Famous Paintings

https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle/preview?article=1664661830160 The Fifteen Most Famous Paintings in Art History | Invaluable invaluable.com Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes • What makes a work of art famous? Some might say the most famous paintings in the world are those that have broken records with their exorbitantly high price tags at auction. Others might argue that the greatest paintings of all time are the most tantalizing in terms of their subject or color palette. Still others might propose that the most famous paintings are those immortalized in popular culture. There is no secret recipe for a work of art’s success, nor can it be stated for certain what makes a work of art one of the greatest of all time. There is, nevertheless, a clear category of paintings created over history that are universally adored. Tapping into the Timeless Quality of Art By profiling fifteen of the most famous paintings in the world, we will help you make sense of these iconic images. Some of your favorites might be included; others might be works with which you are not familiar but which deserve a greater look. What unites these works is their innovative qualities. Each, as we will see, contributed to significant evolutions in painting from subject matter to technique. At the same time these famous works of art are also timeless in their appeal. From the earliest works of the Renaissance to the dynamic abstract contemporary works that line the galleries of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, famous paintings can speak to us from across the ages. The stories they tell only help to make them more tantalizing. Ready to take a look? Let us get started with our top fifteen most famous paintings of all time. Our Top Fifteen Most Famous Works of Art Before we begin, a few caveats should be noted: Passed Works in Private Collections The selections included in this top fifteen list are some of the most famous paintings and frescoes accessible in public collections. The recent record-setting Salvator Mundi, for example, won’t be on this list in part because it isn’t on view in a museum or gallery. The decision to focus on publicly accessible works means that you can still visit these paintings in person (and the locations for each of these works is provided below, should you choose to seek them out). Choosing Chronology Over Ranking While this list provides the top fifteen paintings in all of art history, these works are listed in chronological, not ranked, order. Why? Sorting these works into a timeline means that more insights can be gained into the ways in which art has changed over time. With those parameters in place, let’s dive into these famous paintings from around the world in greater detail. Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (1434) Where to find it? The National Gallery, London, UK Jan Van Eyck: The Arnolfini Portrait Though it might be one of the smaller works to line the gallery walls in London’s famed National Gallery, Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Double-Portrait is nevertheless one of the most captivating. In a painting that has stumped scholars and collectors looking for clues as to its true meaning – are they taking an oath of marriage? Is the woman pregnant? – this double-portrait depicts Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife in a very sumptuous setting – the sort of setting reserved for the most elite fifteenth-century Northern European homes. Aside from its time capsule-like quality, what sets this work above others is van Eyck’s incredible attention to detail. Van Eyck pioneered the technique of oil painting, which afforded him the ability to apply thin glazes of color to illuminate the realistic feel of every surface and texture. This painting is considered to be one of the earliest to fully embrace the oil paint medium and exhibited such detail that van Eyck even figured out a way to include a self-portrait (hint: look very closely at the mirror on the back wall). Both eye-catching and exquisite, van Eyck’s Arnolfini Double-Portrait showcases the brilliance of Northern Renaissance painting. Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus (1485-1486) Where to find it? The Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy Sandro Botticelli: The Birth of Venus Botticelli’s tempera-on-canvas Birth of Venus tantalizes its viewer with a scene so striking it is as if it was lifted from the pages of an ancient text. One of the first paintings to revive a narrative from Classical mythology, Botticelli here captured the fantastical origins of Venus, the goddess of love who was purportedly birthed from the sea and floated to shore nestled in a scalloped clamshell. Revolutionary for the fact that it channeled a story from the ancient Greco-Roman world – a nod to the revival of antiquity and the swelling interest in humanism in the period – Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was also purportedly commissioned by the famed Medici family of Florence. Today it graces the halls of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery yet it is no less captivating than it was in the fifteenth century. Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper (1495-1498) Where to find it? Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, Italy Leonardo da Vinci: Last Supper Imagine sitting down for a meal and then gazing upward, where you witness the Biblical scene of the Last Supper unfolding before your eyes and rendered at a scale that it seems as if you too are joining in the storied meal. Such is the sensation conveyed in Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, a monumental fresco depicted within the refectory of the convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. Da Vinci’s work in this space is one of his most beloved (sorry, Mona Lisa) because it reflects his skill at creating a compelling illusion of space while also activating the image with unprecedented energy. The disciples seated around the table swell in energy and emotion – a stark contrast to the serene, composed figure of Christ at the center – encouraging visitors still today to become enrapt in each detail despite the significant losses this fresco has endured. From the ravages of steam and heat emitted from an adjacent kitchen to intensive bombing during World War II, the fact that Leonardo’s Last Supper still stands only further reinforces its importance. Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Creation of Adam (1512) Where to find it? The Sistine Chapel, Vatican City Michaelangelo: The Creation of Adam One has to wonder if, when Michelangelo first began his work on the ceiling frescoes of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel in 1508, he had any notion of the enduring celebrity that these compositions would bring him. A case in point: The Creation of Adam, one of the central scenes of Old Testament narratives that line the core corridor of the ceiling. This scene is one of the more memorable, not only because it has become the source of various parodies and recreations, but also because it showcases Michelangelo’s love of depicting the figure. From the reclining nude of Adam who sprawls across the left side of the scene to the swell of humanity behind the figure of God the Father at right, The Creation of Adam reveals why Michelangelo was such a revered figure of his Renaissance generation. Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes (1623) Where to find it? The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA Becoming a female artist in the seventeenth century? Very difficult. Becoming one of the most successful artists of the time? Almost impossible. Despite the odds stacked against her, Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the most brilliant artists of the seventeenth-century Baroque era, and her striking Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, which lives today at the Detroit Institute of Arts, reveals why she earns such acclaim. The painting retells the story of the heroine, Judith, as she disarms (and decapitates) Holofernes, a rival leader seeking to decimate Judith’s people. The magic of Gentilsechi’s composition comes from the incredible suspense that she captured. Using intense tenebrism to build stark contrasts between highlight and shadow, Gentileschi showcased a pensive figure of Judith as she listens in silence and looks into the distance, leaving the viewer in suspense as to whether she is about to escape or will soon be caught. Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing (1767) Where to find it? The Wallace Collection, London, UK The Wallace Collection’s The Happy Accidents of the Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard is the epitome of early eighteenth-century style known as the Rococo. A movement fueled by the royal court of French King Louis XV and the wealth he and his courtiers invested in artistic patronage, Rococo painting became renowned for its ostentatious flourishes, little frivolities and indulgent subjects. Exuding a sense of playfulness, Fragonard’s painting also borders on the bawdy. A closer look at this painting reveals that this aristocratic woman in the middle of the painting has more on her mind than just a swing in the forest. Enlivened by bright yet lush pastel hues, Fragonard’s painting recalls an era in French history when the upper echelons of society sought art as an escape into even more luxurious – and at times amorous – escapes. Jean Louis Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa (1818-1819) Where to find it? The Louvre Museum, Paris, France Among the many treasures of Paris’ Louvre Museum, one painting stands apart from its colleagues for its visceral and simultaneous display of hope and despair. The Raft of the Medusa, conjured by French painter Théodore Géricault, tells the story of a catastrophic shipwreck that resulted in the passengers who survived the sinking being left to float adrift at sea on a makeshift raft. As the painting relays, many perished while awaiting rescue, but hope stands tall with the triumphant figure at the right who signals with a swathe of fabric to a rescue boat (just barely visible on the horizon). Gruesome yet gripping, Géricault’s painting was game-changer as it was one of the first to take its subject from a real-world event – The Medusa had been a French frigate that sank near Mauritania in 1816 – and conveyed through a powerful composition and somber palette the associated atrocities. James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1872-1877) Where to find it? The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA When James Abbott McNeill Whistler debuted his painting, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket at London’s Grosvenor Gallery in 1877, he introduced the world to a work that would become one of the most controversial in history. This painting, which exemplified Whistler’s increasingly abstract approach, served as the basis for one of the most contentious lawsuits in history in which Whistler sued leading art critic John Ruskin for libel after Ruskin debased Whistler’s painting as an abomination and as an affront to art’s legacy. Whistler won, and it proved to be a landmark in the evolution of the idea of “art for art’s sake,” that is, painting that explored pure creativity at a new level. Today, Nocturne in Black and Gold lives in the Detroit Institute of Arts, but a visit to explore its exploding colors – Whistler’s take on a firework exploding over the Thames River – can transport viewers back to the heated art world of Victorian-era London. Edgar Degas, Ballet Rehearsal (1873) Where to find it? Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA When we hear the word Impressionism we might immediately think of Monet’s water lilies or Renoir’s garden parties. An equally famous example of the movement, though, can be found in Edgar Degas’ Ballet Rehearsal, one of the treasures held by Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this painting, Degas captured in oil paint a convincing snapshot of the studio at work: dancers stand poised in position at the center of the studio while their colleagues stretch and observe in the back of the room. Key here is Degas’ artful use of color, with the pop of pink pointe shoes and delicate tulle skirts contrasting the drab hues that construct the studio itself designed to convey a bit of the magic of ballet during an everyday practice. What makes this painting a prime example of Impressionism, though, is the overall instantaneous quality Degas conveys. The momentary nature of choreography combined with the asymmetrical framing allow the viewer to be convinced we are sneaking a peek at this rehearsal and that, at any moment, the scene will change. Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-1886) Where to find it? The Art Institute, Chicago, USA In George Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, figures stretch across a rather expansive canvas as they enjoy the luxuries of Paris’ new and lush green spaces along the Seine River. All walks of life appear to enjoy all sorts of leisure, from casually strolling to reposing in the shade of trees and parasols. Seurat’s subject here is another type of snapshot of later nineteenth-century Parisian life, but what makes this painting particularly revolutionary was the way it was painted. Rendered in the technique of Pointillism, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was constructed from layer upon layer of small dots or dabs of paint. From a distance, these dots come together to convey this bucolic scene; up close, viewers are treated to myriad points of color that underscore the complexity of Seurat’s colors as a reminder of his incredible ability as an artist. Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893) Where to find it? The Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway In a conversation about the role of raw emotion in art, Edvard Munch’s The Scream is perhaps the most important within the collection of Oslo’s Munch Museum. It showcases the turn-of-the-century experimentation in the expressive quality of art. Described by the artist as his encapsulation of a scream of nature itself, Munch conveyed this intensity not only with the gaunt, ghostlike figure in the foreground who grips his cheeks in anxiety but also with the play of bold reds and oranges and deep blues that construct the landscape beyond. Munch’s palette emphasized the emotional impact of the work and thus demonstrated a key characteristic of the Expressionist movement that would grow in acclaim thanks to Munch’s iconic work. Pablo Picasso, The Ladies of Avignon (1907) Where to find it? The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA In the early years of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso was in a period of transition. Having emerged from artistic training steeped in the traditional Academic system, which stressed compositional rigor and refinement, Picasso seemed primed to push beyond these conventions. This desire reached a new pinnacle in 1907, when Picasso completed Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Ladies of Avignon), which today is recognized as the work that introduced the idea of Cubism to the art world. In this painting, Picasso captured a grouping of five female nudes through a series of planes of facets of color that combine into a geometric fracturing of the figure. In this process, Picasso also emphasized the surface of the painting by essentially eliminating the depth of the picture plane’s recession so that the eye cannot help but move between these colorful planes to reconstruct each body. This avant-garde approach in The Ladies of Avignon signaled a new direction that Picasso and his colleagues would explore for decades to come. Grant Wood, American Gothic (1930) Where to find it? The Art Institute, Chicago, USA While international art centers were exploding in new experimentations with modernist abstraction in the early years of the twentieth century, American artist Grant Wood eschewed the abstract approaches that were becoming popular everywhere else. In American Gothic, Wood showcases the power of America’s agrarian past in a scene that immortalizes a farmer and his wife set against the backdrop of the prototypical Midwestern farmstead. Wood’s painting, which debuted at the Art Institute of Chicago after its completion and still graces its collection today, was on the one hand a celebration of American resilience to inspire national recovery during the Great Depression; on the other hand, Wood experiments with his own play of surface here, particularly when the staged nature of his work – including his farmer, who was actually Wood’s dentist in real life – becomes apparent. Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940) Where to find it? The Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas, Texas, USA The Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin is fortunate to possess a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated female artists. An incredibly talented artist who is celebrated for her remarkably evocative self-portraits, Frida Kahlo often used her images as a space to release inner feelings of angst and turmoil, an outlet from her turbulent life following a near-death accident as a young girl that left her in pain for most of her life and a prolonged, problematic romantic relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera. Self-Portrait with a Thorn Necklace and a Hummingbird reveals a striking portrait of Frida herself as she gazes intently at the viewer. She is framed by a monkey to her left and black cat to her right, all of whom are set against a lush tropical landscape. Balancing this richness of life is the dead hummingbird suspended from her thorn necklace, a sobering reminder of the love and the loss that persisted throughout Frida’s life. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1981) Where to find it? The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, USA Considered one of the best paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat to reside in a museum collection, Basquiat’s Untitled within The Broad Museum of Los Angeles reveals the quintessential wonder that the famed yet short-lived artist Basquiat inspired among his fans. Incorporating the motif of the skull, Untitled reminds the viewer of the repeated theme of anatomy in Basquiat’s work, derived from his intensive study of a Gray’s Anatomy textbook he read while recovering from a serious accident as a boy. At the same time, the bold color and graffiti-like application of line and symbols showcase how Basquiat was able to elevate the language of street art to the finest galleries and museums around the world. The Top Fifteen Most Famous Works of Art . . . Don’t Go Far Enough! These fifteen famous paintings reflect some of the most striking in all of history. From the brilliant play of color in Northern Renaissance paintings like van Eyck’s to the tensions of symbols carefully choreographed across Basquiat’s most contemporary works, these paintings consistently proved to be some of the most visually captivating of all time. As we’ve illuminated, though, these paintings also tell stories that go beyond the surface to speak to the revolutions and innovations that artists have encouraged over the past six centuries of history. Why stop here, though? To pick just fifteen famous works means leaving many essential artistic voices out of the conversation. With this primer as your guide, the task is now yours to seek out your own favorites list of famous works of art.