1) Mona Lisa - Leonardo Da Vinci (1503 - 1517)
- The Mona Lisa is an oil painting, with a cottonwood panel as the surface. It is unusual in that most paintings are commissioned as oil on canvas, but the cottonwood panel is part of what has attributed to the fame of the painting. Because of the medium used for the image, the Mona Lisa has survived for six centuries without ever having been restored–a trait very unusual when considering the time period of the piece.
The Mona Lisa is quite possibly the most well-known piece of painted artwork in the entire world. It was painted by the Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous Italian artist, between 1504 and 1519, and is a half body commission for a woman named Lisa Gherardini. Her husband, Francesco Del Giocondo requested the work by Da Vinci just after the turn of the century. It is perhaps the most studied piece of artwork ever known. The subject’s facial expression has brought about a source of debate for centuries, as her face remains largely enigmatic in the portrait. Originally commissioned in Italy, it is now at home in the French Republic, and hangs on display in the Louvre in Paris.
2) Creation of Adam – Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo (1508 - 1512)
- Of all the marvelous images that crowd the immense complex of the Sistine Ceiling, The Creation of Adam is undoubtedly the one which has most deeply impressed posterity. No wonder, for here we are given a single overwhelming vision of the sublimity of God and the potential nobility of man unprecedented and unrivaled in the entire history of visual art. No longer standing upon earth with closed eyes and mantle, the Lord floats through the heavens, His mantle widespread and bursting with angelic forms, and His calm gaze accompanying and reinforcing the movement of His mighty arm. He extends His forefinger, about to touch that of Adam, who reclines on the barren coast of earth, barely able as yet to lift his hand.
The divine form is convex, explosive, paternal; the human concave, receptive, and conspicuously impotent. The incipient, fecundating contact about to take place between the two index fingers has often been described as a spark or a current, a modern electrical metaphor doubtless foreign to the sixteenth century, but natural enough considering the river of life which seems about to flow into the waiting body.
3) Cafe Terrace at Night - Vincent Van Gogh (1888)
- The oil on canvas painting Café Terrace at Night is a Vincent van Gogh work completed in 1888. The painting is also referred to as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, and is held by the Kroller-Muller Museum in Ottelro in the Netherlands, which is home to the second largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings. The location for the work is a street in Arles, France. It remains virtually unchanged to the present day, and the café still exists but is now called Café van Gogh.
The café terrace itself dominates the left side of the painting. Several people are seated around the white tables on the terrace, which is covered by a large awning. A waiter, dressed predominantly in white, stands in front of one of the tables, holding a tray. Several of the tables are unoccupied. The right side of the painting depicts other buildings and several pedestrians on the cobbled street. Overhead, the sky is dotted with stars. Café Terrace at Night is the first Van Gogh painting to feature a star-studded sky.
4) The Starry Night - Vincent Van Gogh (1889)
- Starry Night is probably Vincent van Gogh's most famous painting. Instantly recognizable because of its unique style, this work has been the subject of poetry, fiction, CD-ROMs as well as the well known song "Vincent" or "Starry, Starry Night" by Don McLean.
The night sky depicted by Van Gogh in the Starry Night painting is brimming with whirling clouds, shining stars, and a bright crescent moon. The setting is one that viewers can relate to and Van Gogh´s swirling sky directs the viewer´s eye around the painting, with spacing between the stars and the curving contours creating a dot-to-dot effect. These internal elements ensure fluidity and such contours were important for the artist even though they were becoming less significant for other Impressionists. Thus Starry Night´s composition was distinct from the Impressionist technique of the 19th century.
The artist was aware that his Starry Night composition was somewhat surreal and stylized and in a letter to his brother he even referred to "exaggerations in terms of composition. " The vivid style chosen by van Gogh was unusual - he chose lines to portray this night scene when silhouettes would have been a more obvious choice.
In Starry Night contoured forms are a means of expression and they are used to convey emotion. Many feel that van Gogh´s turbulent quest to overcome his illness is reflected in the dimness of the night sky. The village is painted with dark colors but the brightly lit windows create a sense of comfort. The village is peaceful in comparison to the dramatic night sky and the silence of the night can almost be felt in Starry Night. The steeple dominates the village and symbolizes unity in the town. In terms of composition, the church steeple gives an impression of size and isolation.
