Arthur Gugick, 1960-2019

Hi all, I know this blog has been dormant for a long time, but I just saw a notice on Facebook that Arthur Gugick died in a car crash a few days ago. Arthur was a father and math teacher and, the reason I'm noting him here, an AFOL. You may remember him primarily for microscale recreations of world architectural landmarks, also amazing mosaics, along with other MOCs that you can see in his Flickr stream. I've featured his work here on multiple occasions as he has made several mosaics based on famous artworks. Indeed his last posted MOC was also a mosaic, an experiment in tiling patterns that to me comes out looking like a quilt, which as a form of folk art has a proper home here in this blog.

Nerdly with a Doughnut Earring

Last fall Tommy Williamson hosted a Nerdvember contest, challenging builders to recreate his blog's mascot Nerdly (a red 2x2 LEGO brick wearing thick glasses). Kosbrick came up with Nerdly with a Doughnut Earring, a parody of the Vermeer portrait.

Woman with a Parasol

Monet painted his wife Camille and their son Jean out for a stroll in 1875. The original is found in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. This LEGO version by Katie Prill was on display at Bricks Cascade earlier this year.

Venus de Milo

The Venus de Milo is a Greek sculpture, presumably of Aphrodite, dating to between 100 and 130 BC. It was discovered on the island of Milos and now resides in the Louvre. As a very famous piece, she's been depicted in LEGO form many times, including these:

Dirk VH


Brian Kescenovitz


Constant Concepts


Nathan Sawaya

Louvre

21024 - The Louvre is an official set released in the Architecture line of microscale landmarks. The Louvre, of course, is one of the most famous art museums in the world. It was originally a palace of the royal family of France, but now houses such famous artworks as the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory.

Yoko Ono

Most of us think of Yoko Ono in terms of her connection to John Lennon, but he is an artist in her own right (I believe they met at one of her exhibitions, but I'm basing that on a TV biopic of their life so might be wrong). She had a show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this summer, and was celebrated in LEGO form by Veronica Watson (previously blogged here) along with her piece Apple, a real apple which ripens and then decays over the course of the exhibit.

Welcome to Gaza

Earlier this year, Banksy went to Gaza, creating a series of works highlighting destruction and the lives of the Palestinians, including this kitten recreated in LEGO by TheBrickAvenger

Picasso does Geisha

Let's finish up our little Picasso retrospective with some humor with Graham Minchin's Picasso does Geisha.

Girl with Red Beret

Girl with Red Beret is another Picasso work, from around 1911. Bill Vollbrecht made this LEGO version when he worked at Legoland California.

Don Quixote

Arthur Gugick made two versions of the 1955 Picasso sketch Don Quixote using different LEGO mosaic techniques.