Part of the twentieth century rebellion against tradition was turning away from continuing to parody the master artists before them. An art statement emphatically made in 1919 by Marcel Duchamp when he presented his Mona Lisa with a moustache and and goatee.  Others, however, parodied the classics or done new versions bringing old themes up to date.  Many famous artists have had their favorite painters they parodied with no illusions as their influence upon their work

During his confinement in the asylum at St. Remy, the emotionally distraught Vincent Van Gogh began copying paintings as a kind of therapy. Since I have no models, he wrote, I use black-and-whites by Delacroix and Millet…as I would a real-life subject.

Copying from a monochrome reproduction, Van Gogh invented his own color scheme with his serpentine line and thick paint brush strokes. It made the painting style entirely his own

Whatever the reason that an artist uses a particular work-whether to learn from it, to reinterpret it, to parody the conventions of an earlier time or satirize the values of his own time-if successful it becomes his own.