Famous Paintings Reviewed

Famous Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum

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The collection of famous paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is indisputably one of the world's most comprehensive.  Its 2 million square foot facility houses 2 million works of art spanning 5,000 years.  So where do you start in the Met Museum, and how do you avoid missing its most famous artwork?

When I first began frequenting art museums, I wanted to learn which famous paintings had profoundly shaped art history, which art museums housed them, and what political and social forces had shaped each famous painter and art painting. (Yep, I was in a hurry to learn art history!) I couldn't find a product that met these specs (other than one of my favorite but hefty art history books) so I created a portable guide to famous paintings called 250 Masterpieces in Western Painting.  It's a set of art history cards of the famous paintings discussed most often by art history experts, covering Renaissance paintings to Pop works of art. A/k/a 555 years of art history.

The famous paintings in boldface are in Masterpiece Cards, while the others are well-known but not as much (according to our pool of 40 art historians):

• Balthus.  Nude Before a Mirror.  Oil on canvas, 1955,

• Bierstadt, Albert. The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak. Oil on canvas, 1863
• Bingham, George Calleb. Fur Traders Descending the Missouri. Oil on canvas, ca. 1845 Below.  Read about this famous painting by Bingham).

• Bonheur, Marie-Rosalie (Rosa). The Horse Fair. Oil on canvas, 1853.  See it below, then read about other famous paintings by Bonheur.
• Boucher, Francois.  The Toilet of Venus.  Oil on canvas, 1751.
  

• Campin (The Master of Flemalle), Robert. Merode Altarpiece (Triptych of the Annunciation). Tempera and oil on wood, 1425 - 1430
• Caravaggio, (Michelangelo Merisi).The Musicians. Oil on canvas, ca. 1595.  See below.  Is it four young men, or two viewed from different angles? Answers are in Masterpiece Cards! Read about more famous paintings by Caravaggio.

• Christus, Petrus. A Goldsmith in his Shop, Possibly St. Eligius. Tempera and oil on wood, 1449
• Cole, Thomas. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, MA, after a Thunderstorm (The Oxbow). Oil on canvas, 1836.  See below. Customers of Masterpiece Cards know that the name "Noah" is hidden in this famous painting...

• Constable, John. Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds. Oil on canvas, circa 1825

• Courbet, Gustave. Woman with a Parrot. Oil on canvas, 1866

• Daumier, Honore. The Third Class Carriage. Oil on canvas, 1863 - 1865.  Below. An ardent defender of the poor and those who could, as here, only afford third-class rail tickets, Daumier frequently portrayed those displaced by industrialism.  

• David, Jacques-Louis. Death of Socrates. Oil on canvas, 1787.  Read about other famous paintings by David.
• Eakins, Thomas. Max Schmitt in a Single Scull. Oil on canvas, 1871
• El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos). View of Toledo. Oil on canvas, circa 1604 - 1614. Is this famous painting real or imagined? It's some of each, as explained in Masterpiece  Cards. 

• Goya, Francisco de. Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga. Oil on canvas, circa 1798
• Goyen, Jan van. Pelkus Gate near Utrecht. Oil on panel, 1646
• Hartley, Marsden. Portrait of a German Officer. Oil on canvas, 1914. In this famous painting, Hartley eulogizes a young Prussian lieutenant.  In Masterpiece Cards, we explore who he was, why he mattered to Hartley, and the meaning of the initials (Kv.F) and numbers ("4" and "24").  
  

• Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique. Princess de Broglie. Oil on canvas, 1853
• Kauffmann, Angelica. Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso. Oil on canvas, 1783.  Below. Kauffmann was one of the dominate female artists of her era. Astonishingly, she was forbidden - like other female painters - from sketching nude models of either gender. 

• Labille-Guiard, Adelaide. Self-Portrait with Two Pupils. Oil on canvas, 1785
• Louis, Morris. Alpha-Pi. Acrylic on canvas, 1961. Morris poured water-soluble acrylic paint on raw canvas, so that the paint seeped into the canvas' weave rather than sitting on the surface. 

• Matisse, Henri. Promenade Among the Olive Trees. Oil on canvas, 1905
• Memling, Hans. Maria Baroncelli Portinari and Tommaso di Folco Portinari. Oil on wood, circa 1470
• Modigliani, Amedeo Reclining Nude.  Oil on canvas, 1917
• Monet, Claude. Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (In Sun).  Oil on canvas, 1894.  Read about another famous painting by Monet.
  
• Murillo, Bartolome Esteban. The Virgin and Child. Oil on canvas, 1675 - 1680
• O'Keeffe, Georgia. Black Iris III, Oil on canvas, 1926
• Panini, Giovanni Paolo. Modern Rome. Oil on canvas, 1757.  Below. Inspired by Rome's standing buildings and abundant ruins, Panini painted them and embellished the scenes with imaginary backgrounds. The art analysis in Masterpiece Cards identifies the buildings and artwork in this painting.
  

• Picasso, Pablo. Portrait of Gertrude Stein. Oil on canvas, 1906.  Read about famous paintings by Picasso. 
• Pollock, Jackson. Autumn Rhythm (Number 30). Oil on canvas, 1950.
• Rembrandt. Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer.  Oil on canvas, 1653. See work of art below, and read an art analysis of it. 

• Rubens, Peter Paul. Venus and Adonis.  Oil on canvas, circa 1635. Discover the history of this famous painting by Rubens. 
• Sargent, John Singer. Madame X. Oil on canvas, 1894.  Below.  Read about this "scandalous" work of art and other famous paintings by Sargent.

• Stuart, Gilbert. George Washington.  Oil on canvas, 1795
• van Goyen, Jan. Pelkus Gate near Utrecht.  Oil on panel, 1646
• Velazquez, Diego. Juan de Pareja.  Oil on canvas, 1650.  Given that most of Velazquez's work is in Spain, don't miss this gem!

• Vermeer, Jan. Young Woman with a Water Jug.  Oil on canvas, circa 166.
• Watteau, Jean-Antoine. Mezzetin.  Oil on canvas, circa 1718.

Note:  Curious about Masterpiece Cards and simplifying art history? See samples and learn more by clicking here: www.TheMasterpieceCards.com. 

Know a great thing when you see it? Order Masterpiece Cards - we guarantee satisfaction or your money back... but you won't need to use our policy!