
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Rita “Rit Kit” Zolotukhina
Great works of art are timeless, transcending the artists who created them. Think about paintings like Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Van Gogh’s Starry Night—they’re permanently embedded into our memories. Their beauty and cultural significance inspires us in our everyday lives and often in ways you might not expect. As tattoos grow increasingly popular, people are using their skin to honor art history.
From classical busts to bold cartoons, these types of tattoos run the gamut in subject matter. Some are by-the-book interpretations of an artwork while others take creative liberties. In one version of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, tattooist Rita Zolotukhina depicts it with incredible accuracy. Others, like Oozy, alter their sources. On his client’s chest, the Seoul-based tattoo artist has visually fractured some of Da Vinci’s greatest works. The result is a stunning fusion of history and modernity, all contained on the skin.
Check out 29 of these museum-worthy tattoos, below. Which ones are your favorites?

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
Tattoo: Oozy

Based on The Creation of Adam by Michaelangeo
Tattoo: Phellipe Rodrigues

Guernica by Picasso
Tattoo: Okan Uckun

Rothko
Tattoo: Jamie Luna

Mutter und Tochter by Egon Schiele
Tattoo: Tattooist Eheon

Water Serpents I by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Alexey Buzunov

Picasso (left) and Matisse (right)
Photo credit: Cristina Folsom

Jackson Pollock
Tattoo: Anton Senkov

Keith Harring
Tattoo: Megan Oliver

Starry Night by Van Gogh
Tattoo: Bob Price

Water Serpents I and II by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Amanda Wachob

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
Tattoo: Fredão Oliveira

Inspired by Cubism
Tattoo: Peter Aurisch

Egon Schiele
Tattoo: Tattooist Eheon

Kim Hong Do
Tattoo: Oozy

Mona Lisa by Da Vinci
Tattoo: Mr. K

Inspired by classical sculpture
Tattoo: Tanya De Souza-Meally

Alphonse Mucha
Tattoo: Natan Alexander

Wheatfield with Crows by Van Gogh
Tattoo: Chris Walkin

Dance by Matisse
Tattoo: Omegalfa Tattoo

Birthday by Marc Chagall
Photo credit: @alinavstrkv

Banana by Andy Warhol
Photo source: Postmodernism Ruined Me

Roy Lichtenstein
Tattoo: Deanna Wardin

Picasso
Tattoo: Olivia Harrison

Inspired by classical sculpture
Tattoo: Mr. K

Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp
Tattoo: Lucas Cordeiro

Judith and the Head of Holofernes by Gustav Klimt
Tattoo: Ville Prinsen

Da Vinci
Tattoo: Oozy
The post 29 Museum-Worthy Tattoos Inspired by Art History appeared first on My Modern Met.
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