15 Works of Art Improved by Santa Claus

St. Nicholas brings holiday cheer to famous works of art.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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This year, art history mash-ups took over the Internet, from Beyonce-inspired Tumblrs, to Vines of Marina Abramovic, to Lady Gaga's Jeff Koons-designed album cover, to Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" music video. Photographer Ed Wheeler is another artist who mixes pop culture with art history in his series "Santa Classics," a project he has been working on for the past 20 years. In Wheeler's compositions, jolly old Saint Nicholas appears in famous masterpieces, bringing holiday cheer to works by artists like Monet, Manet, and Michelangelo.

For the project, Wheeler dresses up as Santa Claus, photographs himself, and then inserts the images into classic works. The Philadelphia Museum of Art likes Wheeler's work so much, that the institution is selling his "Santa Classics" as Christmas cards. Celebrate the holidays like a true art lover with 15 Works of Art Improved by Santa Claus

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The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya, 1814

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The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer, 1666

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The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks, 1826

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Between Rounds by Thomas Eakins, 1898-9

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A Woman and a Girl Driving by Marie Cassatt, 1881

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Composition by Theo van Doesburg, 1929

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Le Déjeuner Sur L'herbe by Edouard Manet, 1862-3

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The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, 1490

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Japanese Footbridge by Claude Monet, 1899

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The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, 1511–1512

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At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1890

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Pygmalion and Galatea by Jean-Leon Gerome, 1890-3

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The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, 1434

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The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio, 1601

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The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, 1486

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