Famous Paintings Reviewed

Famous Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum

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An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.

The collection of famous paintings at the Metropolitan Museum is one of the world's most comprehensive - and overwhelming.  This 2 million square foot facility houses 2 million works of art spanning 5,000 years of art history. 

How do see the some of the most famous paintings at the Metropolitan - while staying focused? Take along this itinerary! 

When I first began frequenting art museums, I wanted to know which famous paintings shaped art history, which art museums housed them, and what political and social forces influenced the famous painters (Yep, I was in a hurry to learn art history!)

I couldn't find a product to meet these specs, so I created one - a portable guide to the history of painting called 250 Masterpieces in Western Painting.  It's a set of art history cards exploring the famous paintings discussed most often by art history experts. 

The paintings in boldface are in Masterpiece Cards, while the other art paintings are slightly less well-known (according to consensus from some 40 art historians and their art history books): 

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

• Bierstadt, Albert. The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak. Oil on canvas, 1863. 

• Bonheur, Marie-Rosalie (Rosa). The Horse Fair. Oil on canvas, 1853.  Below. Masterpiece Cards customers know about an amusing recent discovery in The Horse Fair! Discover other famous paintings by Bonheur. And see Bonheur's miniscule study for Horse Fair at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. 

• 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 Caravaggio paintings, including Conversion of St. Paul, Cardsharps and Fortune Teller.

• 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.  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, ca. 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.  

Honore-Victorin Daumier.  The Third-Class Carriage, ca. 1863-65.  Oil on canvas, 25 3/4" by 35 1/2".  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

• David, Jacques-Louis. Death of Socrates. Oil on canvas, 1787.  Discover other Jacques Louis David paintings like Death of Marat. 

• 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, one of the best known El Greco paintings, real or imagined? It's some of each, as explained by the art analysis in Masterpiece Cards. 

El Greco. View of Toledo, ca. 1604-14. Oil on canvas, 47 3/4" by 42 3/4".  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

• Goya, Francisco de. Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga. Oil on canvas, circa 1798.  Explore more Goya paintings including the political masterpiece, The Third of May. 

• 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 most prominent 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. Masterpiece Cards' customers learn why Morris' paintings were considered "breakthrough" in art history -- literally and figuratively!

• Matisse, Henri. Promenade Among the Olive Trees. Oil on canvas, 1905.  Explore the art history behind two famous paintings by Matisse at the Hermitage, The Dance and The Music. 

• 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 Monet paintings. 

• 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. 

• Picasso, Pablo. Portrait of Gertrude Stein. Oil on canvas, 1906.  Read about more Picasso paintings, like Las Meninas Picasso and Portrait of Gertrude Stein. 

• Pollock, Jackson. Autumn Rhythm (Number 30). Oil on canvas, 1950.

• Rembrandt. Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer.  Oil on canvas, 1653. 

• Rubens, Peter Paul. Venus and Adonis.  Oil on canvas, circa 1635. Discover the art history behind Venus and Adonis, one of the most beloved Rubens paintings. Hint: Rubens was riffing on another version of Venus and Adonis! 

• Sargent, John Singer. Madame X. Oil on canvas, 1894.  Below.  Read about this "scandalous" work of art and other John Singer Sargent paintings, and learn about more of the most controversial paintings in art history.

• 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.  With most Velazquez paintings in Spain, don't miss one of the few Velazquez paintings in the U.S. 

• Vermeer, Jan. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher.  Oil on canvas, ca. 1662. Explore other Vermeer paintings, including one of the most beloved Vermeer paintings, Allegory of Painting. 

• Watteau, Jean-Antoine. Mezzetin.  Oil on canvas, circa 1718.

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