Painting that have made a big impression on me as a kid.
Anything by Bosch or Bruegel.
Anything by Dali. Especially “Persistance of Memory”
Christinas World by Andrew Wyeth. It helps to know the story behind the painting, but it stands alone as powerful.
Oh, there are so many. Skipping those already mentioned, and reserving the right to bring up more as they occur to me later…
Alfred-Pierre Agache’s The Sword , which I saw at the Art Gallery of Ontario some years back, is large and difficult to part from. The web image does not quite do justice to the warmth of the colors and the arresting gaze of the subject. I bought a small reproduction (which is how I know about the color). It got wrinkly from humidity. I still can’t throw it away.
Never seen the originals, but even in postcard size these images from Quint Buchholz charm me, particularly Flight, which strikes me as joyous, desperate, or wistful depending on mood.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s southwestern landscapes (not typically the bony ones) like The Red Hills, Grey Sky
Kawase Hasui’s Night At Shinkawa
there are far too many more I can’t bring to mind right now…
The Potato Eaters by Van Gogh is the first painting that came to my mind when I read the OP. Dark-depressing.
Henri Rousseau’s Sleeping Gypsy. What was the gypsy dreaming of at that moment?
That would be An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby.
It’s good, but nobody beats Caravaggio when it comes to tenebristic night scenes.
Though Honthorst comes pretty close.
Oh wow, Skopo, that Bird in the Air Pump picture is fabulous.
Salieri–your choices are all great too–love The Sword picture–the slender youth (male? female?) with the tiny long blade, how can he have any power for justice? Except I think he does, after all.
The Bucholz postcards are great too.
Please post links to specific pictures, people. I love seeing new things, but I’m not gonna track an artist down if you just give a name. You care about art, you link. Thanks.
Thanks for all the suggestions - keep them coming. We did not manage to see “Guernica” this time but we may be back in Madrid next year. We did make a trip to Teledo and the most memorable sight was the ten El Grecos , together with assorted works by Titian , Van Dyck and Goya all together in the small sacristy of the cathedral . Talk about concentrated art !.
