Serge Gainsbourg considered popular music as a minor art compared to painting and sculpture. While record covers are true products of the pop culture, they sometimes borrowed to the fine arts. Numerous examples of sleeves are obvious imitations or reproductions of famous works of art, denoting either a genuine devotion or a deliberate attempt to gain artistic credit (or both). In return, some contemporary figures in the visual arts fairly understood the benefit in contributing, directly or not, to popular music, and thus reaching a much larger audience. How many rock fans discovered Andy Warhol with the famous Velvet Underground banana ? This website is about record covers and arts.
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Irving Penn Marcel Duchamp (1948) |
Lloyd Cole Bad Vibes (1993) |
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Henri Rousseau La Charmeuse de Serpents (1907) |
Laurent Thibault Mais on ne Peut pas Rêver tout le Temps (1979) |
Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night (1987) |
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Leonardo Da Vinci Mona Lisa - La Gioconda (1503-06) |
Suicidal Tendencies The Art of Rebellion (1992) |
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Roy Lichtenstein Explosion (1967) |
Bob Dylan Shot of Love (1981) |
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Dan Flavin The Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy (The Diagonal of May 25) (1963) |
Philip Glass Einstein on the Beach (1993) |
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Andy Warhol Money Tree (1957) |
Jay Jay Johnson Trombone by Three (1956) |
Kenny Burrell Volume 2 (1957) |
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Titian Bacchus and Ariadne (1522-23) |
Crash Test Dummies God Shuffled his Feet (1993) |
"Weird Al" Jankovic Headline News / Christmas at Ground Zero (Alternate Mix) (1994) |
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Robert Doisneau Jacques Prévert (1955) |
Thomas Fersen Le Bal des Oiseaux (1993) |
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Fernando Botero Una Familia (1989) |
Baby Grand Baby Grand (1977) |
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Charles Burns Black Hole (1995-2005) |
Fever Ray Fever Ray (2009) |
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Eugène Delacroix Jeune Orpheline au Cimetière (1824) |
Pickering Pick The Pacific Ocean (2007) |
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Fortunato Depero Futurismo (1932) |
New Order Movement (1981) |
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Fortunato Depero Dinamo Futurista (1933) |
New Order Procession (1981) |
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Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled (Sugar Ray Robinson) (1982) |
The Offs First Record (1984) |
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Ted Croner Taxi, New York Night (1947) |
Bob Dylan Modern Times (2006) |
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Francesco de Goya Saturn Devouring his Son (1819-23) |
Trisomie 21 Chapter IV: Le je ne sais quoi et le presque rien (1986) |
The Obsessed Lunar Womb (1991) |
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Franck Margerin Bananes Métalliques (1982) |
Nino Ferrer Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy (1983) |
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René Magritte Les Amants I & II (1928) |
Funeral For a Friend Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation (2003) |
Mars Volta Frances the Mute (2005) |
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Luis Buñuel Un Chien Andalou (1929) |
Mr. Oizo Lambs Anger (2008) |
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El Greco The Knight with His Hand on His Breast (1590) |
Vangelis El Greco (1998) |
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H.R. Giger Alien (1979) |
Shiver Walpurgis (1969) |
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Island Pictures (1977) |
Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992) |
Emerson Lake and Palmer Then and Now (1998) |
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Edvard Munch The Scream (1893) |
Morgen Morgen (1969) |
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Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Can (1964) |
The Housemartins / The Beautiful South Soup (2007) |
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder Netherlandish Proverbs (1559) |
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes (2008) |
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Tanino Liberatore / Stefano Tamburini RanXerox à New York (1982) |
Frank Zappa The Man from Utopia (1983) |
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Salvador Dali Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951) |
Cliff Richard About that Man... (1970) |
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Robert Mapplethorpe Self-portrait (1980) |
Patti Smith Horses (1975) |
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Patti Smith Wave (1979) |
Patti Smith Dream of Life (1988) |
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Edouard Manet Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (1863) |
Bow Wow Wow See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah! City All Over, Go Ape Crazy! (1981) |
Mr. Oizo Pourriture EP (2009) |
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Damien Hirst For the Love of God (2007) |
Boys Noize Oi Oi Oi (2007) |
Good Charlotte Greatest Remixes (2008) |
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David Hockney Don and Christopher (1982) |
Christophe Aimer ce que Nous Sommes (2008) |
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Robert Crumb Fritz the Cat (1969) |
Big Brother and the Holding Company Cheap Thrills (1968) |
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Eugène Delacroix La Liberté Guidant le Peuple (1830) |
Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends (2008) |
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Keith Haring Mother and Child (1986) |
Various A Very Special Christmas (1990) |
Various A Very Special Christmas 2 (1992) |
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Various A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997) |
Various A Very Special Christmas Live (1999) |
Various A Very Special Christmas 5 (2001) |
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René Magritte L'Empire des Lumières (1954) |
Jackson Browne Late for the Sky (1974) |
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Gerhard Richter Two Candles (1982) |
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation (1988) |
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Théodore Géricault Le Radeau de la Méduse (1819) |
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The Pogues Rum, Sodomy and the Lash (1985) |
Great White Sail Away (1994) |
Ahab The Divinity of Oceans (2009) |
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Andy Warhol Brillo Boxes (1969) |
Moloko Catalogue (2006) |
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David Hockney Portrait of John Kasmin (1980) |
Talking Heads More Songs about Buildings and Food (1978) |
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Jackson Pollock Number 8 (1949) |
The Stone Roses The Stone Roses (1989) |
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Hieronymus Bosch The Garden of Earthly Delights (1504) |
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Pearls Before Swine One Nation Underground (1967) |
Deep Purple Deep Purple (1969) |
Dead Can Dance Aion (1990) |
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René Magritte La Chambre d'Ecoute (1958) |
Jeff Beck Beck-Ola (1969) |
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Francesco Clemente Furniture (1983) |
Mick Jagger Primitive Cool (1987) |
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Paul Anka The Painter (1976) |
The Rolling Stones Love You Live (1977) |
Liza Minnelli Live at Carnegie Hall (1981) |
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Billy Squier Emotions in Motion (1982) |
Diana Ross Silk Electric (1982) |
Miguel Bosé Made in Spain (1983) |
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Aretha Franklin Aretha (1986) |
John Lennon Men Love Ave (1986) |
Debbie Harry Rockbird (1986) |