This article was originally published on The Iris

Every weekday morning, Eliza Reinhardt and her creative partner, Finn, start their day at 7am by getting up, brewing a cup of coffee, and snuggling while they browse online galleries to find a work of art to re-create as part of the Getty Museum Challenge. After choosing a painting, Reinhardt finds the costumes and props they’ll need to bring it to life, sets up the shot in the loft in her apartment that serves as her art studio, and gets Finn dressed in his costume and in place for the photo shoot.

Finn is a three-year-old Australian shepherd, but he follows direction as carefully as an actor on a film set. “I really do think Finn takes this on as his daily task,” Reinhardt said. “I say, ‘Finn, do you want to do a photo? You want to go take a picture?’ And he’s ready to go.”

This article was originally published on The Iris

As COVID-19 closed in on the United Kingdom in mid-March, opera singer and BBC broadcaster Peter Brathwaite was abruptly left with time he didn’t want: all of his upcoming performances were canceled until August. He kept busy practicing and researching for future shows, but was still “twiddling his thumbs a bit.” But then he came across the Getty Museum Challenge—an invitation to recreate a famous work of art using props from around your home; a fellow opera singer had posted a photo on Twitter of herself as Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. Braithwaite thought, what can I recreate?

While browsing for images, he found A Black Servant, England, an 18^th-century painting by an unknown artist. “I’ve got some clothes that are that color,” he thought, “and I could take the photo in my window.” Substituting a stuffed sheep for the dog, he faithfully emulated the rest of the painting, from the draped green curtain to the smile on the subject’s face.