Gluten. Where did this gluten thing come from? A few people (like, less than 1 percent) can't handle it and refuse to eat it. Makes sense. Don't live in discomfort for the satisfaction of mowing down a few breadsticks. That's rational.

What isn't rational, however, is the misguided explosion the trend created in the food world. Suddenly, somewhere between 98 and 123 percent of people began "experiencing complications from bread," and an entire pseudo-science bracket attempted to bully those who enjoyed it into submission. Then, you know, real science came in and capped the social well — with a few lingering souls still trapped in denial about it today. We fully digress … </rant>

Yet at least one person in the world had to ask: What would the world be like without gluten entirely? French graphic artist Arthur Coulet sought the answers of that question by taking all gluten out of famous works of art and posting it to his tumblr page — Gluten Free Museum. To be honest, a world without French bread, spaghetti and a delicious "royale with cheese" looks awfully depressing. 

Roy Fox Lichtenstein
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Pieter Brueghel
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Paul Cézanne
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Édouard Manet
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Walt Disney
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Wayne Thiebaud
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Willy Ronis
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Johannes Vermeer
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Anna Ancher
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Grant Wood
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Matt Groening
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Robert Doisneau
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Guinness
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Sennedjem
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Giuseppe Arcimboldo
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Razzia
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Jean-François Millet
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Morris
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Vincent van Gogh

 

[originally published November 21, 2016]