Not For Kids, LEGO Presents Famous Painting Brick By Vincent Van Gogh

Lego painting by Vincent van Gogh. (Source: LEGO)

JAKARTA - When New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) purchased 'The Starry Night' from a private collector in 1941, the painting was not well known.

In the 81 years since, Vincent van Gogh's masterpieces have inspired everything from the hit single for singer Don McLean in 1971 to mass-produced merchandise including scarves, umbrellas and water bottles.

Now LEGO is in action, as it invites fans to reproduce the brushstrokes of the Dutch painter, in the form of a toy brick.

The set of 2,316 toy bricks, aimed at adults and will retail for $169.99, was designed by Truman Cheng (25) from Hong Kong, through a submission on the LEGO Ideas platform, which takes designs dreamed up by fans, puts them up for grabs. public voice and turn it into reality.

In addition to this maestro painting, other winning ideas that have emerged from the platform include a working typewriter, a house from the movie 'Home Alone' and a scene from "Seinfeld."

Van Gogh was inspired to paint 'Starry Night' with a view from his window at the mental asylum of the Saint-Paul de Mausole Monastery in Saint-Rémy, France, where he spent 12 months between 1889 and 1890, the year he died.

PhD student Cheng says his inspiration came from playing with LEGOs and noticing, when he randomly arranged the bricks, they resembled Van Gogh's signature brush strokes.

In a statement released by LEGO on its website, he said: "It was a great brain game to come up with tricks and techniques to capture the look of the original painting," CNN reported May 18.

"The brush strokes go in many directions on the swirling moon and clouds, so there's been some creative use of bracket and clip elements."

Separately, Sarah Suzuki, MoMA associate director, said in a statement: "At MoMA, we celebrate the opportunity to connect art and audience, and are excited to be part of a new way to experience van Gogh's work, and to inspire creative drive in people of all ages. ."

Speaking about the decision to convert the design into a LEGO set, Federico Begher, head of global marketing at the toy company, said: "The Truman design is a masterpiece in itself, demonstrating how many different LEGO elements and techniques can be used to emulate van Gogh's iconic paintings."

In conjunction with the release, LEGO has launched a competition for fans to submit their own mini-builds inspired by the night sky. The winning design will be part of the installation displayed in the lobby at MoMA this summer.

Please note, these LEGO sets will be available for early stages to VIP MoMA and LEGO members starting May 25, before going on general sale a week later.