutacu. Click for sources.

Pyrography (read more on Wikipedia) is the traditional art of scorching designs onto natural materials such as wood or leather. The process has been practiced by a number of cultures including the Egyptians and some African tribes since the dawn of recorded time. Pyrography is also a traditional folk art in many European countries, including Romania, Hungary, as well as countries such as Argentina in South America.

Some of the best known contemporary pyrography artists are Dino Muradian and Dragos Ciutacu, both originating from Romania. Dino Muradian has been woodburning since 1965 during his years in Romania. He left Romania in 1983 when he achieved his life-long dream to live in the U.S.A. Dragos Ciutacu lives and works in Bucharest where he learned the technique of pyrography under the expert tutelage of Dino Muradian.

They are the creators of the Remastered Bouguereaus shown above. Muradian created his version of Bouguereau’s 1884 Baigneuse Accroupie (Seated Bather, 1884), while Ciutacu used pyrography to re-create Bouguerea’s Petite mendiante (The little beggar, 1880).

Below you can compare the original Bouguereau paintings with the pyrographies. Click to visit the galleries where you will discover many more remastered versions of the original artworks.