Glenn Brown (1966)

The Analogue Hallucination.
Glenn Brown turned appropriation into a form of high-definition fetishism. Unlike his predecessors who critiqued the "original," Brown is obsessed with it, mutating classical references into something radioactive and new.

Executed in 1996, The End of the 20th Century takes a Fragonard composition and filters it through a sci-fi lens. The genius lies in the surface: Brown paints with painstaking, flat precision to create the illusion of swirling, heavy impasto. It looks like computer graphics or a grotesque sculpture, but the canvas is smooth as glass.

Insider Note: At its early exhibitions, including the Serpentine Gallery, this work was notably displayed upside down—a deliberate gesture to further detach the image from its historical anchor.

Why it matters: A museum-grade piece with exhibition history at Centre Pompidou and Serpentine Gallery. It represents the pivotal moment when painting began to mimic the digital screen.