Art News

A Year in Review: The Trends & Events of ’12 Captured in Images

With the year drawing to a close, we look back at some of the events and trends that took the world by storm. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Check out 2012 captured in some of our most popular collections.

“Schopenhauer and Atman” by Eric Drass

  • Beast Jesus: What roundup of 2012 would be complete without a shout out to “Beast Jesus,” the hilarious result of an amateur’s attempt to restore a church fresco in Spain? We present you with a collection inspired by the friendliest beast of all – man’s best friend, of course! Click here for our It’s A Dog’s Life collection.

“Passing By” by Ysabel LeMay

  • Put A Bird On It: The writers of the hit TV show Portlandia initiated a catchphrase poking fun at the hipster DIY movement with the catch-all design solution “Put a bird on it!” We were feeling a little bird crazy one day, so we rounded up some incredible birds of our own. See them all here.

“Surrender” by Peter Seminck

  • 50 Shades of Grey: Temperatures continued to rise around the globe and not just because of global warming; it seemed that everywhere we looked, all we could see were 50 shades of grey. Check out our two collections inspired by the best-selling “mommy porn” novel: click here for the NSFW collection and here for the PG version.

“Chair/The Lights Aren’t Working” by Danny Olda

  • Empty Chair: The American Presidential election spawned countless memes, including Clint Eastwood’s instant classic, the infamous Empty Chair. With all eyes on America in November, we put together a couple additional collections highlighting US-based artists and portraits of American life. Click here to view American Splendor and here for Americana.

“Tornado” by Darko Malenica

  • In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb: While Fifty Shades of Grey certainly got many readers hot and bothered this year, we’re thinking that the is-it-real-is-it-fake phenomenon global warming may have been at play during the (very real) heat waves we experienced. Click here and here to see our collections inspired by the strange weather.

“Going for Gold” by Islamiya Scarr

  • London Calling: The United Kingdom celebrated a banner year beginning with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, then the triumphant London Olympic Games, and finally the recent announcement that Kate and William are expecting their first child. We don’t know about you, but we ate it up with a spoon! Click here to view our spotlight on art from the UK and here for our Olympic-inspired collection.

“Lost in space 3” by Blue Moon – Heike Schmidt

  • Space Odyssey: With the release of Ridley Scott’s alien thriller Prometheus, the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle, Endeavor – which was paraded through the streets of Los Angeles – and the rover Curiosity’s discovery of water on Mars, outer space was a popular cocktail party topic. We put together some of our favorite illustrations of the wonder of space here in Space Odyssey.

“Aston Martin DB3” by Geoff Barber

  • James Bond: Critics and movie-goers alike loved Skyfall, the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, praising Daniel Craig’s portrayal of 007 as one of the best yet. We, too, had fun putting together a collection reminiscent of the suave secret agent and his adventures with girls, villains, and fast cars. Check it out here.

“Lemon Fizz” by John Pimlott

  • Lemon Fizz: After conquering one field, it makes sense to take on another, no? Artist Richard Prince tried as much with his new drink, Lemon Fizz, which debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach. For a lemon-y refreshment, check out our Fizz-inspired collection here.

“RED no.4” by Miseon Yoon

  • Gangnam Style: “Gangnam Style” built momentum in South Korea before it eventually splashed onto the global scene and unleashed a dance craze that even Chinese artist Ai Weiwei parodied. We’re over the song, but we can’t get enough of art from South Korea. Click here to see some of the great Saatchi Online artists working in South Korea today.

“tsp” by Claudia Correa

  • Call Me Maybe: For what felt like weeks on end, we couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing Carly Rae Jepson’s ubiquitous pop hit, “Call Me Maybe,” nor Maroon 5’s “Payphone.” We admit it, we were hooked. Check out our homage here. Come on, we know you were dancing, too!

“Valentine” by Sharon Shapiro

  • GIRLS: Millennial darling Lena Dunham’s show Girls was the breakout hit of the year, reclaiming for HBO the title for most awkward nudity on TV. Awkwardness aside, we loved the honest look at life from a fresh perspective. We, of course, couldn’t resist checking out some girls of our own. Peruse our collection of pretty girls, or – as Mitt Romney liked to say during the ’12 Presidential Campaign – our “Binder Full of Women.”

And with that, here’s to an art-filled 2013! Wishing you the very best from all of us at Saatchi Online.