A visitor is looking at an animation as he points his smartphone at French painter Paul Signac´s painting "Venice, The Pink Cloud" using the Artvive app at Albertina Gallery in Vienna, Austria on November 21, 2017. Photo: AFP

The "augmented reality" app, which is free to download, allows phones to be held up to 13 paintings in the Albertina's collection and move elements of them around.

Degas's "Two Dancers" is created before your eyes, a Picasso boat sets sail and a photo of Monet's garden at Giverny is superimposed on the French impressionist's painting.

In addition to the 45-second animations, an audio guide within the app tells visitors about when, where and how the works were made.

"I think that sometimes new ways are needed to look at classic art works in a playful, non-classic way," the Albertina's general director Albrecht Schroeder said.