# The Greatest Paintings and Sculptures in History



## peeyaj

Here in TC, we spend our energy discussing the beauty in the medium of sound. This thread was made for the appreciation of visual arts.

I am not an artist. But upon seeing the great works of the great artists, I can't help but say to my self ''How I wish I could produce works like that..'' The creativity and artistry of human mind is astonishing.. Leonardo, Picasso, Rubens , van Gogh, Michangelo, etc.. These artists are of the highest caliber and produced works that is eternal.

*What do you think are the greatest work in the visual arts? *

Do you have a favorite piece? Does TC had an artist in residence here? What can you share about your work?

Here are two of my favorites which I consider one of the greatest.

*Pieta*










This is Micheangelo's at his supreme..

*Starry Starry Night*










Much like the artist who painted it, this painting is fascinating, mysterious and greatly revered.

How about yours?


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## Polednice

I find it very difficult to have more than a very superficial reaction to visual art (except architecture, though that's more about size and human accomplishment than about shapely beauty). I'm broken.


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## Manxfeeder

Hmm, "greatest" is a big word. I'd say just about anything by Raphael.










As far as favorites, that's easier for me to relate to. I'm partial to Mark Rothko's paintings, but you have to see them in person to get their full effect. Also, Remedios Varo is very interesting in her use of symbols.










August St. Gaudens' memorial to Clover Adams in Rock Creek Cemetery had a profound effect on me in a time of personal crisis, especially seeing it in a light rain. And as I said before, it has to be seen to get its full effect.


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## Art Rock

Franz Marc - Tiger


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## Xaltotun

Hum hum. There's quite a few of them! How about some of these?


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## Xaltotun

And these:


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## Webernite

You should tell us the names of the artists and the names of the works, Xaltotu. I'm not familiar with all these.


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## Xaltotun

Webernite said:


> You should tell us the names of the artists and the names of the works, Xaltotu. I'm not familiar with all these.


You're right. Sorry for not doing it in the first place! Anyway, here we go, from top to bottom:

Tintoretto: "Crucifixion". Rubens: "Fall of the Rebel Angels". Gentileschi: "Judith beheading Holofernes". Dürer: "Self portrait". David: "Oath of the Horatii"

and the sculptures:

Bernini: "Blessed Ludovica Albertoni". Cellini: "Perseus with the head of Medusa". Canova: "Amor and Psykhe". Unknown: "The Dying Gaul". Unknown: "Victory at (Nike of) Samothrace".


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## Webernite

Thank you. The Gentileschi's very pretty.


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## Xaltotun

Yes, it is! The ladies look like there's a real reason behind what they're doing. They're determined, nothing is going to stop them. And they are not out of their minds. To me, it looks like revenge... served _cold._


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## Manxfeeder

Xaltotun said:


> Yes, it is! The ladies look like there's a real reason behind what they're doing. They're determined, nothing is going to stop them. And they are not out of their minds. To me, it looks like revenge... served _cold._


I think his is a more realistic depiction than the one by Caravaggio.


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## pollux

The most beautiful painting ever. No I'm not going to say what it is!!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Carl Andre: Equivalent VIII*










Possibly one of the greatest minimalist sculptures ever created.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Jackson Pollock: Number 1*


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Edvard Munch: The Scream*


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## aleazk

pollux said:


> The most beautiful painting ever. No I'm not going to say what it is!!












Picasso's response


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## aleazk

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> *Jackson Pollock: Number 1*


there is a wonderful movie about Pollock's life, with Ed Harris.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

aleazk said:


> there is a wonderful movie about Pollock's life, with Ed Harris.


I've heard of it. Never seen it though. I am quite a fan of Pollock's abstract expressionist style.


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## StlukesguildOhio

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> *Carl Andre: Equivalent VIII*
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> Possibly one of the greatest minimalist sculptures ever created.


