Top 10 Paintings Of all Time

Our universe is a mix of art and science, and our brains were designed in such a way that they involve both imaginative and critical reasoning. It’s okay to be rational, but to understand life’s deeper meaning, one must reconnect with the imaginative portion of the brain, just as one did when they were kids with blank pages, pencil pens, crayons, and erasers. So, let us set aside some time to look at some of the most well-known paintings produced by artists who have dedicated their lives to mastering the craft.

The Old Guitarist

Picasso produced this painting shortly after the death of a dear friend in 1903. This artwork depicts an elderly, blind, and exhausted man playing his guitar in the streets of Barcelona, his shoulders bare. Picasso was more sympathetic than anything else at the moment. He produced a number of paintings that depict the plight of the needy, the sick, and others that have been thrown out of society. He was aware of that situation.

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights

 

This fantastical triptych is also seen as a forerunner to Surrealism. In fact, it’s the work of a late mediaeval artist who believed in the existence of God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell. The left panel depicts Christ introducing Eve to Adam, while the right panel depicts the horrors of Hell; it’s unclear if the middle panel depicts Heaven or not. A gigantic pair of ears wielding a phallic knife threatens the damned in Bosch’s perverse image of Hell, as a bird-beaked bug king with a chamber pot for a crown sits on its throne, devouring the damned before promptly defecating them out again. This riot of symbols has largely escaped interpretation, which may explain its universal popularity.

Pablo Picasso

José Ruiz Blasco, a professor of painting, and Maria Picasso López were the parents of Pablo Picasso. His unusual drawing ability started to show at the age of ten when he became his father’s student in A Corua, where the family settled in 1891. The African-influenced striations and masklike heads were replaced in 1908 by a technique that introduced elements he and his new friend Georges Braque discovered in the work of Cézanne, whose shallow space and characteristic planar brushwork are particularly noticeable in Picasso’s 1909 work. For the first time in Picasso’s career, still, lives, influenced by Cézanne, became an interesting theme.

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, the “Renaissance Man,” is the only artist who appears twice on this list. “The Last Supper,” painted at a period when biblical imagery was still a common artistic subject, portrays Jesus’ last meal with his disciples before his crucifixion. The artwork is essentially a large fresco, measuring 4.6 metres (15 feet) in height and 8.8 metres (28.9 feet) in width, making for a striking visual experience.

The Scream

“The Scream” is a collection of works, not a single piece of art. There are two oils, two pastels, and an undisclosed number of prints, according to a British Museum site. The works are on display at the National Museum and the Munch Museum, with one of the pastels fetching almost $120 million at auction in 2012. The androgynous figure in the foreground of the Art Nouveau-style artwork is attempting to blot out a piercing shriek emanating from nature, rather than producing the scream. It was influenced by a real-life encounter Munch had when out for a sunset walk in Oslo, when his senses were distracted by a dramatic red hue.

The Kiss

Byzantine artistic influences can be seen in the highly decorated robes worn by the romantic, life-sized couple, which date from Klimt’s “Golden Era.” Klimt gives a “general allegorical remark about love being at the centre of human life,” according to the Upper Belvedere. People tend to agree, based on its magnetic attraction. Though “The Kiss” is not for sale, other Klimt works are often purchased and sold for large amounts of money. In 2016, Oprah Winfrey sold the 1907 painting “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” for $150 million, making a $60 million profit.

The Birth of Venus

“The Birth of Venus,” the oldest painting in the top ten and a contender for most sensual with “The Kiss,” was most likely commissioned by a member of the rich and art-loving Medici dynasty, which dominated Florence and the surrounding areas for centuries. Botticelli makes an unforgettable figure of the Goddess of Love appearing, combining a revived curiosity in classic Greek mythology with Early Renaissance architecture. He began by painting on canvas rather than the more common wood. Second, nudity was uncommon at the time, but Venus’ full exposure, minus her long, flowing hair and a hand (barely) shielding her most private body parts, was brazen.

Creation of Adam

Michelangelo’s most prominent work occupies a part of the Sistine Chapel’s dome, and you have to look up to see it. God and Adam are shown with outstretched arms, their fingertips almost touching. It is one of history’s most widely reproduced photographs. Michelangelo’s other creativity is evident in Adam’s muscular form; his “David” is perhaps the most prominent sculpture in the world.

Girl With a Pearl Earring

This curious favourite is often compared to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Aside from the stylistic variations, “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a “tronie,” a Dutch term for a drawing of an abstract figure with exaggerated features, rather than a portrait. The beauty of the oil on canvas masterpiece is fantastic. The kid, who is dressed in a blue and gold turban and has a large pearl earring, Between 2012 and 2014, the Mauritshuis was undergoing renovations, and “Girl With a Pearl Earring” went on tour in the United States, Italy, and Japan. It attracted large audiences, cementing its reputation as one of the world’s most prominent works of art.

Mona Lisa

It should come as no surprise that the beautiful lady with the enigmatic grin is the most popular artwork in the world. But it’s one of the only things we know for sure about this piece of art. Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Florence merchant Francesco del Giocondo, is believed to be the sitter in the portrait, but experts aren’t sure. According to the Louvre, where it was first installed in 1804, the painting is the earliest known Italian portrait to focus so closely on the sitter in a half-length portrait. According to archaeologists, the “Mona Lisa” was little recognised outside of art circles prior to the twentieth century. However, in 1911, an ex-Louvre employee stole the painting and kept it hidden for two years. Since then, the theft has helped secure the painting’s presence in mainstream culture and introduced millions of people to Renaissance art.