The definition of artwork has changed drastically since its conception. With each new art movement, new characteristics become imbued into what is collectively considered art. One of the most famous paintings today is Leonardo di Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, which revolutionized portrait painting during the Italian Renaissance in several ways such as the technique of sfumato and the presence of a fictional landscape in the background. Several centuries later during the movement of Dadaism, another artist again altered what people considered art with his use of ready-made pieces; Marcel Duchamp. With the belief that it was an artist’s decision to call something art that would make it so, he created “L.H.O.O.Q.”, a postcard reproduction of “Mona Lisa” with the addition of a mustache and goatee. While di Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and Duchamp’s “L.H.O.O.Q.” are almost identical in appearance, they differ greatly in intention such that “Mona Lisa” was a portrait that showcased new techniques while “L.H.O.O.Q.” was a parody meant to repose the question of what art is.
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