20 of the World's Most Famous Art Pieces : Identify the Painting Flashcards
Da Vinci’s most famous and visited artwork.
Believed to be the wife of Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo, possibly Leonardo’s mother, or a self-portrait.
Alternative Names: La Giaconda
Impact: Inspired songs, films, and other artists like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol.
Renaissance
Mona Lisa
Central element of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco.
Depicts God breathing life into Adam, a key moment in the biblical creation narrative.
God as an older, muscular yet realistic man, floating with other figures. Outstretched hands connecting God and Adam. Adam, created in God’s image, is a famous nude. Eve possibly under God’s left arm.
Reflects Michelangelo’s sculpting skills in the musculature and forms.
One of the most replicated biblical paintings.
High Renaissance
The Creation of Adam
Famous painting by Botticelli, commissioned by the Medici family.
Celebrates the Renaissance “rebirth” of classical antiquity. Depicts a nude Venus, referencing ancient myths.
Venus arrives on shore on a shell, born from sea foam, blown by Zephyrus and Chloris, greeted by Pomona.
The Birth of Venice
Political protest painting by Picasso, displayed at the 1937 Paris World Fair.
Cubism
Depicts the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by Hitler’s forces during the Spanish Civil War. A reaction to the first aerial saturation bombing of a civilian population.
Traveled the world. Held at MOMA in New York for 19 years until democracy was restored to Spain.
Guernica
Painting by Johannes Vermeer
Enigmatic portrait of an unknown girl with a pearl earring. Speculation about her identity ranges from Vermeer’s mistress to one of his children.
Tronie (head study), featuring an exotic turban and large pearl.
Baroque
Girl with a Pearl Earring, sometimes called the “Mona Lisa of the North.”
Series of paintings by Andy Warhol, based on the company’s branding.
Hand-painted with stencils, but each can is slightly different.
Each can represents one of Campbell’s 32 soup flavors in 1962.
Explores themes of mass production, consumerism, and the homogenization of society. Reflects the growing reliance on mass-produced goods and the impact on individuality.
Pop Art Interested in the “machine-like” processes of mass production.
Campbell’s Soup Cans
Iconic sculpture by Auguste Rodin.
A large (nearly 20ft tall) nude male figure, crouching in deep thought, with his chin resting on his right hand and right elbow on his left knee.
Originally intended for Rodin’s “Gates of Hell,” referencing Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Ancient Era
The Thinker
Painting by Jackson Pollock, representative of his distinctive style.
Action painting, a subset of Abstract Expressionism Confronting and controversial for its time.
Dripping and pouring paint directly from cans onto a large canvas on the floor. Used sticks, brushes, turkey basters, and even added sand and cigarette butts.
No. 1 (1950) Lavender Mist
Van Gogh’s most famous work.
Depicts the view from his sanatorium room.
Influential on subsequent generations of artists. Reflects his mental instability (attempted self-harm, suicide).
Post-Impressionist
Starry Night
Painting by Grant Wood, an iconic image of American culture.
Regionalist reflecting rural American life.
Depicts a farmer and his daughter (modeled by Wood’s dentist and daughter).
American Gothic
Painting by Edward Hopper, a famous image of 1940s American culture.
Possibly influenced by Van Gogh’s Terrace Café at Night.
Depicts a late-night scene in a diner. Hopper and his wife modeled for the figures.
American Realism and Modernist Movement
Nighthawks
Series of paintings by Claude Monet, created at his Giverny property.
Captures the play of light on water, reflected through trees and leaves. Includes the Japanese bridge and weeping willows.
Impressionism
Water Lily Pond
Iconic expressionist painting by Edvard Munch, second in fame only to the Mona Lisa.
Depicts a figure experiencing overwhelming anxiety and melancholy on a bridge.
Expressionism
The Scream
Ancient Greek sculpture, believed to represent Aphrodite (or her Roman equivalent, Venus).
Partially clothed female figure missing her arms.
Most believe she is Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. Some suggest Amphitrite (goddess of the sea) or even a prostitute.
Venus de Milo
Sculpture by Michelangelo.
High Renaissance, showcasing mastery of the human form, contrapposto pose, and detailed musculature.
David
Painting by Salvador Dali, known for its “droopy clocks.”
Surrealism, characterized by dreamlike imagery and precise detail.
The Persistence of Memory
Painting by Gustav Klimt.
Art Nouveau
Depicts a couple in an intimate embrace. Their robes are decorated with contrasting patterns: circular/curvilinear for the woman, rectangular for the man. They kneel on a patch of flowers.
The Kiss
Fresco by Raphael, located in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican.
Depicts philosophers of the ancient classical world conversing and learning.
Pythagoras (left, working on mathematical formulas), Ptolemy, and Raphael himself (bottom right, in white).
High Renaissance
School of Athens
Painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Depicts a lively scene at the Moulin de la Galette, a Parisian dance garden.
Impressionist
Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
Painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
Depicts the moment Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. Captures the apostles’ reactions and speculation.
Renaissance
The Last Supper
