Bob's Museum of Artificially Intelligent Art

Rodins? Where we're going, we don't need Rodins.

Bastiat’s Window is a journal of economics, science, and culture. If you’re not already a subscriber, please sign up. Free subscriptions are deeply appreciated, but paid subscriptions are what keep this publication going!

---

It’s a quiet Sunday, so rather than more economics, politics, health, and ethics, how about some visual fare? Readers often comment on the artwork adorning Bastiat’s Window essays. Sometimes, I use the fine art produced by my wife (ASGraboyesArt.com) or our son, Jeremy (JSGraboyes.com). But lately, I’ve produced a lot of illustrations, myself—much of it using images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) programs Craiyon and Midjourney. Sometimes, I use the ai images as is, but more often, I add and combine elements, edit colors, textures, composition, etc.

I especially enjoy introducing elements of anachronism into my works. For example, the topmost illustration here fabricates a still-life by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) with a COVID-19 coronavirus as the central element. Below is a gallery of images I’ve produced but haven’t yet used in Bastiat’s Window. Enjoy.

BULLWINKLE, BY MARC CHAGALL

COURTROOM SKETCHES OF GODZILLA

CORGIS BY EVERYONE

Pembroke Welsh Corgis, as if by Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt, John Tenniel, Thomas Nast, Max Ernst, Renoir, Maxfield Parrish, Ingres, Aubrey Beardsley, Matisse, and Botero—plus medieval stone sculpture, ivory, and Byzantine icon. You figure which is which.

22ND CENTURY CITIES, AS FORESEEN BY NOSTRADAMUS

ABSTRACT BOTANICALS

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, 1930s

CTHULHU BY BEATRIX POTTER

RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA

Hope you’ve enjoyed the exhibit. AI programs have come under heavy criticism (including from me) for their political biases and other shortcomings; but, as creative tools, they can be a load of fun and quite impressive. For now (and maybe forever), AI can’t produce high-quality original art; but it’s certainly adept at rolling out decent derivative pieces like mine. David Hockney need not fear competition from AI, but the mid-level art-school graduate who produces ad copy, book covers, and magazine illustrations might ponder alternative careers.

---

Robert F. Graboyes publishes Bastiat’s Window, a Substack journal of economics, science, and culture—with an emphasis on healthcare. He is a health economist, journalist, and musician in Alexandria, Virginia, and holds five degrees, including a PhD in economics from Columbia University. In 2014, he received the Reason Foundation’s Bastiat Prize for Journalism. His music compositions are at YouTube.com/@RFGraboyes/videos.