# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/61 "2008-02-15T15:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] This was always my favourite too, ever since I saw the book of details as a little grim child. I had the pleasure of seeing it in the flesh at the Prado gallery in Madrid last summer [/QUOTE] Don’t know the other painting you’re referring to but I am jealous of your seeing the Garden in the Prado. If I ever go to continental Europe that’s the one place I will go to, both to see all of the Bosches and also all of the Goyas (prolly my second favorite painter.) ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/62 "2008-02-15T15:48:31Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] We’ve all had the chance to weigh in on our [favorite poem](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=454852). What about the visual arts? 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. I love the interplay between two of the richest cultures in human history–the ancient Greek and the high Renaissance. The painting depicts a number of contemporary Renaissance artists (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Bramante, and Raphael himself) as Greek thinkers, and transposes them back into what was then the open-air setting of a partially completed St. Peter’s. I especially like the depiction of the life of the mind, which takes me back to long-ago university days. The argumentative professors flanked by students, the solitary thinkers engrossed in their work, the clusters of observers bent over group projects, and even the hairstyles and beards could have been painted on the portico of the Illini Union in 1978. Only the togas would have to go! What is your favorite, and why? [/QUOTE] This is so funny…that’s my favorite painting, too! I’m glad I clicked on the thread before I searched around looking for a link! 🙂 I can’t add much to your reasons for loving this painting…mine are much the same. I would add that I love the composition of it, as well. Love your comment about the Illini Union, as well! Now, I will always think of that when I see the painting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/63 "2008-02-15T15:57:11Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Don’t know the other painting you’re referring to but I am jealous of your seeing the Garden in the Prado. If I ever go to continental Europe that’s the one place I will go to, both to see all of the Bosches and also all of the Goyas (prolly my second favorite painter.) [/QUOTE] Indeed - the Goyas were good - surprisingly funny, to me - and just five minutes away is the modern art gallery with Picasso’s Guernica. Great art, endless tapas and smoking allowed in bars - Madrid is a fine town. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/64 "2008-02-15T16:07:26Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] We see the building facades, square with the borders of the paintings, but we can see a side of the buildings, too. [/QUOTE] Oh, well, clearly the artists-within-a-painting were thinking ahead about how their paintings would look in a larger painting. I mean, who _doesn’t_ do that? 😃 > [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > The first time I actually saw The raft of the Medusa I was completely blown away. The only way to appreciate it is to visit the Louvre as there is no way to convey the scale of the thing in a reproduction. The original is 20 feet wide and 15 feet tall. Likewise with David’s amazing [_Coronation of Napoleon_](http://www.abcgallery.com/D/david/david10.html), which as I recall is not far away in that great large-canvas gallery at the Louvre. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/65 "2008-02-15T16:17:59Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] another painting there which I loved - a depraved nativity scene with the creepiest Christ conceivable, and various examples of human frailty on show. But I can’t find out online what it’s called, or get an image. It isn’t The Adoration of the Child or the Epiphany triptych, though it’s similar… anybody know which I’m on about? [/QUOTE] Is it another Bosch in the Prado? Or someone else? Somewhere else? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/66 "2008-02-15T16:26:56Z")
Creation of Adam,The famous pull my finger painting. It has never been the same since I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/67 "2008-02-15T17:08:25Z")
I could only limit it to 4. Bacon’s Screaming Pope (Based on a painting of Pope Innocent. I have always found this more haunting than The Scream. [Screaming Pope](http://www.homowebmuseum.nl/splash/FrancisBaconScreamingPope.jpg) Pollock’s Lavender Mist. I know a lot of people really dislike Pollock and say “I could do better than that”. I would challenge them to try to do just that. Get a canvass this size, try to duplicate the work or come close to it. The magnitude of it, the texture, the chaos yet tranquility. Seeing pictures of his work don’t nearly capture the feeling of the work itself. [Lavender Mist](http://www.ebaomonthly.com/window/arts/pollock/images/pollock_a157.jpg) This Mondrian picture (which I regretfully do not know the name of). [Mondrian](http://obrazulepiej.blox.pl/resource/mondrian.jpg) It may be my OCD but the lines and the placement of these bright colors just really speaks to me. Mark Rydan’s The Birth of Venus. Mary Ryden is amazingly bizarre and beautiful at the same time. He maks oddly haunting images that are very surreal yet cartoonish and almost cuddly. [The Birth of Venus](http://www.periferica.org/blog/ryden-birthvenus.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/68 "2008-02-15T17:18:52Z")
