American artist Melinda Copper [website, shop] has been drawing and painting since childhood, almost always animals. ‘It was a toss-up between biology and art, but this way I don’t have to pick and choose, I can paint everybody, even the plants!‘ In her Animal Masterpiece series, dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals feature in various classic paintings, taking over the characters of the original artworks.

Shown above is one of them. It’s called Mewsings and is a remastered version of Bouguereau’s Le Travail Interrompu (Work Interrupted, 1891). Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find no less than twenty contemporary variations on the original painting. Click the second to visit Melinda Copper’s page on Fine Art America.

This image was created by a student in Vietnam, publishing under the name VNC-Children on DeviantArt. Unlike most (photoshopped) Remastered Bouguereaus here, this work was created using the traditional gouache technique, as the final project for a watercolor class.

The inspiration was Bouguereau’s Les Noisettes (The Nut Gatherers, 1882). Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find twenty more contemporary variations. Click the second to view the remastered version on DeviantArt.

Detail of Givenchy in ‘Le Crépuscule’ by Achraf Amiri. Click for full image (1000×1456)

Director/illustrator Achraf Amiri (born in Brussels in 1988, working in London) calls himself “the hidden son of the Addams Family”. Among his vast range of works is a series of spoofs of classic works of art (entitled FASHION WEEK AT THE MUSEUM), including Bouguereau’s Humeur Nocturne (Evening Mood, 1882). View the full series here (text is in Flemish) or here.

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find over 50 remastered versions of Bouguereau’s original painting. Click the second to view Givenchy in ‘Le Crépuscule’ on Achraf Amiri’s website.

The magnificent painting L’Amour et Psyché was painted by William Bouguereau in 1899 and had its last public showing at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. Since then it had been in private hands for more than a century until it was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York in 2010 for a sum in excess of 2 million dollars.

Shown above is the first and only remastered version of the painting here on this site. It features Cupid and Psyché against the backdrop of a modern city (Frankfurt in this case). The image was assembled by Flickr member FM Era (no further details given), while the background photo was made by D Petzold Photography.

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the associated gallery on this site, click the second to view Urban Angels On Flickr.

This Remastered Bouguereau is the creation of young German digital artist and freelance illustrator Kristina Gehrmann, who specializes in story illustrations and character concepts in a realistic style, using Photoshop and a tablet. She studied three years at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence and is currently studying illustration at the Akademie Leonardo in Hamburg. She publishes her work on her website and on DeviantArt.

Kristina’s version of Bouguereau’s Fardeau Agreable (“pleasant burden”) is based on the master’s 1895 work of the same name. Her comment on this variation:

“Even if Tintin and his adventures sometimes are a burden to Captain Haddock – all he wants is quiet and peace at home at Marlinspike Hall! – it is a pleasant burden he would never give up, no matter how much danger and hardship they have to endure together. That’s why this is the most epic (b)romance ever.”

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find a dozen contemporary variations on Bouguereau’s original painting. Click the second to view Fardeau agreable by Kristina Gehrmann on DeviantArt.

Born 15 April 1990, British actress and model Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies) turned 32 on that date in 2012. Shown above is Emma taking center stage in a remastered version of Bouguereau’s 1900 painting Avant le bain (Before the Bath). It was created by digital artist TonyStevens, for a Modern Renaissance contest on Worth1000, and finished in 10th place.

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find a dozen more contemporary versions of the original painting. Click the second to view Emma Watson on Worth1000.

This Easter Bunny was the winner of the third prize in the Easter 2012 photoshop pictures contest on FreakingNews. It was created by Australian digital artist Wiz, who used Bouguereau’s 1892 painting Le Guêpier (The Wasp’s Nest) to create this Playboy cover.

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find nearly twenty other variations on the original painting. Click the second to view Easter Bunny on FreakingNews. The third image shows another fake Playboy cover here on Bouguereau Remastered. Click to visit the associated gallery.

Each year, photoshop site FreakingNews challenges digital artists to celebrate Earth Hour (which in 2012 fell on March 31) by adding a night theme to famous paintings and movie posters. Shown above is a sublime Remastered Bouguereau, submitted by AZRainman for the 2012 edition of the contest. The work is based on Bouguereau’s 1880 painting Petite mendiante (The little beggar), and won first prize in the contest.

Below you can compare the two versions. Click the first to visit the gallery where you will find several more contemporary variations. Click the second to view Night Light on FreakingNews.

Two years earlier, AZRainman won second prize in a similar contest. Below are the original and remastered versions of Bouguereau’s Avant le bain (Before the Bath, 1900). Click to view them in detail.

What do you get if you ask Photoshop artists to turn Bouguereau into the King of 20th Century Rock & Roll? Here’s the answer. Click any image to open a gallery where you can find more remastered versions of the same painting.

In March 2012, the Muppets finally got the honor they deserve: A Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame. They didn’t have to wait that long to get another honor: a portrait in true Bouguereau style.

Shown above is a detail of Le Ravissement de Sesame by ThreeProngs, which won the first prize in a Muppets photoshop contest on Worth1000, in 2008. Below are four Muppet-related Remastered Bouguereaus. Click them to visit the galleries where you will find many more contemporary versions of the underlying Bouguereau paintings.