# What is your favorite painting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452 "2008-02-13T16:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/21 "2008-02-13T19:04:44Z")
[This one: A Sunday Afternoon on the Iland of La Grande Jatte.](http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~kyunghun/seurat.jpg) No photograph of Seurat’s is adequate. Go to the Art Institute in Chicago to see it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/22 "2008-02-13T19:05:30Z")
I like Andrew Wyeth too. My favorite is [Benny’s Scarecrow](http://www.artselect.com/CMFS/artID~3D111234~26t~3Ds~26openct13274~3D8139/Andrew_Wyeth/The_Scarecrow.html). Great thread. I’ve liked everything I’ve seen. It helps that I just finished reading a novel featuring art and painters, so I’m looking at these differently, as more than just representations. Yeah, I’m a Philistine. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/23 "2008-02-13T19:08:18Z")
Mine would have to be [Village en Automne](http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Henri-Le-Sidaner/Village-en-Automne-Print-C10040581.jpeg) by Henri Le Sidaner. I saw a canvas transfer of it in a shop in Houston, Texas, and it has been my favorite work of art since. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/24 "2008-02-13T19:12:00Z")
My loyalties to the masters change with every museum I visit. So, in the end, I always have to say that my favorite paintings are the two I have hanging on my walls. [Hour of Silver, by Betsy Greenlee](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21691644@N04/2262691987/) is the first picture I was ever blown away by. I was a junior in college and just wandered into an art gallery in town because a friend was looking for a mother’s day gift. I hated most of what I saw in that gallery, and then I turned the corner and saw Greenlee’s work. It took a lot of patience, but I eventually was able to purchase this piece. It’s always had a place of honor in my homes since. I just feel bad I have to move so often, and so does this piece. The other piece I adore is [this one, by Beverly Hansen](http://www.flickr.com/photos/21691644@N04/2262691989/). I never thought I’d own it, so I never asked if it had a title. My now ex-husband purchased this for me for our wedding. He nailed the gift utterly. Anyway, I hope my unknowns can come and be shown in this thread. I apologize for the glare on Greenlee’s work. I’m not the best photographer out there. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/25 "2008-02-13T19:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] For those of you just seeing Bird for the first time check out the rest of his stuff on his website. It’s a scream. [/QUOTE] No kidding. I am particularly amused by _Arete_, or _Chuck Norris as H. Erectus_, as it ought to be known. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/26 "2008-02-13T19:20:43Z")
it may be a bit obvious but I am going to say [Guernica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting)). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/27 "2008-02-13T19:39:40Z")
I must admit that ever since I saw it in the National Gallery in Washington, I’ve loved Goya’s “[The Family of the Infante Don Luis](http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/img/goya_400.jpg).” The guy on the right with the bandaged head really makes it work. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/28 "2008-02-13T19:46:36Z")
[The Forest in Winter at Sunset](http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/The_Forest_in_Winter_at_Sunset/ViewObject_enlarge.aspx?depNm=all&Title=The_Forest_in_Winter_at_Sunset&pID=-1&kWd=&OID=110003529&vW=1&Pg=49&St=0&StOd=1&vT=1&RID=968) by Theodore Rousseau. It hangs at the Met in NYC. The picture in the link doesn’t do it justice, because it’s a very large painting IRL. It’s very dark and moody. I love the way the light plays off the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/29 "2008-02-13T19:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Some days Munch’s [The Scream](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/munch.scream.jpg) gets the nod, others days it’s Persistence of Memory or even [Wheat Field with Crows](http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0779.htm), by Van Gogh. The last is the only one I’ve seen in person, and not being an art expert I’d never heard of it. It was a stunning and doomy experience to see. [/QUOTE] Wow! We have almost exactly the same taste in art… except I would have gone with [Starry Night](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/gogh/starry-night/gogh.starry-night.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/gogh/starry-night/&h=834&w=1013&sz=213&tbnid=kAAqXfRNBUZKVM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bstarry%2Bnight%26um%3D1&start=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1) over Wheat Field by just a smidge… ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/30 "2008-02-13T19:57:49Z")
A couple: [Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose](http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Carnation_Lily_Lily_Rose.htm) by John Singer Sargent and [The White Veil](http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/full.asp?objectID=54555&image=1) by Willard Leroy Metcalfe. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/31 "2008-02-13T20:02:23Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] My favorite painting is \*[The School of Athens\*](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael30.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael30.html&h=587&w=786&sz=62&tbnid=pIaxEfAKveBZfM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522school%2Bof%2Bathens%2522%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2) by Raphael–a fresco which originally decorated the walls of the pope’s library and is now part of the Vatican Museum. [/QUOTE] Reminds me a little of Pannini’s [Views of Modern Rome](http://www.batguano.com/bgma/LGPmrome.jpg); one of my favorites. It looks like someone had just discovered perspective and was having a field day with it, although there is one error. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/32 "2008-02-13T20:17:07Z")
