Gustav Klimt loved cats, especially one called “katze” (“cat” in English). The internet loves cats too, with cat memes and gifs continuously going viral since the 2000s. It follows, then, that the Vienna tourist office would take advantage of the advent of widely available AI tools to reimagine one of Klimt’s and the world’s most famous and iconic works of art, The kiss (1907–09), with the characters replaced by the furry, lovable creatures in his new campaign Not artificial. Cats, too, took the place of Egon Schiele in his 1912 self-portrait, and cats abound in the sixteenth-century work of Pieter Breugel the Elder. Babel Tower.
Gustav Klimt holding one of his cats in his arms, in front of his studio in Vienna, 8th district, Josefstaedter Strasse (circa 1912). Photo: Moriz Naehr. Courtesy of Imagno/Getty Images.
AI has recently taken the world by storm, with generative programs being used for a myriad of applications, including artistic creation. What many don’t realize, however, is that AI tools work from references, and in the case of AI art, those references are taken from works of art made by human beings, both contemporary and historical.
Vienna Tourist Board CEO Norbert Kettner said: “The campaign aims to show that AI art is only possible because an algorithm references real works made by people. real humans, and that the originals can often only be seen in Vienna. The Viennese Modernism movement that revolutionized the art world over a century ago continues to live on and affect art today through the algorithms that guide AI creations.
Left: Egon Schiele, detail of Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern (1912). Collection of the Leopold Museum, Vienna. Right: AI image generated on Midjourney by Vienna Tourist Board. Photos: © Leopold Museum and Vienna Tourist Office.
Vienna is home to more than 100 museums, several of which hold the largest collections of original works by Klimt, Bruegel and Egon Schiele – to name a few – that visitors can see in real life, and”Discover the art behind the art of AI.” In conjunction with the lighthearted cat art facet of the Unartificial countryside, the Vienna Tourist Board also called on historian Markus Hübl to build up the history of Viennese art and delve into the intersection of AI art and art history in a short film.
Vienna’s ‘ironic’ cat-centric AI art campaign isn’t the only thing the city is using AI technology for: the Belvedere Museum (including Klimt’s museum The kiss part of the permanent collection) has partnered with Google Arts & Culture and used AI to reconstruct Klimt paintings that were destroyed by the Nazis nearly 75 years ago. By using black and white photos that existed of the works, the AI was able to bring them back to life in color. 2023 is also a great year to visit Vienna, as it marks the 300th anniversary of the Belvedere, which has an unrivaled collection of Klimt art.
Left: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Babel Tower (circa 1563). Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Right: AI image generated on Midjourney by Vienna Tourist Board. Photos: © Kunsthistorisches Museum and Vienna Tourist Office.
As the world’s capital of art, music and culture, Vienna is also poised to be a leader in cutting-edge new art-related technologies, with Unartificial herald which is only a beginning. And with the city’s many museums housing many of the most famous and important works of art in art history, it’s the perfect place to visit and see the art that makes history. possible AI art in the first place.
Learn more about visiting Vienna here.
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