The $179M Picasso vs. My Lunch Break

Testing Midjourney's Latest Update

Author

Jagger Bellagarda
November 21, 2024

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I'm staring at these 2 portraits.

One is Pablo Picasso's "Les Femmes d' Alger," valued at over $179 million.

The other I made during my lunch break using Midjourney's AI image generator.

Want to guess which is which?

Welcome to 2024, where AI art has evolved from creating weird blobs with extra fingers to producing masterpieces that could fool gallery curators.

And with Midjourney's latest update?

The line between human and machine creativity isn't just blurring – it's kind of vanishing to be fair.

The Wild Numbers First:

  • Midjourney valuation: $200M+

  • Original Picasso's price tag: $179M

  • Time to make an AI masterpiece: 5 minutes

  • Number of art curators who can't tell the difference: More than they'd like to admit 😉

The Glow-Up Is Real:

Remember typing "/imagine" in Discord like a caveman?

Those days are gone.

Midjourney just dropped an update that's like giving everyone a digital art degree. Here's what's new:

→ STYLE MATCHING Steal... sorry, "reference" any artist's style with a click

→ COLOUR MAGIC Copy exact colour palettes from any masterpiece

→ COMPOSITION TOOLS Make it look like you went to art school (you didn't)

→ AI THAT LEARNS YOUR TASTE Like Netflix, but for making art

Let's Play a Game:

Let's put this to the test.

Below are 5 pairs of images.

In each pair, one is a valuable piece of art, and one was created by me using Midjourney.

Your challenge? Spot the AI fake.

Pair #1:

Pair #2:

Pair #3:

Pair #4:

Pair #5:

💥The Big Reveal 💥

Ready for the answers? …How many did you get right?

  1. The AI was A - The original was “Guardians Monkey Eyes, 2015” by Hunt Slonem, valued at $28,000

  2. The AI was B - The original was “PLAYBALL, 2024” by Auudi Dorsey, valued at $13,000

  3. The AI was B - The original was “Metropolitan Museum of Art, after the first version of Triptych (1974), 1975” by Francis Bacon, valued at $23,000

  4. The AI was A - The original was “PANTHER PANTHER ROSA ROSA, 2020” by Katherine Bernhardt, valued at $11,000

  5. The AI was B - The original was “Mickey (Blue Glitter), 2016” by Damien Hirst, valued at $39,000

It Also Gets Your Style

Here's a neat thing I tried:

I spent 30 minutes clicking through pairs of images, showing Midjourney what I like and don't like. Pretty simple stuff.

Then I typed "A woman" into the prompt.

The result? An image that actually matched my taste. Not mind-blowing, but kind of neat - like when Spotify gets your music preferences just right.

How it works:

  • Click through some image pairs (you can skip those you just don’t care about)

  • AI figures out your preferences

  • Creates stuff more aligned with your taste

That's it. No magic, no revolution, just a handy feature that makes the tool more personal.

Who's This For?

  • Creators building consistent brands

  • Artists working on series

  • Anyone tired of endless prompt tweaking

  • The AI-curious who want honest insights

For me? It’s oddly calming…like meditation, and inspiring, it gets your creative juices flowing.

Oh, and those two Picasso portraits I mentioned at the start?

Plot twist: Both were made by Midjourney. (The real $179M painting was something else entirely.)

But the fact that you had to wonder? That's exactly the point.

The Bottom Line

AI art isn't the future anymore. It's here. But instead of debating if it's "real art"... Let's explore what's actually possible with these tools.

No hype. No wild promises. Just honest insights as we figure this out together.

That's what this newsletter is about.

Want to learn alongside me? That's exactly what this newsletter is about.

If you enjoyed this, get more AI insights and productivity tips by subscribing to the weekly newsletter and connect with me (Jagger) here:

Until next time!

Cheers,

Jagger