I cannot decide. (and how did I miss the poem thread? Is it a dead thread?) Here are some: [AlfredSisley](http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/artists/Alfred%20Sisley/Alfred%20Sisley%20Women%20Going%20to%20the%20Woods_small.jpg) [Pissarro](http://www.malaspina.org/gif/pissarro.jpg) [MaxfieldParrish](http://images.easyart.com/i/prints/rw/lg/2/5/Maxfield-Parrish-Hunt-Farm-25627.jpg) As can be seen, I prefer landscapes to people(mostly). [Vermeer](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Jan_Vermeer_van_Delft_007.jpg) [FrankBenson](http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?startat=/getposter.asp&APNum=365707&CID=F0342DD54E504A52983F12C9A2CC7E93&PPID=1&search=frank%20benson&f=t&FindID=0&P=1&PP=1&sortby=PD&cname=&SearchID=) [JamesWhistler](http://en.easyart.com/art-prints/James-McNeil-Whistler/Harmony-in-Flesh-Colour-and-Red-84369.html) [BridgetRiley](http://www.artfund.org/images/artwork/004428_011587_0.jpg) I don’t have much time or patience with whatever art is called now–I don’t mind some of the post-modernists and like some of the Dadaists and surrealists as well. There is an oil painting in the Art Institute that I have only seen once. I cannot recall the artist’s name (it is fairly recent). The subject is a forest/lake scene by a Scandinavian artist. It depicts a small cottage in the (I believe) birch woods. I really like it–but have never found it again. ETA: eh, the ones I chose all seem to be “pretty colors”. So be it. (the Whistler looks bizarre. I own a print and there is no lavender in my print at all.) I like some Monet (mostly his winter stuff– **Jodi** , I really like The White Veil you posted), no Renoir, Van Gogh, some Ultrillo–it’s pick and choose for me. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/33 "2008-02-13T20:30:13Z")
I really like Van Gogh’s _Starry Night_. I also like his _Irises_. I am partial to Munch’s _Scream_ as well, some days it’s just perfect for how I’m feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/34 "2008-02-13T20:37:11Z")
I like Monet’s series of [haystacks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystacks_%28Monet%29). The same subject captured in different light conditions. The Art Institute of Chicago has a set of these in the same room. Simply fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/35 "2008-02-13T21:00:57Z")
My very favorite painting is Michelangelo’s [Creation of Adam](http://www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/michelangelo.htm) from the Sistine Chapel. There’s just something about the touch of the hands that gets to me. I also love Albrecht Durer’s [Self Portrait at 28](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/self/self-28.jpg), which I saw at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. I took an art appreciation class in Munich one semester and we spent a lot of time in museums. It’s one of the first paintings I ever really looked at and I just love his hair and his eyes in this. I’m a huge Van Gogh fan, and I love his post impressionist paintings, but I really love one of his older works, [The Potato Eaters](http://www.vincentvangoghart.net/The-Potato-Eaters.html). I’m not sure why, but it might be the way the light shines on the people around the table. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/36 "2008-02-13T21:02:29Z")
[New York Movie](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/hopper/theatre.jpg.html) by Edward Hopper. [The Corn Poppy](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/dongen/corn_poppy.jpg.html) by Kees van Dongen. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/37 "2008-02-13T21:04:34Z")
I love me some [Garden of Earthly Delights](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/GardenED.jpg), by Hieronymous Bosch. I can just get lost in it for a long time…almost like a place I can visit and tour. I also kind of enjoy the Dante-esque, medieval Catholic morality of it. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/38 "2008-02-13T21:11:52Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I like Andrew Wyeth too. My favorite is [Benny’s Scarecrow](http://www.artselect.com/CMFS/artID~3D111234~26t~3Ds~26openct13274~3D8139/Andrew_Wyeth/The_Scarecrow.html). [/QUOTE] I like [Master Bedroom](http://www.artselect.com/CMFS/artID~3D2858~26t~3Ds~26openct13274~3D8139/Andrew_Wyeth/Master_Bedroom.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/39 "2008-02-13T21:27:04Z")
Thanks to the Brandon Bird link I may have a new favorite [http://www.brandonbird.com/sir\_ian.html](http://www.brandonbird.com/sir_ian.html) ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/40 "2008-02-13T21:38:04Z")
Cezanne’s [_House of the Hanged Man_](http://www.impressionist-art-gallery.com/house_of_the_hanged_man.html) has been the background on my home PC for years now. It grabbed my heart and mind the first time I saw it 20-odd years ago and still manages to take my breath away. I just gave my folks my print of Kandinsky’s [_Improvistaion 23,_](http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--10083905/SP--A/IGID--796783/Improvisation_No_23.htm?sOrig=CRT&sOrigId=26&ui=69A9B583E5D04C4D9222CCF81F700C8C) on the condition that it comes back to me when I have the space for it. Mum loves it for the colours and forms, she and my daughter see musical instruments. Dad and I see the instruments too, but also boobies and other naughty bits. Heh. If it ever comes up, I’d adore a copy of Binney’s _Fall of the Tui_, but it was never released as a print and isn’t likely to be. There isn’t even an image online, but the top picture [here](http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/aup/book/don-binney.cfm) is a similar style. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452.md?page=3)