Early Sunday Morning by Edward Hopper. This painting is hanging in the hallway at work. I have spent many hours over the years looking at it.
Philistines! The best Temptation is by Bosch! (At least no one mentioned Dali…)
I’m with you on the Hopper, the Bosch, the triptych! and Caravaggio, esp the Conversion of St. Paul. Here’s another I love.
Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, Caspar David Friedrich, 1810
A friend had only seen teeny pics in art books & the real one is like 40"x47". There are no color photos that I know of, & it was distroyed during WWII. I have a copy my friend made actual size on the wall to my right.
…on the other hand, I’m mesmerized by the 20th century American “magic realists,” like Paul Cadmus and George Tooker. I want to own Tooker’s “Entertainers.”
The Scream by Edvard Munch.
Starry Night by van Gogh.
Self-portrait by da Vinci.
Mrs. Demmng and the Mythical Beast by Luis Royo. I’m also rather partial to the little sketch he did on the inside cover of one of his books for me.
The Wizard King, Babylon and Christmas Presence by Myles Pinkney. I love the detail in his work.
One of my all time favorites was done by my mother. Sorry, I don’t have a scan of it. She did it years and years ago. It’s a sketch of the head, shoulders and arms of a man. He has a floppy hat on his head and a sorrowful expression on his face. His cupped hands are held out towards the viewer as if he’s begging. The eyes follow you no matter where you move.
Saturn Devouring His Children by Goya. Absolutely amazing.
There are a bunch more, of course. Bar at the Follies Bergere by Manet comes to mind. I could stare at it for hours.
Assumption of the Virgin by Titian, even if only for the pose that Mary is in.
screams
They’re DOGS! And they’re PLAYING POKER!
screams some more, then goes mad
I just saw that about two weeks ago – it’s in Houston right now at the MFAH. I’ve always loved Hopper’s stuff, though my younger friend didn’t appreciate it as much, I think. He captures that vintage mood so well.
My most unforgetable painting is such for all the wrong reasons.
I was attending the University of Missouri at Kansas City and took an elective psych class during a summer session at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.
The professor had a slide show of paintings from people institutionalized at the Menninger Clinic. His point was to show the disturbing elements of paintings by the insane.
Alluva sudden “The Scream” by Edvard Munch popped onto the screen. He droned on about insanity and I raised my hand to point out that this was a famous painting, one that depicted the horrors of the Holocaust (the O of the subject’s mouth was repeated in the other details, etc.) He disagreed with me. He was, I might add, a fundamentalist Christian who said that he refused to counsel students who used profanities while being counseled.
I let it go because I really needed the units but later wrote a letter to the adminstration relating the incident. Obviously there were other incidents that were of concern, not just the one I pointed out.
Years later while I was working an airline ticket counter in Sacramento (my home), he checked in as a passenger. I recognized his name and told him I was a former student. He told me he was ‘released’ from JCCC and was a pastor in a small Kansas town.
He’s probably the one of those responsible for deciding how many decimal points pi should contain or that creationism is the only explanation for the universe. (OK, I’m just assuming that!)
The painting I saw that most knocked me on my ass wasn’t even in a museum. It’s by a onetime friend of my father’s whose name is Ken Grissom. He’s not even working in art anymore, he’s busy making money in another field. Which is so sad, because he’s really an excellent artist, an accomplished draftsman and terrific colorist. His watercolor painting of an American flag draped across a white rocking chair on an old porch honestly made my knees buckle & I started crying. I saw it over 20 years ago and still remember the occasion. It sounds cheesy and Kinkade-ish, but so wasn’t; it was light and fluid, and I could smell the morning air and hear the neighbor’s lawn mower.
I also remember a Picasso pastel portrait of a young girl that took my breath away. Just happened upon it in the hallway of a small museum somewhere in Europe. Very simple drawing, but it was so “true”, I wanted to check it for a pulse.
On that same trip I was able to see Michelangelo’s “David”, and of course that was mind-blowing.
Also agree with the people who’ve been praising Hopper - I absolutely adore his work! He was the first artist I loved (our school was big on field trips & our museum had several of his pieces).
Anything by Giorgio de Chirico. I came across a reproduction of one of his paintings at a young age, and it single-handedly converted me to art history for life.
There’s a haunting quality to de Chirico’s work, rather similar to what you find in Edward Hopper (whose work I also admire).
Since discovering de Chirico, I’ve found many other paintings that are just as memorable–but de Chirico will always hold a special place in my heart.
Anything by M.C. Escher, especially Relativity. All those people side by side, yet living in different universes.
Most of Escher’s work gives me something to think about.
I’ve always kinda liked Cubist art. I saw an absolutely brilliant piece of fan art at a Dr. Who convention in New Orleans in the 80’s. It was a parody (pastiche?) ofthis painting.
Its title?
Dalek Descending a Staircase. It was wonderful. I’ve always regretted not buying it.
KingLupid, I don’t think I’d ever seen The Incredulity of St. Thomas before. You’re right, that’s a wonderful work.
When I saw Saturn Devouring his children I actually felt a bit. . . nauseated. It’s pretty visceral.
When I was in Munich a Rogier v.d. Weyden picture, the Columba altarpiece, really got my attention for some reason (which was bad since I was there to study a different picture but couldn’t remove my attention for the Rogier). He’s fantastic.
Here’s Mona Lisa’s smarter older sister.
And here’s an el Greco that haunts me–I’ve posted this one before, but let’s not let that stop us, shall we?
I have actually seen Bruegel’s “The Triumph of Death”. It is very haunting. There is so much to see in the painting I nearly spent an hour looking at it. It reminds me of another painting that I viewed at the same museum. I will have to think of it and let you know.