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Purchase Classical Works of Art, As Dreamt by a Young Steve Jobs
Posted by John Herrman at 9:48 AM on September 6, 2008
Regulars might remember Adam's similar Photoshop contest a few weeks ago, but these amazing oil-on-canvas paintings were lovingly adorned with Macintosh SEs for a Sweden-only ad campaign all the way back in 1987. Erik Saxen produced these original works (inspired by a number of famous artists) for Apple's marketing, but is now seeking a (weird) collector to take them off his hands.
Sure, they're masterfully painted, but more interestingly come from a time when Apple, a more innocent underdog, could portray their products as fine art without coming off as arrogant. I'm not saying that this campaign wasn't at least partially born of hubris, but the effect - especially this many years later - is more strange and hilarious than anything else. Details and a full gallery are available here. [MyOldMac via Cult of Mac]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
takashimiike 7
Posted 11:17 AM 6/9/08
Whoa that Painting with the parrots is pretty trippy.
takashimiike 7
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 11:04 AM 6/9/08
'Chagall' freaks me out. Almost as bad as that tapeworm pillow thing.
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Ken_Darrow
Posted 10:59 AM 6/9/08
Wow, thats amazing pieces of work.
Ken_Darrow
Xavoc
Posted 10:52 AM 6/9/08
Seriously though, why is the Mac so much more well rendered than the painting?
Xavoc
Xavoc
Posted 10:51 AM 6/9/08
Even back in the mid 80's before it was PC...Apple was supporting mixed race couples! They truly are progressive and visionary. =)
Xavoc
Nykwil
Posted 12:13 PM 6/9/08
Music teacher is so totally putting the moves on "student"
Nykwil
Nykwil
Posted 12:12 PM 6/9/08
Cello there! whats doth thou haveth that gwivereth between thine thighs?
Nykwil
chizelord
Posted 12:12 PM 6/9/08
@takashimiike 7: I agree.
I really want to buy a nice pipe now and sit in my victorian themed room in my house and use my mac...im a visionary...
chizelord
k2001
Posted 1:01 PM 6/9/08
Steve Jobs has the hot for Mozart.
Steve and Mozart sitting in a tree....................................................................................
k2001
The Magnificen7
Posted 1:09 PM 6/9/08
@k2001: S-E-L-L-I-N-G. First came Mac, then came iPod, here comes iPhone in a new, shiny black!
The Magnificen7
strider_mt2k
Posted 1:23 PM 6/9/08
Gagsome shillery.
strider_mt2k
mrtallbones
Posted 1:55 PM 6/9/08
@Xavoc: Since the rest of the picture is slightly fuzzy due to the method of painting, your eye moves to the mac because it's more in focus than everything else in the picture.
mrtallbones
Con Seannery
Posted 2:48 PM 6/9/08
Photoshopped.
Con Seannery
darthuv
Posted 2:45 PM 6/9/08
The painting were cool, but did anyone checkout the rest of the site? They have an auction section for old Commodore stuff too. (Oh, the memories)
darthuv
--Tito--
Posted 6:53 PM 6/9/08
@Con Seannery: Duuurrrr.. . .
Hmmm, if only the computer looked like it was painted on there. It needs brush marks and a bit of blur.
--Tito--
ViperBorg
Posted 12:31 AM 7/9/08
Wrong on so many levels...
ViperBorg
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 12:49 AM 7/9/08
where is her right hand?
BiZarRroBALlmeR
SneakerFiend
Posted 12:44 AM 7/9/08
It would've been funny if they had the pic with the person looking shocked {-not an art expert so idk the name-) with an iphone in his hand horizontally.
The only thing this would be good for would be to use as target practice. Who can get the most paint balls on the screen. Or something of the sort. Maybe even real bullets
SneakerFiend
theboyfrombrasil
Posted 3:50 AM 7/9/08
creepy
theboyfrombrasil
shenanigans
Posted 7:31 AM 7/9/08
Jobs with the music student: Bow chicka wow wow.
shenanigans
nubbinator
Posted 7:22 AM 7/9/08
FSM almighty, we used to use computers with screens that small? I had (happily) forgotten
nubbinator
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 8:04 AM 7/9/08
@BiZarRroBALlmeR: Wouldn't you like to know.
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 8:04 AM 7/9/08
@Con Seannery: No!
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
TBM-Fan
Posted 10:43 AM 7/9/08
I sure like the painting
and not cause steve jobs or an apple on it
it is a very high detail painting and if i could paint like that i paint BSOD in nice proper location (BSOD in the Apple Store)
TBM-Fan
SaiNekopan
Posted 9:10 PM 6/9/08
A few small corrections: First of all, Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple in 1985, so he could have had no involvement with this marketing campaign. Even if he had been at Apple at that time, and had bothered with a campaign in distant Sweden, it is doubtful that Steve would have accepted a campaign with this "retro-look". While Steve and Apple to some extent always has promoted the concept of "modern renaissance man", moving the thinking of the renaissance forward to the 20th Century seems to me completely contrary to moving a Macintosh back into time and used in outmoded ways of life... And regarding the comment this seems "Photoshopped", please remember that neither PhotoShop nor it predecessor ImagePro existed at that time. PhotoShop 1.0 was introduced in 1990, and before that (and for quite some time after that), most people still worked with scissors and glue when creating montages. - kjell k
SaiNekopan