Who: Henri Matisse
What: Jazz
When: 1947
Why: I adore Matisse – who shares my birthday, delightfully enough. His colors are wonderful. At the end of his life, when he was bedridden and could no longer paint, he turned to paper cut-outs – which continue to have the color and movement and exuberance of Matisses’s best work.
I have a poster of this hanging in my stairwell, so I see it every time I walk downstairs.
Who: Marc Chagall
What: I and the Village
When: 1911
Where: Museum of Modern Art, New York
Why: I love the colors and angles and all the shimmering, idealized details of village life. But what I love most is the connection between the man and the beast. I didn’t notice until I finally got to see the painting up close, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that there is actually a line connecting the eye of the man to the eye of the cow. It makes me smile every time I see it.
Who Pablo Picasso
what: Brick Factory in Tortosa. The picture is a thumbnail, click on it if you wish.
when: 1909
Why: I wish I could give you some grand reason filled with $10 dollar art school words but the only one I can give is that I was at the Art Gallery of Ontario when this painting made it’s rounds. I stopped in front of it and was captivated. I stared at it for about 15 minutes. The colours are soothing and I like the contrast of the building and the palm trees and I like how the lines in the picture lead to them. I don’t really like getting into what the painting means but I have my ideas.
Who: Lawren S. Harris
What: North Shore, Lake Superior
When: 1926
Where: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Why: Lawren Harris was one of the founding members of the Group of Seven artists, and in many ways the leader of it. The Group of Seven artists took a revolutionary approach in Canada to art in moving representations of the country, and particularly its landscapes away from a traditional English approach. Their paintings show wildnerness and rawness. Of the Group of Seven, Lawren Harris is my favourite artist; and this is my favourite painting. I recall seeing it for the first time at the National Gallery and being stunned by the power of it in person. It is the wallpaper on my computer and I have two prints of it.
I have a few by one artist that I can’t decide between, and I can’t figure out a way to link directly to the pictures.
Who: Stanislav Szukalski
Why: Because Szukalski manages to tap a direct line to my Jungian subconscious.
What: Struggle
When: 1917
What: The Prophet
When: 1919
What: Cecora
When: 1927
Artist’s notes:
Who: Goya
What: Saturn Devouring His Son
Why: Well, my other favorites, Starry Night and Gas were already picked, and this one definitely made an impression on me. Everything about it is horrifying, which I don’t think is a feeling expressed much in art. Given the state of things, you’d think there’d be more depictions of this kind.
THis may be cheating, but I also want to put in a word for Picasso’s Girl Before A Mirror
and Demuth’s Figure 5 In Gold. I’ll skip the explanations, though.
Who: E. R. Hughes
What: Night (Sometimes called Star of Night)
When: I don’t know and haven’t been able to find out
Where: I’m assuming it’s in a private collection somewhere
Why: Her face is so serene…and the stars are done so beautifully. I really don’t know anything about this painting. I saw it on an episode of Monach of the Glen and fell in love with it. I did a Google search, but haven’t found a lot of info.
I agree. For awhile now I’ve thought a print of it as the foundation for the design of the kitchen and breakfast area to set the tone and colors. I just love the warmth of yellow and blue.
I’m really fond of The Girl with the Pearl Earring also.
When: 1665-1666
Where: Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague
Why: I love the color and the softness. Much like Coldfire with the milk in The Milk Maid, when I look at the earring I feel the movement of it as she turns her head.
Thanks, Abby, for starting this thread! I’m one of those “I don’t have a degree in art but I know what I like!” types. Some of these paintaings have moved me almost to tears, particularly those in posts #2, 7, 13, 24 & 39 (the second link in post #39).
Who: Antonio Conova
What:* Cupid and Psyche*
When: 1787.
Where: Louvre, Paris.
Why: This is the most sensual piece of artwork I’ve ever seen. Photos obviously do not do it justice
Who: Francisco de Goya
What: Cat Fight (Gatos Riñendo)
When: Undated (circa 1820?)
Where: The Prado, Madrid.
Why: For the same reason I like all of Goya’s paintings - action and drama. These cats are alive, man!
Some other Goya favorites: La Maja Vestida and La Maja Desnuda. Also El Pelele and Los Fusilamientos del 3 de Mayo
Good choice there, ShibbOleth. My favorite van Gogh, and IMO his most underappreciated work.
Something a little more modern…
Luis Royo
the announcement
I think it’s a great idea for a thread too, but I didn’t start it, **JohnBckWLD **
did. Thanks JohnBckWLD!
Who: Albrecht Durer
What: The Knight, Death and The Devil
When: 1514
Why: I love almost everything Durer ever did and this is just the one engraving that sticks in my mind the most.
I don’t know anything about art either, but I walked into a gallery and saw this hanging on the wall, and I just love it. It’s got such innocent sexiness. I’m going to buy a big one and hang it in my house when I get rich! 
I like Salvador Dali, but I can’t really pick out one particular as being my favourite. So I’ll link some that I just like.
http://ict2.udlap.mx/people/alfredo/personal/dali-cara.jpg
http://www.hayalevi.com/sanat_galerisi/Dali/dal-1929-illumined_pleasures.jpg
I also like [url=http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/gallery-recogn.html]M.C.Escher[/ur]
p.s. My brother did a parody of one of his paintings once, with melting cassette tapes instead of clocks. (and other differences)
http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/gallery-back.html
http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/gallery-switz.html
(http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/switz-bmp/LW296.jpg)
http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/ital-bmp/LW278.jpg
(What was he on?!?)
For you Van Gogh fans, here’s a guy that does Van Gogh paintings but the way they would appear at different times of day and with different colors. He’s very good.
http://community-2.webtv.net/nightcafe/doc/
(Scroll to the bottom to find it all.)
KarlGauss, I like your van Eyck one. Did you see his autograph in the middle of the painting? I guess it was his way of advertising. hehehe. And in the mirror you can just see himself.
Yes, Hopper is one of the best. Wasn’t there a thread where someone asked about his ‘Nighthawks’? Perhaps his most famous one. Though I like ‘gas’ better.
HeyHomie I remember the Seurat in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. 
So: We’ve mentioned: Vermeer, van Gogh, Hieronymous [Jeroen] Bosch, van Eyck, Alma Tadema, and MC Escher. If we could do a Rembrandt and a Piet Mondriaan we’d get a nice overview of the Dutch way of painting.
