Thank you for posting such a fun article. I do not think there is anything wrong with Ollie Gibb’s manipulation of the images, actually, I feel he made a good statement about museum culture. When he stated, “they look miserable,” he indirectly said that this type of image is very different from portraits we commonly produce today where we often see the subjects smiling. I think this says a lot about how many people view old masterpieces, in particular, portraiture. They are indeed often solemn and serious, and these types of traditional portraits tend to bore the average viewer unless the onlooker has the historical background to draw upon. This makes a good case for the side of educators’ interests in museum practices.
I also find this relevant
