Posted by Susan Benford
Which famous paintings have had the greatest impact on art history? And which famous painters, too? A tall (and subjective) order, for sure, but one that's approachable with a simple methodology.
Here's how: starting with major art history textbooks (those used in AP art history, college art history, and art appreciation courses) and "Best of" art books (like the late Thomas Hoving's Greatest Works of Art in Western
Civilization), we recorded which famous paintings were discussed by this array of some forty art historians (in some 17,000 pages). We counted the "votes", or citations, for each famous artwork, beginning with Renaissance paintings and ending with early Pop art. And then we plucked out the 250 most-cited art paintings.
Curious which famous paintings were discussed, analyzed and assessed most often?
In third place, a tie among these five famous paintings:
Pablo Picasso, Guernica. Reina Sofia, Madrid.
Raphael, Philosophy (School of Athens), Vatican, Rome.
Jean-Antoine Watteau, Embarkation for Cythera. Louvre, Paris.
Matthias Gruenewald, The Isenheim Altar. Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France.
These famous artworks received the second most citations:
Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.
Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor). Museo del Prado, Madrid.
And the painting that was most discussed by these luminaries of art history? Les Demoiselles by Pablo Picasso. Indisputably one of the most famous paintings of the world, it may be seen at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Know an art history know-it-all? Let'em try to name these famous paintings!
Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles. Oil on canvas, 1907. 8' x 7' 8". Museum of Modern Art, New York
Read and discover more about art history with Masterpiece Cards, art history cards of 250 famous paintings made between the Renaissance and 1960s. Each art painting is both reviewed by an art historian (or two), who places the work in its historical and social context, and brilliantly reproduced, with art museum approved images. Discover Masterpiece Cards here!
Posted by Susan Benford
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland, the son of a Calvinist pastor. His early life was marked by career uncertainty: he left school in 1869 to work for an art dealer, who fired him seven years later; he spent two years as a lay preacher working with impoverished miners, but was denied ordination because Calvinist authorities considered him overly passionate. At the age of 27, van Gogh resolved to become an artist, receiving lifelong emotional and financial support from his brother, Theo. This support included frequent letters written between the two, providing an boon for art history - they facilitate analysis of the relationship between each of van Gogh's works of art and the historical context in which it was painted (click van Gogh letters for the complete English transcriptions of all 900+ letters to and from him).
From 1883 to 1885, van Gogh painted at his father's vicarage in Nuenen, Holland, where he painted The Potato
Jean-Francois Millet, The Sower. Oil on canvas, 1850. 40" x 32.5". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Eaters. In it, his empathy toward coal miners reveals influences from 19th century Realism, from van Gogh's personal ministry with this same population, from the famous painter, Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875), and from his lesser known contemporary, Jozef Israels (1824-1910). The realistic art and peasant imagery of Millet were enormously influential on van Gogh, especially Millet's famous painting, The Sower. In a letter to Theo describing
Jozef Israels, Peasant Family at Table. Oil on canvas, 1882. Approximately 28" x 41". Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdamhis own painting of peasants, van Gogh said, "While I was doing it I thought again about what has so rightly been said of Millet's peasants - ‘His peasants seem to have been painted with the soil they sow'". Van Gogh also admired Israels, a painter of fishermen and peasants whom van Gogh described to Theo as the "Dutch Millet". Israels' Peasant Family at Table doubtlessly motivated van Gogh to create his own version of a peasants' meal.
Compositionally, The Potato Eaters echoes Israels' work of art. Van Gogh's painting, however, has darker hues, an impasto paint texture, and more influence of Rembrandt's tenebrism (a painting style employed by Caravaggio and followers in which a few objects are brightly lit while the majority are in heavy shadow). Its
Vincent van Gogh, The Potato Eaters. Oil on canvas, 1885. Approximately 32" x 45". Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdamperspective is askew - look how abruptly the ceiling beams recede - and reveals van Gogh's technical naivete. Perhaps this lack of experience permits his passion to exude, however. The peasants' gnarled hands and fingers evince severe arthritic pain, while the folds and wrinkles in their tattered clothing seem to restrain some unwieldy force within. On the wall, the Crucifixion picture and clock seem poised to jump off the wall rather than remain attached. This explosive energy within this work of art is a heartfelt but unsentimental contrast to its solemnity and tranquility, in which these peasants have merely coffee and potatoes to eat after a physically taxing day. Van Gogh was pleased with Potato Eaters, writing to Theo that "in contrast to a great many other paintings, it has rusticity and a certain life in it. And then, although it's done differently, in a different century from the old Dutchmen, Ostade, for instance, it's nevertheless out of the heart of peasant life and - original."
Van Gogh's painting career was tragically abbreviated by his unspecifiable mental illness; the physician who admitted him to a psychiatric hospital in 1888 noted that Van Gogh had "acute mania with hallucinations of sight and hearing." His failure to achieve financial stability was profoundly troubling - in his lifetime, he sold only one painting, Red Vineyard at Arles, had no patrons, and was forced to remain financially dependent on Theo. Although he had 
recently received a postive review from the art critic Alberet Aurier (read it here), van Gogh shot himself and died in 1890.
Van Gogh's impact on art history is incalcuabale: in one decade, he created roughly 1000 works of art (including 70 paintings in his final 70 days) and inspired Fauvists, Expressionists and legions of famous painters including Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Matisse (1869 - 1854), Maurice Vlaminck (1876 - 1958), Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876 - 1907), and Francis Bacon (1909 - 1992). Even with the brevity of his life, van Gogh remains one of the most famous artists in art history.
Van Gogh, Red Vineyard in Arles. Oil on canvas, 1888. Pushkin Museum.
Posted by Susan Benford
What a bold question -- and a foolhardy one, too, if identifying "the" world famous paintings is merely one person's opinion.
But this list of 250 famous paintings is derived from multiple opinions and from many pros - it's a consensus from over forty art historians who've written prominent art history textbooks (for details, see "Methodology" and "References" below). According to them, the world famous paintings in Western art (from the Renaissance to the 1960s) are these:
Albers, Homage to the Square: Ascending// Altdorfer, Alexander's Victory (Battle of Alexander at Issus)// Angelico, Annunciation// Bacon, Figure with Meat// Baldung Grien,The Three Ages of Man and Death// Balthus, Nude Before a Mirror// Beckmann, Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery// Bellini, Saint Francis in the Desert & The Doge Leonardo Loredan// Bierstadt,The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak// Boccioni, Dynamism of a Human Body// Bonheur,The Horse Fair// Bonnard,The Open Window// Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights//Botticelli,The Birth of Venus & Mystical Nativity// Boucher, The Toilet of Venus// Braque, Fishing Boats// Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid// Brueghel the Elder, Peasant Wedding & The Return of the Hunters// Campin (Master of Flémalle), The Annunciation Triptych (Mérode Altarpiece)// Canaletto, Venice: Campo San Vidal and Santa Maria della Carità (The Stonemason's Yard)// Caravaggio,The Conversion of St. Paul & The Musicians// Carracci,Loves of the Gods// Cassatt, Boating Party// Castagno, David with the Head of Goliath// Cézanne, Valley of the Arc & The Large Bathers// Chagall, I and the Village// Chardin, The Kitchen Maid// Chirico, The Soothsayer's Recompense// Church, Niagara// Close, Big Self Portrait// Clouet, A Lady in her Bath// Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm - The Oxbow// Constable, The Hay Wain// Copley,The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781// Corot, Le Port de la Rochelle (The Harbor of La Rochelle)// Correggio,The Assumption of the Virgin & Jupiter and Io// Cortona, Triumph of Divine Providence// Courbet, Burial at Ornans & The Painter's Studio: An Allegory// Cranach, Rest on the Flight into Egypt// Cuyp,The Maas at Dordrecht// da Vinci, The Last Supper & The Mona Lisa// Dalí,The Persistence of Memory// Daumier,The Third-Class Carriage// Gerard David,The Wedding at Cana// Jacques Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii between the Hands of Their Father & The Death of Marat// Davis, Swing Landscape// de Kooning,Woman I// Degas, In a Café (L'Absinthe) & Dancing Lesson// Delacroix, Dante and Virgil & Death of Sardanapalus// Derain, Mountains at Collioure// Dubuffet, Le Métafisyx// Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2// Dufy, Street with Flags// Dürer, Self -Portrait// Eakins,The Gross Clinic// El Greco, View of Toledo// Elsheimer,The Flight to Egypt// Ensor, Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889// Ernst,The Attirement of the Bride (La Toilette de la mariée)// Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi// Fabritius,The Goldfinch// Fragonard,The Swing// Francesca, Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino & The Baptism of Christ// Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea// Friedrich, Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog// Fuseli, The Nightmare// Gainsborough, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews// Gauguin, Spirit of the Dead Watching & Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going?// Gaulli, Triumph of the Name of Jesus and the Fall of the Damned// Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes// Géricault, Raft of the "Medusa"// Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni// Giorgione, La Tempesta (The Tempest)// Gorky, The Liver is the Cock's Comb// Goya, The Duchess of Alba, Executions of the Third of May, 1808, & The Family of Charles IV// Gozzoli, The Adoration of the Magi// Greuze, Betrothal in the Village// Gris, Le Déjeuner// Gros, Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Victims of the Plague at Jaffa, 11 March 1799// Grosz,The Funeral - Dedicated to Oskar Panizza// Grüenewald,The Isenheim Altar// Guardi, Gala Concert in Honour of Princess Maria Fedorowna in Venice// Hals, Banquet of the Officers of the Civic Guard of St. George// Hartley, Portrait of a German Officer// Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom// Hockney, American Collectors (Fred and Marcia Weisman)// Hodler,The Stockhorn Group on the Lake of Thun// Hofmann, The Gate// Hogarth, Marriage à la Mode: The Tête à Tête// Holbein the Younger, Henry VIII & Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve ('The Ambassadors')// Homer, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)// Hooch, Courtyard of a House in Delft// Hopper, Nighthawks// Hunt, The Awakening Conscience// Indiana,The Figure Five// Ingres, Valpinçon Bather & Oedipus and the Sphinx// Johns, Three Flags// Jordaens, Portrait of the Artist's Family in the Garden// Kahlo,Self-Portrait with Monkey// Kalf, Still Life with Lobster, Drinking Horn and Glasses// Kandinsky, Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)// Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures// Kelly, Red Blue Green// Kirchner, Two Women in the Street// Klee, Senecio// Klimt, The Kiss// Kokoschka,The Bride of the Wind (Windsbraut)// La Tour, The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame// Lam, Initiation// Léger,The City// Leibl, Three Women in a Church// Leyster, Self-Portrait// Lichtenstein, Whaam!// Limbourg Brothers, Les Très Riches du Duc de Berry, February// Lippi,The Coronation of the Virgin// Lorrain, Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba// Lotto, Portrait of a Young Man// Louis, Alpha-Pi// Mabuse, Saint Luke Painting the Virgin// Magritte, The Menaced Assassin// Malevich, Black Square// Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère & Olympia// Mantegna, Camera degli Sposi (Room of the Newlyweds)// Marc, Large Blue Horses // Masaccio, Holy Trinity// Matisse, The Dance & The Red Room (Harmony in Red)// Matta, Je m'honte// Memling, Maria Portinari (Maria Maddalena Baroncelli) and Tommaso di Folco Portinari// Michelangelo, Holy Family (Doni Tondo) & The Sistine Chapel ceiling// Millais, Ophelia// Millet, The Gleaners// Miró, Painting// Modersohn-Becker, Seated Nude with Flowers// Modigliani, Nude on a Blue Cushion// Monet, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (In Sun) & Impressionism: Sunrise// Moreau, The Apparition// Morisot, Summer's Day// Motherwell, Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34// Munch, The Scream// Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of the Escorial// Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimus// Noland, Gift// Nolde, Masks// O'Keeffe, City Night// Panini, Modern Rome// Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck// Perugino, Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter// Picasso, Les Desmoiselles, Guernica & Three Dancers// Pippin, Domino Players// Pissarro, La Place Du Théâtre Français// Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)// Pontormo, Entombment// Poussin, Landscape with Saint John on Patmos & A Dance to the Music of Time// Prud'hon, Empress Josephine// Puvis De Chavannes, The Sacred Grove, Beloved of the Arts and the Muses// Quarton, Pieta de Villeneuve d'Avignon// Raphael, Madonna of the Meadow & Philosophy (School of Athens)// Rauschenberg, Reservoir// Reinhardt, Abstract Painting, Blue// Rembrandt, Return of the Prodigal Son & Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq ("Night Watch")// Reni, Aurora// Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party// Reynolds, Mrs. Elisha Mathew// Ribera, The Club-footed Boy// Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV// Rivera, Controller of the Universe// Romano, Fall of the Giants from Mount Olympus// Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation)// Rothko, No. 61 (Rust and Blue) [Brown Blue, Brown on Blue]// Rouault,The Old King// Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer (Le Douanier)// Theodore Rousseau, The Forest of Fontainebleau, Morning// Rubens, The Disembarkation of Maria de' Medici at the Port of Marseilles on November 3, 1600 & The Judgement of Paris// Ruysch, Flower Still Life// Ruysdael, Two Watermills and an Open Sluice at Singraven, Netherlands// Sánchez Cotán, Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber// Sargent, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit// Schiele, Portrait of Paris von Gütersloh// Schlemmer, Bauhaus Stairway// Schmidt-Rottluff, Manor in Dangast, Gramberg Houses// Schongauer, Madonna of the Rose Bower// School of Fontainebleau, Diana the Huntress// Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte-1884// Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell// Soutine, The Little Pastry Cook// Stael, Musicians// Steen, The Christening Feast// Stella, Tahkt-i-Sulayman I// Stuart, George Washington// Tanguy, The Five Strangers// Tanner, Annunciation// Teniers, The Archduke Leopold's Gallery// ter Borch, The Letter// Tiepolo, Rinaldo Under the spell of Armida//Tintoretto, The Last Supper// Titian, Venus of Urbino, Le Concert champêtre (Pastoral Concert), & Madonna of the Pesaro Family// Toulouse-Lautrec, At The Moulin Rouge// Turner, Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On)// Uccello, The Battle of San Romano (1423)// van der Weyden, The Escorial Deposition (or Descent from the Cross)//van Dyck, Equestrian Portrait of Charles I// van Eyck, Madonna adored by the Canonicus Van der Paell & Man in a Red Turban// van Gogh, Bedroom at Arles, The Starry Night & The Night Café// van Goyen, The Pelkus Gate near Utrecht// Vasarély, Arcturus II// Velázquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor) & Surrender at Breda (The Lances)// Vermeer, View of Delft, Netherlands, After the Fire & Woman Holding a Balance// Veronese, Last Supper (Christ in the House of Levi)// Vigée-Lebrun, Marie-Antoinette and her Children// Vuillard, Interior with Work Table (The Suitor)// Warhol, Marilyn Diptych// Watteau, Embarkation for Cythera// Wesselmann, Great American Nude No. 57// West, Penn's Treaty with the Indians// Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold - The Falling Rocket, & Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl// Witte, Interior of a Church// Witz, The Calling of St. Peter (The Miraculous Draught of Fishes)// Wood, American Gothic// Wright of Derby, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump// Zurbarán, Saint Serapion.
REFERENCES:
- Laurie Schneider Adams, Art Across Time.
- Carol Strickland, Ph.D. and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa.
- H. H. Arnason and Peter Kalb, History of Modern Art.
- Robert Cumming, Annotated Art.
- Jonathan Fineberg, Art Since 1940.
- Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages.
- Frederick Hartt, Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
- Hugh Honour and John Fleming, The Visual Arts: A History.
- H. W. Janson, History of Art.
- H. W. Janson and Anthony F. Janson, A Short History of Art.
- Martin Kemp, The Oxford History of Western Art.
- Penelope J. E. Davies et al, Janson's History of Art: Western Tradition.
- Marilyn Stokstad, Art History.
- Sister Wendy Beckett and Patricia Wright, The Story of Painting.
- Dr. Robert Belton, Art: The World of Art, from Aboriginal to American Pop, Renaissance Masters to Postmodernism.
- E. H. Gombrich. The Story of Art.
- Thomas Hoving. Greatest Works of Art of Western Civilization.
- Herbert Read. A Concise History of Modern Painting
- M. Therese Southgate, M. D. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association.
- Ingo F. Walther. Art of the 20th Century and Masterpieces of Western Art.
METHODOLOGY
Using the reference books above (some 17,000 pages of art history), I recorded which famous paintings were reproduced in each text. From this database, I counted the number of citations for each work and generated a list of 250 masterpiece paintings. Presto!
Addendum: To ensure that the list represented diverse famous painters (Picasso, Goya, Titian and van Gogh alone could create a list of 250 masterpiece paintings!), I limited to three the number of paintings from each.
Questions? Comments? Wondering what happened with all this great data? Visit www.TheMasterpieceCards.com.
Susan Benford