Or rather, possibly one of the dumbest works of "art" by an "artists" lacking any artistic skills whatsoever. The result of too much time spent in mental Onanism as a result of the shift in art education from the atelier and apprenticeship, to the university. A number of critics have observantly pointed out the irony involved in the fact that "artwork" such as Andre's intended to close the gap between Art and Life is the most dependent upon the context of art criticism and the art gallery/museum. A Rodin or Michelangelo in the parking lot is still recognized as clearly being art... albeit misplaced. Andre's work, on the other hand, is reduced to little more than a pile of bricks intended for some construction project.

And the twit almost certainly killed his wife.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Or rather, possibly one of the dumbest works of "art" by an "artists" lacking any artistic skills whatsoever. The result of too much time spent in mental Onanism as a result of the shift in art education from the atelier and apprenticeship, to the university. A number of critics have observantly pointed out the irony involved in the fact that "artwork" such as Andre's intended to close the gap between Art and Life is the most dependent upon the context of art criticism and the art gallery/museum. A Rodin or Michelangelo in the parking lot is still recognized as clearly being art... albeit misplaced. Andre's work, on the other hand, is reduced to little more than a pile of bricks intended for some construction project.
> 
> And the twit almost certainly killed his wife.


No I'm pretty sure _Equivalent VIII_ is *great art.*


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## StlukesguildOhio

Among my favorites:

*Michelagelo*- The Sistine frescoes:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Among my favorites:
> 
> *Michelagelo*- The Sistine frescoes:


Yes that is definitely a Michelangelo masterwork.


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## StlukesguildOhio

*Sandro Botticelli*-_Primavera_










*Sir Peter Paul Rubens:*

_Garden of Love_










_Family Portrait_










_Portrait of Susanna Fourment_










_Helena Wrapped in Fur_










_The Judgment of Paris_


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Piet Modrian: Composition with Red Yellow and Blue*


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## StlukesguildOhio

Rembrandt:

_Self Portrait, 1658_










_Self Portrait, 1658_










_Hendrickje Bathing_










_Jewish Bride_










_Conspiracy of Claudius Civilus_










_Bathsheba_


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Arnold Schoenberg: Self Portrait*


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## StlukesguildOhio

*Pierre Bonnard:*

_Bather_










_Nude at the Window_










_The Terrace at Vernonnet_










_Landscape at Vernonnet_










_The Palm_










_Mimosa_


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

*Frida Kahlo: Self Portrait as a Deer*


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## StlukesguildOhio

*Pierre Matisse:*

_Music_










_Morrocan Landscape_










_Le Rifan Assis_










_Zorah on Terrace_










_Goldfish_










_Nude sitting in an Armchair_


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## Xaltotun

Manxfeeder said:


> I think his is a more realistic depiction than the one by Caravaggio.


Yeah, Caravaggio is masterful and all, love him, but his is sort of staged, acted. BTW, Gentileschi was a woman, so it's "hers", not "his"  She had a rough life and was mistreated by men... almost all her works depict strong females "getting even"!


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## Xaltotun

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> *Piet Modrian: Composition with Red Yellow and Blue*


I'm not sure how much I actually like Mondrian's works (I certainly don't hate them), but I totally respect his attitude. A true artist.


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## Xaltotun

How's this for a _Gesamtkunstwerk?_


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## TxllxT

*Greatest Sculpture*

This equestrian statue of Jan Zizka, a Hussite Medieval warrior from Bohemia, on Zizka Hill in Prague probably is the greatest sculpture ever made


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## Couchie




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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Couchie said:


>


Typical Couchie behaviour posting that. :lol:


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## Xaltotun

Seems that this one didn't work out the last time, trying again:










Edit: oh, so now the picture works in my previous post as well. Gnnh, I hate the internet.


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## TxllxT

Better composer, better statue...


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## Huilunsoittaja

TxllxT said:


> Better composer, better statue...


Ayyyy you got that right!

:tiphat:


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## joen_cph

Recently presented in a TV-programme, these quite sensational Turkish monuments in stone 12.000 years old (yes, really, making them the first known stone temple structures and sculptures), excavated since 2008, have forced historians to revise theories on early civilization. They aren´t mentioned in mainstream current literature on early society, naturally, I only heard about them on TV, but they are 5000 years before the earliest known urban societies of the more well-described Catalhüyuk area. It is thought that they necessarily must imply the existence of paid, more or less full-time professional artists or artist-priests on the site, but that they probably constituted a meeting point of a mainly nomadic society.

http://www.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html


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## ZombieBeethoven

by Sesshu Toyo


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## peeyaj

No love for van Gogh?


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## Sid James

Certainly agree with Pollux, Velasquez's_ Las Maninyas _is one of the pinnacles of European painting. It's basically a painting about painting.

To answer who are my favourites, I'd have too many to list. So I will just give a selection. Not in any order, from top of my head...

*Malevich* -_ Suprematist Composition _(Russian, 20th century) -










*Degas *- _Absinthe_ (French, late 19th/early 20th centuries)










*Vasarely *- _Zebras _(Hungarian/French, 20th century)










*Lichtenstein* - _Amerind Landscape _(American, 20th century)










*Arcimboldo* - _The Gardener _(Italian, 16th century)


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## Sid James

& some sculptures -

*Brancusi* -_ Sleeping Muse _(Romanian/European, 20th century)










*Mestrovic* - _Madonna with CHildren _(Croatian, 20th century)










*Margit Kovacs *- _Young Girl _(Hungary, 20th century)










*African masks* are also amazing (they also influenced the Cubists - eg. Picasso, Braque) - here is one from the Dogon region of Mali -










*Rodin* - _Burghers of Calais _(detail) (French, 19th/20th centuries)


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## Sid James

& some Australians, all from the 20th century -

*Fred Williams* -_ Lysterfield Hillside II_










*Lawrence Daws* -_ Yam Creek_










Another by *Daws *-_ The Promised Land_










*Rover Thomas* -_ Dahlu Dahlu _(Aboriginal artist from Turkey Creek area)










*Russell Drysdale *- _Emus in A Landscape_


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## Jupiter

When I was in London last year I visited the National Gallery. Seeing this painting was a profoundly moving experience. The colours, the scale... no use gushing, you have to see the original for yourself.


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## science

Here is one I've always liked, _Christ of St. John of the Cross_, by Dali.


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## SiegendesLicht

This is much more beautiful than most of the stuff that passes for art nowadays.


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## sah

The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hieronymus Bosch


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## StlukesguildOhio

The Sears Tower?! God-awful ugly building... although the view from the top is spectacular.


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## Philip

Posted it in another thread, but i think it's worth reposting...

Waterhouse


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## Miaou

Netherlandish Proverbs and Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder


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## Miaou

Vilhelm Hammershøi


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## Cnote11

Johannes Vermeer


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## Cnote11

Pieter de Hooch


















I take an interest in the Dutch genre painters.


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## SiegendesLicht

Theodor Kittelsen, Boy on a White Horse








Very Nordic-looking, isn't it?

And Ivan Aivazovski, The Rainbow


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Miaou said:


> View attachment 4330
> View attachment 4331
> View attachment 4332
> View attachment 4333
> View attachment 4334
> 
> Vilhelm Hammershøi


Reminds me of


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## Argus

I have very simple tastes when it comes to paintings.

I like colour.

Bolotowsky









Kandinsky









Davis









Evertz









Anything like that, with patterns and geometric forms, but the main thing is good colours.

I even really like this Pet Shop Boys album cover:










Or this Beastie Boys album cover:


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## Mesa

I see your Kandinsky and raise (lower?) you my favourite Mondrian.









Favourite scupture has to me Michaelangelo's Dying Slave.


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## TxllxT

My favourite equestrian statue (in Teplice, one of Europe's oldest spa resorts)


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## Philip

The Kramer


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde




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## PetrB

Polednice said:


> I find it very difficult to have more than a very superficial reaction to visual art (except architecture, though that's more about size and human accomplishment than about shapely beauty). I'm broken.