In the left foreground is a curvy cypress tree which is typically associated with mourning. It is painted in the same way as the sky with fluid lines which enhances the flow of the Starry Night painting well as its easiness on the eye.
5) Poppies in a Field - Claude Monet (1886)
| - This particular masterpiece of Impressionist landscape painting was painted by Monet the year before the first of the Impressionist Exhibitions in 1874, and about the same time as he painted Impression: Sunrise (1873, Musee Marmottan, Paris). Poppy Field was painted in the area around Argenteuil, where Monet lived between 1871 and 1878. Evoking the resonant atmosphere of a stroll through the fields on a summer's day, it is now among the world's most famous landscape paintings of the 19th century. A woman and child (probably Monet's wife, Camille, and their son Jean.) walk through a field of thick grass; red poppies cloak the bank that rises to the left; while another woman and child appear at the top of this bank. There is no sign of any link between the two pairs of figures, and no obvious reason why the woman in the foreground has lowered her parasol. On the horizon a ragged line of trees closes off the field, with, at the centre, a single red-roofed house. Although it is a fine day, there are some clouds in the sky, which temporarily mask the sun. As a result, an even light is spread over the whole landscape. This is a very ordinary, pleasant scene, although the site is not especially picturesque; neither the lie of the land nor the trees in the background offer any particular interest. In fact, there are some suggestions that we are near a town, rather than in the heart of the countryside - the figures are dressed as middle class people rather than peasants, and the house in the background is a substantial villa, not a rural cottage. The scene probably is a meadow near Argenteuil, the town on the River Seine just north-west of Paris where Monet lived and painted at the time. |
6) Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee – Rembrandt (1633)
- Rembrandt’s most striking narrative painting in America, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, is also his only painted seascape. Dated 1633, it was made shortly after Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam from his native Leiden, when he was establishing himself as the city’s leading painter of portraits and historical subjects. The detailed rendering of the scene, the figures’ varied expressions, the relatively polished brushwork, and the bright coloring are characteristic of Rembrandt’s early style. Eighteenth-century critics like Arnold Houbraken often preferred this early period to Rembrandt’s later, broader, and less descriptive manner.
The biblical scene pitches nature against human frailty – both physical and spiritual. The panic-stricken disciples struggle against a sudden storm, and fight to regain control of their fishing boat as a huge wave crashes over its bow, ripping the sail and drawing the craft perilously close to the rocks in the left foreground. One of the disciples succumbs to the sea’s violence by vomiting over the side. Amidst this chaos, only Christ, at the right, remains calm, like the eye of the storm. Awakened by the disciples’ desperate pleas for help, he rebukes them: “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” and then rises to calm the fury of wind and waves. Nature’s upheaval is both cause and metaphor for the terror that grips the disciples, magnifying the emotional turbulence and thus the image’s dramatic impact.
7) The Girl With a Pearl Earring – Jan Vermeer (1665)
- Girl with a Pearl Earring was originally titled Girl with a Turban and it wasn't until the second half of the twentieth century that the name was changed. Regarded as Vermeer's masterpiece, this canvas is often referred to as the Mona Lisa of the North or the Dutch Mona Lisa.
The girl in this painting is believed to be Vermeer's eldest daughter, Maria, who was about twelve or thirteen-years-old at the time it was created. Her facial features appear in several of Vermeer's works but his various techniques on his subject make it difficult to compare the female faces in his paintings, as the woman are portrayed in different lighting conditions and poses.
There is very little information about Vermeer and his paintings. Girl with a Pearl Earring is signed "IVMeer" but there is no date on this work. It remains unknown whether or not this canvas was commissioned and if so, by whom. It's more likely that this image was a tronie, Dutch 17th-century description of a 'head' painting that was not intended as a portrait.
Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of over forty images of women created by Vermeer and thus it is obvious that he had a keen interest in women's socio-cultural roles. It could be argued that he valued their role in maintaining his idealist way of life by ensuring order within the household and raising children within Christian values. Therefore, women played a pivotal role in safeguarding tradition and moral values through the generations.
