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The Last Supper, 1495-1498By: Leonardo da Vinci

A fifteenth century mural painting done in Milan by da Vinci, The Last Supper depicts the final feast Jesus had with his Twelve Apostles during which he announces one of

them would betray him.

School of Athens, c. 1510By: Raphael

The School of Athens (or Scuola di Atene in Italian) was one of Raphael’s commissions in the Stanze di Raffaello in the Vatican. The School of Athens is

considered Raphael’s master artwork and is considered the perfect example of High Renaissance art.

Mona Lisa, c. 1503-1519By: Leonardo da Vinci

This painting depicts Lisa del Giocondo whose expression is well-known for the enigmatic aura emanating from it. The Mona Lisa is possibly the most

famous painting in the world of all time.

Whistler’s Mother, 1871By: James McNeill Whistler

Whistler painted his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler, when the original model failed to come to the appointment. The painting was not well-received when he submitted it to the Royal Academy of Art in London for exhibition,

but shortly later the public showed much respect and deference for it, quickly restoring Whistler’s honor.

The Starry Night, 1889By: Vincent van Gogh

Considered to be the best and most famous work of Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night was created from memory and portrays

the sight outside the window of his sanitarium room at night.

The Scream, 1893By: Edvard Munch

In a series of paintings reproduced with various media known as Scream, EdvardMunch conveys an extremely anxious and trembling person standing at the fenced edge of a road. The scene was identified as the view from a road overlooking Oslo,

Norway.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1829-32By: Katsushika Hokusai

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print that is Hokusai’s most famous work. This woodblock is the most well-known piece of Japanese art in the world. It

depicts an giant wave towering boats near Kanagawa. Mt. Fuji appears in the background.

The Son of Man, 1964By: Rene Magritte

Magritte painted The Son of Man, or Le fils de l’homme, as a self-portrait. The painting depicts a man in a suit with a bowler hat; his face is mostly obscured by a green apple. The theme of the art work is a conflict between that which is visible

and that which is hidden. The parts of a person we want to see is often obscured by what is visible.

Posted by Rick Raule on February 8, 2012 in Arts, Entertainment

No. 5, 1948 (Jackson Pollock)Pollock’s abstract, almost violently expressionist, styletends to divide people into two large groups: those whothink that he ran the greatest long con in history bydisguising paint drippings as art, and those who think thathe was just really untalented and most of his paintingswere meant to be bowls of fruit. There however is a third,tiny group of people who genuinely admire Pollock’s workand are ready to pay big money for it. 156.8 million(adjusted for inflation), real American dollars, to be exact,which is what Pollock’s No. 5, 1948 fetched in 2006 afterbeing sold to an anonymous buyer.

Black Square (Kazimir Malevich)The Ukraine-born Malevich is credited as the creatorof Suprematism which, to my surprise, is an actualname of a real art form. The basics of Suprematismboil down to “simple geometric shapes” and BlackSquare might be the style’s greatest example. It’sbold, yet timid. Passionate, yet lifeless. Square, andyet round. It’s just a black square, but even thoughlooks more like a parody of a real painting, don’t let itfool you; almost every work by Malevich is worthupwards to a million dollars.

Composition 8 (Vasily Kandinsky)Though no one has a definite answer to the question of “What isart?” many people may agree on something like “Whatever iscreated to convey a message from the author” and, in this regard,Kandinsky out-arts all the other suckers in the business.

Kandinsky spent his life trying to find the perfect combination ofshapes and colors to show people just how he saw and experiencedthe world. Now, looking at Composition 8, you’re in your rights tothink that he was obviously a dangerous loon with at least threeschizophrenias, but modern researchers believe Kandinsky was infact suffering from synesthesia, a condition which sort of mixes one’ssenses. A person with synesthesia might thus actually hear colorand see music and, if that was the case with Kandinsky, then thatman lived in a colorful, melodious universe that us mere mortals canonly dream of ever understanding.

Guernica (Pablo Picasso)You can’t really see it here, but Picasso’s Guernica isHUGE, measuring 11×25.6ft . It features humans, animalsand buildings, all depicted in that famous Picasso stylewhich I still claim was an inside joke of his that got out ofhand, but let’s move past that. Guernica is definitely oneof the most all-encapsulating Picasso works, but whatreally sets it apart from the others is itsmessage. Examining it, you can’t help but feel a littleuncomfortable. The twisted faces, the solemn colors…it’sall a little…unnerving. And that’s the point, because thepainting was meant to represent the horrors of war.

The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli)

Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is beautifulwith the colors and the composition and allthat other crap but here’s the thing: thatVenus is totally hot. Not too skinny, not toochubby, her hair might very well be blonde,red or light brown and ,though she’snaked, she only lets you see enough tokick-start your imagination into a wildfrenzy.

Saturn Devouring His Son (Francisco Goya)Francisco “Raven” Goya, with a solid helping of sanity-shattering

nightmare fuel. Look at that thing. Look at its bizarre hobo beard.

Look at the huge anime-esque eyes and the bodybuilder

physique. LOOK AT IT TOTALLY EATING A GUY AND LETTING

YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE NEXT. Crap on a stick, that is some

sick stuff. But it has a reasonable explanation. That monster thing is

Saturn, a Roman god said to devour his children because it was

foretold that one of them will overthrow him. It is pretty gruesome,

but at least there’s some reason behind it. However, why Goya

decided to paint THAT in his dining room will remain a mystery to

all of us who don’t constantly hear the crying of a thousand infants in

our heads like Goya obviously did.

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