Naw, its just not 'your thing.' After all the flap about criteria to judge 'greatness' in music, and all falling down to those messy words 'Aesthetics' and 'Subjective,' Nothing more will come of this than many different sets of tastes, probably all quite 'good taste,' but disparate.

Some one was lately talking of art, and mentioned Picasso as greater than Matisse - riled me up though I didn't respond, because Matisse is truly as great, innovative and important, Picasso merely more 'famous' as in household word where names of other painters are not known 

And so this thread will also go, likely heavy with "all the usual suspects," and on art up to about 1900 (...giggle.)


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## Mesa

Philip said:


> The Kramer


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## StlukesguildOhio

I have very simple tastes when it comes to paintings.

I like colour.

Simple tastes, indeed, Argus. Not a single one of those artists, excepting Kandinsky... and only considering his earlier paintings...










... could be considered great "colorists" by any stretch of the imagination. They are largely like children reduced to the eight-color box of Crayola crayons. Matisse was a colorist. Rubens was a colorist. Bonnard was a colorist. Degas was a colorist. Gauguin, Delacroix, and even Ingres were colorists. Van Gogh, George Tooker, and comparatively Francis Bacon and even DeKooning were colorists... but Bolotowsky?


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## Couchie

Très Masterpiece!


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## eorrific

Vermeer's The Milkmaid


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## SiegendesLicht

Couchie said:


> Très Masterpiece!


Couchie, visual art appreciation is really not your forte. Just stick to music, OK?


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## Cnote11

looks like i have to repost these since my previous post is now dead
Vermeer















De Hooch


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## Mesa

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I have very simple tastes when it comes to paintings.
> 
> I like colour.
> 
> Simple tastes, indeed, Argus. Not a single one of those artists, excepting Kandinsky... and only considering his earlier paintings...
> 
> ... could be considered great "colorists" by any stretch of the imagination. They are largely like children reduced to the eight-color box of Crayola crayons. Matisse was a colorist. Rubens was a colorist. Bonnard was a colorist. Degas was a colorist. Gauguin, Delacroix, and even Ingres were colorists. Van Gogh, George Tooker, and comparatively Francis Bacon and even DeKooning were colorists... but Bolotowsky?


I happen to like Steve Reich, would you say i have a simple taste in notes?


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## Cnote11

I'd say you have a superior taste in the world.


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## Argus

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I have very simple tastes when it comes to paintings.
> 
> I like colour.
> 
> Simple tastes, indeed, Argus. Not a single one of those artists, excepting Kandinsky... and only considering his earlier paintings...
> 
> ... could be considered great "colorists" by any stretch of the imagination. They are largely like children reduced to the eight-color box of Crayola crayons. Matisse was a colorist. Rubens was a colorist. Bonnard was a colorist. Degas was a colorist. Gauguin, Delacroix, and even Ingres were colorists. Van Gogh, George Tooker, and comparatively Francis Bacon and even DeKooning were colorists... but Bolotowsky?


They may be 'colourists' but they don't use colour in a way I like.

I don't know how you can say these:



















can compare to these:



















in terms of colour.

I'll take stark primaries over umbers and ochres any day, but I really like cyans and magentas.

How about some brightness.

Halley









Vaseraly


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## sah

SiegendesLicht said:


> Theodor Kittelsen, Boy on a White Horse
> View attachment 4344
> 
> 
> Very Nordic-looking, isn't it?
> 
> And Ivan Aivazovski, The Rainbow
> 
> View attachment 4345


I didn't know Aivazovski, but the painting reminded me so much of Turner:











> Turner loved to paint landscapes and nature. He was particularly fascinated with the extremes of nature such as violent storms. An apocryphal tale suggests Turner tied himself to the mast of a ship during a storm so he could witness the buffeting of nature.


http://www.biographyonline.net/artists/john-turner.html

Bacon is also one of my favorites:


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