Get to Know the Sisters Behind Our Favorite New Instagram!
Alexa Chung is a fashion muse, with the kind of effortless, ingrained, inexplicable personal style that seems impossible to recreate. With 1.4 million Instagram followers tracking her every move, it was only a matter of time before a fan account would take center stage. Enter @ArtlexaChung Tumblr/Instagram hybrid that pairs pictures of the British bombshell with classical paintings in similar color schemes and positions. Founded by Spanish sisters María and Beatriz Valdovín, the account was brought to our attention when Alexa Chung herself regrammed an Art-lexa original! We chatted with the sisters to find out how this whole thing started.
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com1/9Having a little fun with fashion's eternal It girl.
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com2/9Who: Sisters María and Beatriz Valdovín
Age: 24 and 22
Hometown: Zaragoza, Spain
Profession: María, is a journalist with a Master's in art history; Beatriz is a business and law student.
"A Young Girl Resting In A Landscape With Her Dog" by Friedrich August von Kaulbach
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com3/9Where did the inspiration for this Tumblr/Instagram initially stem?
We’re both art, fashion, and photography enthusiasts, always on the lookout for inspiration on the internet. Modern memes from accounts like @copylab on Instagram were our main inspiration. We loved seeing the subjects in fine art paintings, wearing the most covetable fashion items. When the silly (genius? lol) idea came to us, we weren’t expecting to create anything big. When we decided to look for similarities between Alexa and existing art and actually found some, it was crazy! Even the name "Artlexa Chung", which is quite obvious, came easily! Alexa’s millions of pictures (from her Instagram, campaigns, covers, and editorials) have so many funny connections with the art.
_"Girl With Braids" by Amedeo Modigliani (1918) _
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com4/9Which comes first in the creation process: Alexa or the Art?
Both of them! At first it was Alexa, she was the only muse for this project! So many of her pictures were such an inspiration because of her poses, gestures, clothes, hairstyles...she was clearly the most suitable person. Sometimes it's the other way around, though, and the inspiration is in the painting. We are both educated on art and it's easy for us to combine her photos with the well-known masterpieces of Goya or Matisse. Sometimes it's so easy we have to wonder if Alexa was maybe copying their poses! Other times we find it more difficult and need to dig deep for the right paintings on the internet. When we're browsing the paintings of artists or genres that we love, finding the perfect match can happen quite suddenly.
_"Lotte" by Christian Schad (1927) _
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com5/9What do you love most about Ms. Chung?
She's such a style icon! We love her unique fashion sense and her natural and confident personality.
_"The Dance II (La Danse II)" by Henri Matisse (1932) _
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com6/9How long does it take to find an <a href="https://instagram.com/artlexachung/" target="_blank">@Artlexachung</a> match?
The first few days were crazy and we found so many similarities. It was so easy, in fact, that in just a few short minutes countless combinations had emerged. Now that the more obvious ones are done we're finding that it's getting a bit harder and that we need to dedicate a bit more of our time. For us it's a game, so now we just wait for the eternal inspiration from our muse Alexa to help us find new matches.
"Fragance" by Léon Frédéric (1894)
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com7/9Did you ever expect for this project to gain so much attention so quickly? In just 6 weeks you've gained nearly 8,000 Instagram followers!
Definitely not! We did it as a shared way to pass the time online together. The fact that people (and Alexa!) enjoy what we're doing is really cool for us.
"Harlequin Leaning" by Pablo Picasso (1901)
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com8/9What was your initial reaction when Alexa regrammed one of your posts to her personal account?
When we posted the first few pictures we thought: "What if we tag Alexa?" We went for it, and just a few minutes later she liked our posts and followed us! We didn't expected it at all! It was major! We're so grateful to her for that. When she later re-grammed one of the posts our follower count began to steadily increase. We got 1.5k in just one day!
"The Dancer Marietta di Rigardo" by Max Slevogt (1904)
Photo: Courtesy of artlexachung.tumblr.com9/9Which post is your favorite to date?
"La Maja Vestida (The Clothed Maja)" by Francisco de Goya. This was the post Alexa initially re-grammed. What makes it even more special is that Goya was from our hometown, Zaragoza.
"Ta Matete" by Paul Gauguin (1892)
