Poupée Barbie, Classic Art Works Recreated Using Barbie Dolls

Marilyn Dyptich recreated by Jocelyne Grivaud. Original by Andy Warhol.

Portrait de Mona Lisa, dit La Joconde recreated by Jocelyne Grivaud. Original by Leonardo da Vinci.

L’evidence Eternelle recreated by Jocelyne Grivaud. Original by Rene Magritte.

Poupée Barbie is the 2009 art series from French artist Jocelyne Grivaud where she recreated images from classic art works (as well as famous photographs and films) using a Barbie doll. She created the images to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the world-famous doll.

This design needed time to take root, as often. The whole story began one day, in November 1967, with a present, all tenderness.
It was pink, vaporous and extremely delicate. With the patience of an angel, my mother had secretly knitted a dressing gown and tiny bootees for my Barbie. It seems to me there were more clothes, but these bootees, with their little pink knots on top totally fascinated me.

Then I grew up. The doll vanished, but I kept in mind the elegance and grace of my Barbie as well as a little bootee deep down my secret box.

One day, the idea of extending the happy part of my childhood through pictures I love took shape. Barbie is often criticized for being too blonde, too superficial, too skinny, too “ideal marketing”, too “this” and too “that”…. My aim was to adjust this so famous profile to different emblematic representations.