[The Banjo Lesson](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/tanner/banjo_lesson.jpg.html) by Henry Ossawa Tanner really speaks to me. Beyond that, I’m a big fan of Goya. The Prado is an amazing place. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/69 "2008-02-15T17:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=BurnMeUp] I could only limit it to 4. Bacon’s Screaming Pope (Based on a painting of Pope Innocent. I have always found this more haunting than The Scream. [Screaming Pope](http://www.homowebmuseum.nl/splash/FrancisBaconScreamingPope.jpg) [/QUOTE] I have somehow never seen that painting before. It’s awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/70 "2008-02-15T17:40:02Z")
[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] Yeah, the Nunchuck Jerry Seinfeld is now my desktop wallpaper. ---
**Author:** ![Sublata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sublata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublata)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/71 "2008-02-15T18:03:24Z")
My favorite painting is [Summer Breeze](http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MCG/D554~Summer-Breeze-Posters.jpg) by Alice Dalton Brown. I have a print of it hanging on my living room wall and I never tire of looking at it – the light and shadows; the two views of the curtains; the motion of the curtian in the empty, still room; the glimpse of summer landscape through the window … all of which being said, I don’t think I’d love it so much if it didn’t remind me of the lakeside cottage where I spent many summer vacations as a child. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/72 "2008-02-15T19:15:27Z")
Maybe a bit conventional but I have to go with Turner’s [Rain, Steam, and Speed](http://www.j-m-w-turner.co.uk/artist/turner-rain-steam.htm). Seen in the National Gallery in all its glory the colours and the light are amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/73 "2008-02-15T20:31:34Z")
Hard to say. But–limited to paintings I’ve seen in person–I’d have to pick Andre Derain’s _The Turning Road_. At Houston’s own Museum of Fine Arts. Click on the Artchive’s [Image Viewer](http://artchive.com/artchive/D/derain/turning.jpg.html) to get a close look. (It’s big–51 x 76 3/4 inches.) Thanks to the de Menil family, I’ve seen a large number of Magrittes. (They sponsored exhibits in Houston before founding [the Museum](http://www.menil.org/).) But I can’t pick just one. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/74 "2008-02-15T21:20:47Z")
I have to share some of my gavorite **Goya** stuff: [The Puppet (El Pelele)](http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/BRGPOD/29686~El-Pelele-The-Puppet-1791-2-Posters.jpg) [Cat Fight (Gatos Riñendo)](http://bellesplumes.blogs.courrierinternational.com/images/medium_gatos_1_.JPG) [El Tres de Mayo](http://lili.butterfly.free.fr/ole/images/prado/goya_3mai.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/75 "2008-02-15T21:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] [New York Movie](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/H/hopper/theatre.jpg.html) by Edward Hopper. [/QUOTE] Hadn’t seen that one before. Very nice; thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/76 "2008-02-16T03:03:55Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [The Banjo Lesson](http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/tanner/banjo_lesson.jpg.html) by Henry Ossawa Tanner really speaks to me. [/QUOTE] That’s a powerful piece, even just looking at it on screen. Thanks for sharing. **GingerOfTheNorth** , thanks for your post about that painting. I knew you thought it was pretty, but I didn’t realize you liked it that much. Made my evening. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/77 "2008-02-16T04:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=BlueKangaroo] That’s a powerful piece, even just looking at it on screen. Thanks for sharing. [/QUOTE] Another work of his, [The Thankful Poor](http://daphne.palomar.edu/mhudelson/WorksofArt/23PostImp/3545.html) also has a quiet power to it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/78 "2008-02-16T04:45:58Z")
Since “The Starry Night” has already been mentioned (I love its composition and expressive content!), I’ll give a nod to another well-known favorite: [Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nighthawks.jpg) There’s such a stark beauty to it, the use of light and shadow, the way he depicts interior and exterior space (and somewhat confounds the two in the viewer’s eye)–a wonderful painting. For something I’ve seen in person, I really liked [John Singleton Copley’s “Mrs. Thomas Gage.”](http://www.timkenmuseum.org/1-american-copley.html) A lot of the portraits of the time (1771) still insisted on a formal rigidity. This is a much more intriguing piece than a lot of earlier portraits because of the way Copley eschews rigidity and depicts his subject in that relaxed, dreamy pose. It’s quite striking when you see it in person. (A museum official there said it’s often called the “American Mona Lisa.” I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I did like it a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/79 "2008-02-16T05:13:12Z")
Hmm. Mr. Gage was a lucky man. [Here’s a larger image.](http://www.humanitiesweb.org/gallery/206/52.jpg) I see what they mean with the Mona Lisa comparison. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452/80 "2008-02-16T05:17:55Z")
[http://www.dia.org/the\_collection/overview/full.asp?objectID=35573&image=1](http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/full.asp?objectID=35573&image=1) This painting can keep you busy for a long time. Brugel the elders.Wedding Dance at the Detroit Museum of Art. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-painting/437452.md?page=5)