Artists Turn Euro and Pound Banknotes into Miniature Canvases
In December 2017, Mari Roldán, a 1994-born artist from Malaga, Spain, commenced her unique art by painting on euro banknotes, beginning with Michelangelo's Creation of Adam on a €10 note. Her Instagram audience has expanded to over 33,000 followers, and she received a commission from filmmaker Brett Ratner to create a Francis Bacon artwork on a euro note. Roldán utilizes oil or acrylic to depict renowned subjects, primarily on €5, €10, €20, and €50 notes, and she once crafted a photomontage using a €100 note by Patrick Desmet. Additionally, she represented Picasso's Guernica across three €5 notes. In 2016, British microartist Graham Short, born in Birmingham in 1946, released five £5 notes featuring Jane Austen's portrait, each worth £50,000, and in August 2018, he engraved six more £5 notes with a concealed image of Harry Kane.
Key facts
- Mari Roldán started painting on euro banknotes in December 2017.
- Roldán's first work was Michelangelo's Creation of Adam on a €10 note.
- She has over 33,000 Instagram followers.
- Filmmaker Brett Ratner commissioned a Francis Bacon piece on a euro note.
- Roldán uses oil or acrylic, avoiding the serial number.
- She once used a €100 note for a Patrick Desmet photomontage.
- Graham Short circulated five £5 notes with Jane Austen portraits in 2016.
- Short's notes were valued at £50,000 each.
- One note was donated to the Jane Austen Society for Austen's bicentenary.
- In August 2018, Short engraved six £5 notes with Harry Kane's image.
- Short has worked for Buckingham Palace and other royal residences.
Entities
Artists
- Mari Roldán
- Michelangelo
- Vincent van Gogh
- Gustav Klimt
- Salvador Dalí
- René Magritte
- Pablo Picasso
- Banksy
- Christian Schloe
- Patrick Desmet
- Graham Short
- Jane Austen
- Harry Kane
- Sir Francis Short
- Brett Ratner
Institutions
- Jane Austen Society
- Buckingham Palace
- Windsor Castle
- Balmoral
- 10 Downing Street
- House of Commons
Locations
- Malaga
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- England
- Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland