World Famous Paintings: Can You Name Them?
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
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
