Finding the art in the beautiful game
Where Fine Art Meets the Beautiful Game
Finding the art in the beautiful – During the 102nd minute of a dramatic World Cup encounter between Cape Verde and Argentina, a moment unfolded that would capture hearts worldwide. Sidny Lopes Cabral, the Cape Verdean fullback, unleashed a magnificent curling strike that found the back of the Argentine net. Immediately after scoring, he sprinted toward the stands to embrace his girlfriend, Jayley da Cruz. This tender image of celebration quickly spread across social media platforms, catching the attention of LJ Rader, who recognized its potential for something greater.
“Regardless of whether or not Cape Verde was going to win that match, that was the image that would summarize that game,” Rader reflected. The creative mind behind the beloved “Art But Make It Sports” accounts, Rader has built a reputation for transforming ordinary sports photography into extraordinary visual dialogues with art history.
A Visionary’s Creative Process
Rader’s social media phenomenon involves taking photographs and screengrabs of pivotal sporting moments and placing them alongside canonical paintings or sculptures. The juxtaposition creates unexpected connections between athletic achievement and artistic expression. Earlier this year, he published a book featuring some of his most celebrated pairings, including a striking comparison between a 1999 photograph of Brandi Chastain’s shirtless celebration with the US Women’s National Team and a twelfth-century sculpture of a kneeling female deity housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
During the FIFA World Cup, Rader has been working tirelessly as social media users tag him in hundreds of images from various matches. He rushes to discover the perfect fine art companions for these athletic moments. Sometimes inspiration strikes instantly, as when he encountered a photograph of English midfielder Jude Bellingham scoring with a header. The image reminded him immediately of a Sibylle Bergemann photograph capturing a statue of Friedrich Engels being lifted into position in East Berlin.
“I had just been waiting for the day where a player went completely horizontal to use it,” Rader explained.
Navigating Different Sports
The art and sports enthusiast has shared insights into how his methodology adapts to different athletic disciplines. Soccer presents unique challenges compared to other sports. On a daily basis, football can be more difficult because players occupy limited positions and cannot use their hands. Basketball, conversely, tends to be the easiest sport for his process, as players constantly jump and compete, creating abundant limb movement and image variety.
Football presents its own complications since faces are often difficult to see, but the larger number of players and greater movement balance this out. With the World Cup, however, everyone focuses on the same global event. The community continuously sends him material, and photographers from around the world contribute images. This abundance makes the process increasingly manageable.
On a day-to-day level, soccer tends to be harder just because there are only so many positions they can be, since can’t use their hands. Football is hard because you can’t see faces, but there are more people and more movement, so it kind of balances out and ends up becoming easier. Basketball is probably the easiest, just because players are always jumping and fighting, all the limbs are moving around, and there tends to be a lot of image variety.
The Search for Perfect Matches
Rader’s approach to finding the ideal pairing involves both patience and precision. While the summer typically offers quieter periods across most sports—with the WNBA, baseball, and Wimbledon providing some coverage—the World Cup transforms it into an all-consuming season. Even as a dedicated WNBA supporter, Rader admits his attention has shifted entirely to the tournament.
When evaluating potential matches, he prefers genuine sports photographs over screenshots, though both can work within his framework. His drafts folder contains numerous attempts that didn’t quite meet his editorial standards. During major events like the World Cup, he sometimes communicates directly with photographers to access additional angles and moments.
One memorable challenge came from the Spain-Portugal match in Dallas, featuring Rodri and Bernardo Silva—former teammates taunting each other. Rader wanted a frontal angle to capture their expressions clearly, but only found a rear view. Though not perfect, the attempt demonstrated his commitment to finding the most compelling visual connections between athletic moments and artistic masterpieces.
Each scenario is unique, but they all fit within the same framework. The ideal is getting a sports photo, rather than a screenshot, and pairing it with the best possible artwork.
