The discussion in the Picasso thread got me to wondering about this.
Thread rules: You need to give the title of the work and the artist*, and provide a link to a picture of it so that everyone else can see it. No relying on it being famous enough that we all know it. We want to see it.
Optional: explain why you think it’s the greatest.
Questions to consider: is it also your favorite piece of art? Can you think a work is the greatest and yet like a different work more? Are you strongly drawn to other work by the same artist? Have you seen the piece in question in person, or only pictures of it?
I’ll make a new post for my submission.
*if known. If it’s really old and the artist is unknown, just say that.
To me, the greatest work of art is the one that had the biggest impact on me when I saw it. In my case, that would be the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a Nike statue. She was sculpted around 190 BC and the artist is unknown AFAIK. I had seen pictures of her all my life–she’s one of the most famous sculptures out there–but when I was 13 I took a trip to Europe with a group from school. One of our stops was at the Louvre in Paris. I remember entering a room and looking up, and towering over me was the Winged Victoryon top of a pile of rocks. It took my breath away and I quite literally had to fight back tears, the urge to cry was so strong. I’ve never had a work of visual art* make me cry before (I’ve had songs make me cry, though).
Part of what caught me unguarded was how BIG she was. She’s almost 11 feet tall. The level of detail on every part of her is amazing as well, and the fluidity of the motion that is captured is just breathtaking. She looks like she’s about to move even though she’s carved of stone.
My only regret is that I’ll never see her with her arms and her head. But what is left of her is still an amazing work of art, and one that at least for me has a powerful impact.
I would not say that it is my favorite work of art, however. I’m not sure what my favorite is–I think it changes a lot.
*for the purpose of this thread I’m using visual art to mean static things like paintings, photographs, and sculptures, not things like movies/film.
Michelangelo’s frescoes for The Sistine Chapel ceiling. For the sheer scale of the imagination and accomplishment involved.
Rodin’s The Gates of Hell. When I saw a full-size cast of this in person, it blew me away. I think you really have to see it in person to appreciate the detail.
It really is impressive. I remember seeing it in person and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Even though our time in the Louvre was limited, I had to go back before we left and look at it again.
My pick is another ancient statue that had a similar (but even greater) effect on me than Winged Victory. It’s in the Vatican Museum and is estimated to have been sculpted between 42 and 20 B.C. It is Laocoön and His Sons. It captured my complete attention as I approached it. The sense of motion and danger and the agony captured in Laocoön’s face–I was entranced by it. Our guide explained the story that the sculpture depicts and it added meaning to it…this man tried (in vain) warn his people (the Trojans), and the gods sent the serpents to kill him.
The experience of seeing this statue has stayed with me more vividly than any other work of art.
As far as works I’ve seen in person, I’d go with Michelangelo’s Pietà. When you see it, you know that you are in the presence of something truly great.
I also had a unique experience with Seurat’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, in that the first time I passed it, I didn’t recognize that it was a painting – I though it was an actual group of people eating lunch.
I’m partial to landscapes, so my favorite painting is an Albert Sisley riverscape that I have never been able to find online.
For me it’s The Hunters In The Snow by Pieter Breughel. I find so much to enjoy and love about this amazing work of art. The majestic technical skill; the incredible composition; the attention to detail; its value as a document of life as it was lived in his day; the brilliant placement of the one flying magpie; the colours and hues… and so on and so forth. I was in Vienna a few years ago and was thrilled to be able to see this incredible painting on display.
This is really a hard question. Having lived in Europe and seeing many of the grand masters’ works, there are tons.
So my choice is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. I know there have been a gazillion parodies and the painting itself has almost become a cliche/joke, but when I first saw it as a young man, at the Art Institute in Chicago, it just grabbed me.
Part of the reason is that I too am a night person, I love big cities and I have this need to find places that have a slight hint of danger and isolation. For me, this painting represented the search for a safe haven in the midst of desolation. Perhaps a bit depressing for some people, this painting made me feel hopeful.
Little did I know at that time, but when I moved to NYC and Berlin, I would frequent bars and cafes that had that same atmosphere.
And little did I know that at a small bar in an isolated area of Berlin, at about 2:30 AM, that I would meet the love of my life. We have been together for 31 years now.
So laugh if you want, but Nighthawks represents the seedy side of life that has always attracted me, and could well be a snapshot of many of my life’s warmest memories.
For me, I had seen a lot of fantastic sculptures and paintings before and I’m tempted to say Michaelangelo’s David as it is absolutely breathtaking and perfect. But I think I’ll put forward The Solidity of Fog by Luigi Russolo as the great work of art. It is almost entirely just shades of blue. But it contains a hundred possible stories as to what is going on- don’t read the description right away (savior/jesus?, religion?, fishermen?, soldiers?, loneliness?, etc.). Upon reading the description, the story is just the opposite and even more awesome.
The depiction of fog and light is brilliant. Yes, I know that I am on my own for my love of this painting.
I completely agree- I just saw this two months back, and like most paintings, the picture of it gets the colors wrong (less differentiation/contrast in person) and the details are missing (bridge on the left is barely noticeable here). I’d love to see what Leonardo’s, Raphael’s, Michaelangelo’s original colors brought to the paintings.
As a sculptor, considering the medium, tools available, and the stunning display of anatomy and cut-throughs in the marble, this ranks easily among the finest pieces of sculpture ever.
Closely behind is Michelangelo’s Moses and the tomb it is in.
This is what I was going to mention as the greatest work of art, for pretty much the same reasons. This amazing statue is the best reason, among many others, to visit Paris.
But my favorite? It would have to be a pair of Crucifixions by Dalì. The first has Christ floating in front of a hypercube cross, as if he’s already left the physical realm. I love the defiant fists, and the way his head is turned away from the gaze of the Madonna. I have seen this painting (in the Metropolitan Museum in NYC). Like all great works of art, reproductions only hint at its in-person impact.
The second has the most astonishing perspective I’ve seen in any painting. It looks like the body is about to be ripped from the cross by gravity . . . and then you notice there’s nothing holding it there in the first place. As in the first painting, there are no spikes or blood, just a body being tortured . . . but not by anything in the physical realm. I have not seen this painting in person, it’s in Glasgow.
I have to add that I’m an atheist. I can only imagine what an impact these painting would have in me, if I were Christian.
I always liked The Dying Gaul. I can’t see it without imagining a real person getting ready to die alone in some forgotten war as the battle moves on without him, and think on all the hundreds of thousands of unknown men who must’ve died similar deaths in the wars of the Classical era.
