The history of world painting has left behind hundreds of timeless classics. However, the popularity and fame of these paintings vary. Therefore, the British magazine Time Out has compiled a list of the 23 most famous paintings of all time. "We have our own opinions on what constitutes class and we present them here, in our list of the most beautiful paintings of all time. Let's debate the list," Time Out shared.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503 - 19
Where to view the painting: Louvre Museum in Paris
Painted between approximately 1503 and 1517, Da Vinci's portrait has been haunted by two questions since the day it was created: Who is the figure and why is she smiling? As for that famous smile, the mystery has driven people "crazy" for centuries.
Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665
Where to view the painting: Mauritshuis Collection in The Hague, Netherlands
The drawing of the girl is surprisingly realistic and modern, almost as if it were a photograph. This has led to debate about whether Vermeer used a pre-photographic device called a camera obscura to create the image. Leaving that aside, the model is unknown, although there is speculation that she may have been Vermeer's maid.
Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889
Where to view the painting: Museum of Modern Art, New York
Vincent Van Gogh's most famous painting was created by Van Gogh in the Saint-Rémy psychiatric hospital where he confined himself in 1889. The Starry Night seems to reflect his chaotic mental state at the time, with the night sky coming alive with swirling vortices and spheres of paint drawn frantically...
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907-1908
Where to view the painting: Belvedere Palace in Vienna
Adorned with gold leaf and lavishly decorated, *The Kiss* , Gustav Klimt's late-century painting depicting intimacy, is a fusion of Symbolism and Vienna Jugendstil, a variant of the Austrian New Art.
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1484-1486
Where to view the painting: Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy
Botticelli's *The Birth of Venus* was the first non-religious full-body nude painting since antiquity and was painted for Lorenzo de Medici. The painting itself was scheduled to be burned due to contemporary reactions, but somehow escaped destruction.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Gray and Black No.1, 1871
Where can I see the painting? At the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Whistler's Mother , or Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, was painted by James Abbott McNeill Whistler in his London studio in 1871, and in it, the solemnity of the portrait becomes an essay on form. Whistler's mother, Anna, depicted in the painting, has become a symbol of motherhood.
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of Arnolfini, 1434
Where can I see the painting? The National Gallery in London.
One of the most important works created during the Northern Renaissance, it is believed to be one of the first paintings executed in oil. A full-body double portrait, depicting an Italian merchant and a woman who may or may not be his bride. This work is one of the first paintings to depict interiors using an orthogonal perspective to create a sense of space seemingly adjacent to the viewer's own space; a feeling as if you could step into the painting.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Harvesters, 1565
Where you can see the painting: Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
The painting is considered one of the quintessential works of Western art. A group of farmers on the left are cutting and bundling wheat, while on the right, another group is eating lunch. A figure is lying down under a tree. This attention to detail continues throughout the painting as a parade of meticulous observations gradually narrowing into space.
Claude Monet, Dawn, 1874
Where you can see the painting: It is usually displayed at the Musée Marmottan Monet but is occasionally exhibited around the world.
A quintessential figure of Impressionism, Monet truly gave the movement its name with his painting of a sunrise over the harbor of Le Havre, his hometown. Monet was renowned for his studies of light and color, and this painting is a prime example, with its brushstrokes depicting the sun as an orange sphere piercing through the hazy blend of blue water and sky.
Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1819
Where you can see the painting: At Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany
This photograph, representative of the Romantic style in art, depicts a solitary hiker atop a mountain, pausing on a rocky outcrop to gaze around. His back is turned to the viewer, as if too captivated by the scenery to turn away...
The remaining 13 paintings on the list include: Hieronymus Bosch, *The Garden of Earthly Delights*, 1503–1515; Georges Seurat, *Sunday Evening on the Island*, 1884–1886; Pablo Picasso, *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon*, 1907; Édouard Manet, *Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe*, 1863; Piet Mondrian, *Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow*, 1930; Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, *Las Meninas*, or *The Family of King Philip IV*; Pablo Picasso, *Guernica*, 1937; Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, *Nude Maja*, circa 1797–1800; Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, *Grande Odalisque*, 1814; Eugène Delacroix, *Liberty Leading the People*, 1830; Théodore Géricault, Medusa's Raft, 1818-1819; Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942; Marcel Duchamp, Naked Descending the Stairs, No. 2, 1912.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-buc-tranh-noi-tieng-nhat-moi-thoi-dai-185250620163521442.htm
