The World’s 50 Best Works of Art (and how to see them)
The human race has been making art for thousands of years. Here, in chronological order, critic Martin Gayford chooses his 50 artistic wonders of the world (with location info). This list is of course somewhat arbitrary as many other works of art could be on such list. Still all works that Marin Gayford selected should be known by you. Other lists can be found here (100 Great Paintings), or you could also e.g. buy 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die. Or perhaps you have some suggestions ?
I have added a link to every artwork on the list so you can quickly get some more info.
- Sculpture of Khafre
- The Hunts of Ashurbanipal
- Riace Warriors
- Terracotta Army
- Altar of Zeus from Pergamon
- Nasca Earthworks
- Murals, Villa of the Mysteries
- Ajanta murals
- Obelisk of King Ezana
- Arjuna’s Penance
- Great Mosque of Damascus
- The Incarnation Initial, Book of Kells
- Temple of Borobudur
- Travellers by Streams & Mountains by Fan Kuan
- Head with Crown
- Carvings at Santo Domingo de los Silos
- Christ Pantocrator at the Cefalù Cathedral
- Stained glass at Chartres Cathedral
- Moai on Eastern Island
- Giotto frescoes Cappella Scrovegni
- Maestà by Duccio di Buoninsegna
- Ghent altarpiece by Jan van Eyck
- The Legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca
- Leonardo da VinciLady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci
- Zen garden at the Ryoan-ji Temple
- David by Michelangelo Buonarroti
- Isenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald
- Ardabil carpet
- Diana and Actaeon by Titian
- Crucifixion by Jacopo Tintoretto at Scuola Grande di San Rocco
- Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Breugel the Elder
- Scenes from the Life of St Matthew by Caravaggio
- The Ecstasy of St Teresa by Bernini at the Cornaro Chapel
- Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez
- View of Delft by Vermeer
- The Jewish Bride: Isaac and Rebecca by Rembrandt van Rijn
- Apollo and the Four Continents by Giambattista Tiepolo
- The Third of May by Francisco Goya
- The Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Géricault
- Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows by John Constable
- Vincent’s Chair with Pipe by Vincent van Gogh
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso
- La Danse (II) by Henri Matisse
- Waterlilies by Claude Monet
- Endless Column by Constantin Brancusi
- One: No 31 by Jackson Pollock
- Whaam! by Roy Lichtenstein
- Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson
Untitled by Donald Judd (aluminium boxes)100 untitled works in mill aluminum by Donald Judd (Thank you squashi – see comment 4+5 – have used another link thou)
[...] world’s 50 best works of art and where to go to see them. Random Knowledge has links to all the art so you can check them out virtually in less time and for less [...]
Since 49 of the 50 links in your list lead to Wikipedia i made a gallery of all these works with pictures that are available on Wikipedia. Note that many of these pictures are in the public domain or under a free license, so you can also use them for many purposes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Husky/The_World%E2%80%99s_50_Best_Works_of_Art
[...] article, with a list of the world’s 50 best works of art. Kurt from Random knowledge made a list of links to Wikipedia pages about these artworks, but unfortunately didn’t include the images from [...]
Thank you Hay.
you’ve definitely got the wrong aluminum boxes by Judd. The ones on the list are outdoors, in marfa, tx. I think these are them: http://www.townandcountrytravelmag.com/vacation-ideas/best-vacations/marfa-texas-10-07
er– i meant to say– they are lit by the outdoors, not actually situated outdoors. And they are the third photo in that link– not the first.
Thank you squashi – have corrected the link.
[...] Best Works of Art The world’s fifty best works of art and where to go to see them. Random Knowledge has links to all the art so you can check them out virtually in less time and for less money. [via [...]
[...] The World’s 50 Best Works of Art (and how to see them) « Random knowledge [...]
Great!
[...] The World’s 50 Best Works of Art (and how to see them) « Random… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Husky/The World%E2%80%99s 50 Best Works of Art The World s 50 Best Works of Art Hay Kranen said, on March 14th, 2008 at 3:25 pm [...] article, with a list of the world s 50 best works of art. World s Best Works of Art The Errant Æsthete said, on March 15th, 2008 at 12:16 am [...] Best Works of Art The world s fifty best works of art and where to go to see them. Skip… [...]
[...] While the obvious beauty of da Vinci’s piece is alluring it is the underlying stories of Constable and Géricault’s paintings that help build my appreciation of them; both accompanying each piece’s startling beauty by adding tones of humanity. To combine inspiration and ability, the output a meaningful expression of passion…those are the words that best describe art to me…as such each of these pieces are epitomical works of art. Each unique story is best described through their respective Wiki articles, but I wanted to emphasize the importance that I find in Géricault’s ability to transform story of current affair into such a masterful piece, all at the ripe age of twenty five. (via Kottke & Random Knowledge) [...]