In a new series of ads shot by British photographer Tim Cole, affordable furniture giant Ikea has turned to some of the world’s best-loved artists to extol the virtues of communal eating. Indeed, what captures the fun of al fresco dining better than Jean-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). Cole’s take on the popular painting, held in the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C, exudes all the freshness and energy of the original─and virtually every item on display can be bought flat-packed.
But Cole and his team haven’t solely gone for light-hearted fun. Vincent Van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters (1885), which depicts the grim reality of an impoverished Dutch peasant family, also made the cut. Cole’s models also don’t exactly look cheerful, but the scene has been transposed to a comfortable-looking interior (thank you Ikea) and potatoes swapped for coffee and chocolate cake. Edward Hopper’s quintessentially American painting The Nighthawks (1942) finds a new life in London, the iconic late-night dinner turned into a fancy-looking fish and chips shop.
“We wanted to celebrate every meal as a special occasion and the original paintings, despite all having different meanings and styles, all capture this perfectly,” commented an Ikea spokesperson quoted on The Brushstroke. “To do this, we re-imagined the paintings as photographs to help make them resonate with a modern audience. These pictures pay tribute to the power of the original iconic paintings which convey a sense of solidarity that comes from sharing mealtimes together.”
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