Ever fancied yourself a surrealist masterpiece or a priceless Golden Age oil painting? Have you ever thought the contours of your face lend themselves particularly well to the brushstrokes of Dutch post-impressionist master Vincent Van Gogh? Well you’re in luck because now you can place yourself within some of the most famous artworks in history thanks to the new Google Arts and Culture (GAC) selfie filter.
The GAC app features famous art from Frida Kahlo, Johannes Vermeer, and Van Gogh, among others, and transposes aspects of their works directly onto the user’s face in selfies or videos, almost transforming them into the work itself.
Works include Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, a Kahlo self-portrait, and an ancient Egyptian necklace owned by the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. The app also provides information about each piece as it’s selected: “Vermeer was a master of ‘chiarosuco’, the creation of contrast between lightness and darkness”, the caption under Pearl Earring says and, according to the app, the spider monkey found in the Kahlo portrait is said to symbolise passion.
Try the filter for yourself here.