Vermeer depicted his women in thought-provoking stillness and also as encouraging images that inspired homogeny. With this painting the viewer is captured by the subject and believes they have caught her attention and caused her to turn her head. This is a sensual painting with the girl gazing at the viewer with wide eyes and a parted mouth and there is an air of mystery surrounding her identity.
In 1994 this canvas was restored which involved removing the yellowed varnish along with the retouches that had been made during previous restorations. This resulted in the vivid colors originally used by Vermeer shining through and the intimacy of the girl's gaze was also greatly enhanced.
8) Le Moulin de la Gallette – Jean Renoir (1876)
- Dance at le Moulin de la Galette is also known as Bal du moulin de la Galette and it is hailed as one of Renoir's most important works of the mid 1870s. The Moulin de la Galette was an open-air dancehall and café that was frequented by many artists living in Paris. Renoir attended Sunday afternoon dances and enjoyed watching the happy couples. For him, it provided the perfect setting for a painting.
Most of the figures featured in Dance at le Moulin de la Galette were Renoir's friends, but he also used a few professional models. Thus, it can be said that the scene he depicts is not a realistic representation of the Moulin's clientele, but rather an organized set of portraits.
This painting was first shown at the Impressionist exhibition of 1877 and demonstrated the original technique developed by Renoir. This canvas shows Renoir's friends, Frank Lamy, Norbert Goeneutte, and Georges Rivière gathered around the central table. Rivière, a writer who knew Renoir well at this time, wrote a review of Dance at le Moulin de la Galette in the journal L'Iimpressionniste which accompanied its exhibition. The writer referred to Dance at le Moulin de la Galette as a "page of history, a precious and strictly accurate portrayal of Parisian life. " Yet, others were not so kind. Many contemporary critics regarded this canvas as merely a blurred impression of the scene.
Known for his pleasant paintings, Dance at le Moulin de la Galette is regarded as one of the happiest compositions in Renoir's oeuvre. Today, it is on display at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and is one the most celebrated works in the history of Impressionism.
9) The Fighting Temeraire – John Turner (1838)
- The Temeraire had a dramatic and victorious career in her more useful days. She earned her legendary place in British naval history after coming to the aid of fellow British ship, the Victory, during the important Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Napoleon, along with his newly acquired French and Spanish fleets, raged an invasion against Britain.
It was the morning of October 21st, 1805. The Franco-Spanish fleet had 33 ships, the British only 22. Fortunately, among the 22 was the 98-gun Temeraire. British Captain Nelson arranged his fleet into two columns to attack the enemy head on. His ship, Victory, went straight through the line but not without absorbing significant damage. They hadn't even opened fired yet. Recovering from the blow, they managed to take down a French flagship, the Bucentaure.
Victory's further progress however was blocked by the French Redoutable. Coming to the rescue, the Temeraire thwarted the enemy ship from the opposite side. The Victory and Temeraire defeated Napoleon's forces with combined tactics. Eventually it was the Temeraire that ultimately lead Britain to victory. Though many of Britain's men were killed in this battle, Britain was not without triumph. The Battle of Trafalgar allowed the expansion of British colonial power for many years, keeping Napoleon out for good.
Turner wanted to give credit where credit was due. He desired to admire the glorious and passing age of the sail ship, replaced by the new age of steam and steel. He sought to evoke a sense of loss, and focused more on that quality than portraying complete accuracy. In reality it was said that the Temeraire was pulled by two tugs, not one. The scene was also without the beautiful sunset Turner afforded viewers. Once again, Turner took the liberty to romanticize a scene very close to his heart.
In The Fighting Temeraire the enchanting old war ship towers over the new steam power tug, a vessel that lacks personality and the story that the 'Fighting Temeraire' does. She is being tugged by this new ship, ultimately to her death. She will soon be broken up for scraps.
10) Dove of Peace – Picasso (1949)
- With Guernica hailed as one of the world's most moving anti-war paintings, Picasso was invited to design an image to represent peace.
Picasso's first Dove of Peace, chosen as the emblem for the First International Peace Conference in Paris in 1949, was a traditional, realistic picture of a pigeon which had been given to him by his great friend and rival, the French artist Henri Matisse.
Picasso later developed this image into a simple, graphic line drawing that is one of the world's most recognisable symbols of peace. He also named his fourth child 'Paloma', the Spanish word for 'dove'.
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