COLUMBUS — Wapakoneta native Erik Maell said he’s been interested in the “Mona Lisa” for years, but it was a trip to The Louvre in Paris that set the framework for his recent book exploring the cultural impact of the painting.
“The whole experience of seeing the painting is sort of like meeting a celebrity, and I was fascinated by that whole phenomenon and the frenzy surrounding this one painting,” Maell said.
More interesting than the painting itself, Maell said, was the amount of artists who have reinterpreted the “Mona Lisa” in the 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci showed it to the world.
“Parodies are common in art, but there’s no other painting in history that’s been parodied even remotely as often as the ‘Mona Lisa,’” he said.
Maell said he explored more than 20,000 images before choosing 250 to feature in his book, “Mona Lisa Reimagined,” which was released in the United States May 12.
The book is a collection of “Mona Lisa” recreations, featuring both established and emerging artists from more than 50 different countries. The recreations depict the “Mona Lisa” in a variety of ways, such as cartoon characters and animals, with facial features like mustaches and at various angles including a distant view and from behind.
“I think one of the most important things was to have a good variety because if you’ve got a book that is made up of images derived from a single source, each page has to offer something unique and unexpected so it doesn’t become tiresome,” Maell said. “There’s some that are funny, some are sad, some are political — there’s really something that speaks to everybody.”
Maell said it’s difficult to describe why the “Mona Lisa” struck a chord with so many people over the centuries, but he believes one thing is for certain: it’s the most famous painting in the world.
“It’s really weird because there’s nothing else in any category that has quite the same level of fame that the ‘Mona Lisa’ has,” he said. “You can ask anybody in the world what the most famous painting of all time is and everyone points to the ‘Mona Lisa.’”
Maell just wrapped up a publicity tour for the book and will soon travel back to the country of Cyprus where he lives with his wife and two children. He said the book will be released internationally Aug. 29.
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