Joining the ranks of Caravaggio, Paul Cezanne, and van Gogh, birgburg has taken a break from depicting the human (or in our case, minifig) form and instead replicated a still-life basket of fruit with his paint and canvas (ie. LEGO bricks).

The composition of the still life is superb. I especially love how the builder has stacked the LEGO cherries to resemble a flowing bunch of grapes. But what really sells this LEGO painting for me is that gorgeously-gilded, over-the-top, ostentatious frame. I’ve definitely seen this kind of frame in art museums before. Interestingly, a tour guide at the Cleveland Museum of Art once explained to me that some works of art are left in their original frames, while other works at the museum are placed in newer (although still usually ancient) frames for aesthetic reasons. Real art buffs can spot these “frame upgrades” even when the age difference between the artwork and the frame is less than 100 years based on historical frame styles alone.

For this piece though, I’d say this is a frame upgrade. But only because I know the LEGO painting was completed last year and the frame is brand new.