01 MONA LISA Artist: Leonardo da Vinci Year: 1517 Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as the preeminent figure of the Italian Renaissance who excelled in numerous fields including art. The Mona Lisa has been acclaimed as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about and the most parodied work of art in the world”. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman’s face which is why it is also known as “la Gioconda”, or the laughing one. Based on accounts from an early biographer, the painting is a picture of Lisa Gherardini, the real-life wife of a merchant. 02 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING Artist: Johannes Vermeer Year: c. 1665 Johannes Vermeer is perhaps the best known artist of the Dutch Golden Age after Rembrandt. Girl with a Pearl Earring, his most renowned work, portrays a European girl wearing an exotic dress, an oriental turban, and a large pearl earring. Not much is known about the life of Jan Vermeer and nothing is known about the model who appears in the painting. 03 PORTRAIT OF MADAME X Artist: John Singer Sargent Year: 1884 John Singer Sargent was an American artist residing in Paris at the time he created this painting. He was in his late 20s and trying to make a name for himself. Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau was an American expatriate who married a French banker and was well known in Parisian society for her beauty. After a couple of years of persuasion, the glamorous Mme Gautreau agreed to pose for Sargent. 04 ARNOLFINI PORTRAIT Artist: Jan van Eyck Year: 1434 Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter who was one of the most important artists of the early Renaissance. Arnolfini Portrait, his best known work, is a full-length double portrait most likely depicting Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife. The painting is also known as The Arnolfini Wedding. The woman in the painting is not his first wife Costanza Trenta as she had died in 1433. 05 LE REVE English Title: The Dream Artist: Pablo Picasso Year: 1932 Picasso is arguably the greatest painter of all time and this painting is perhaps his most famous portrait. It depicts his French mistress Marie-Therese Walter. Unlike his later mistress Dora Maar whom Picasso often portrayed as tortured 06 PORTRAIT OF ADELE BLOCH-BAUER I Artist: Gustav Klimt Year: 1907 Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter who remains one of the most well known artists. He achieved remarkable success in his “golden phase” during which he painted this famous portrait. The model in the painting, Adele Bloch-Bauer, was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy Jewish banker and sugar producer. 07 LAS DOS FRIDAS English Title: The Two Fridas Artist: Frida Kahlo Year: 1939 Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who is famous for her self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She had a tumultuous relationship with another famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera during which they married, divorced and re-married. 08 AMERICAN GOTHIC Artist: Grant Wood Year: 1930 The American Gothic House, also known as the Dibble House, is a house in Eldon, Iowa, U.S. The house is designed in the Rural Gothic style. In August 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter known for his depictions of rural American Midwest, noticed the Dibble House and sketched it on the back of an envelope. 09 THE NIGHT WATCH Dutch Title: De Nachtwacht Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn Year: 1642 Rembrandt van Rijn is considered one of the greatest artists in history. The Night Watch was commissioned to him by Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and 17 members of his company of civil guards. Apt title of the painting would be The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. However, due to the dark impression it makes on the viewer, it became known as The Night Watch. Comprising of 34 characters, the colossal masterpiece depicts the company, led by Cocq and Ruytenburch, moving towards the viewer. Its fame rests on several factors including its enormous size (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft); 10 LAS MENINAS English Title: The Maids of Honour Artist: Diego Velazquez Year: 1656 Considered one of the most important paintings ever, Las Meninas depicts at its center the 5 year old Margarita Teresa. The infant Margarita is surrounded by her maids, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. On the left, Velazquez depicts himself with a brush, leading to BBC calling this masterpiece “the world’s first photobomb”. #WorldArtsAndArtists #Portrait #Paintings #OldMaster #OilPainting #RenownedArtists #Top10Portrait --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Us : worldartsandartists@gmail.com fb.me/worldartsandartists +91 9840 607646 @whatsapp -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertising Partner: Are you interested to learn drawing and painting professionally For More Details : 9944 341 414 / http://www.dessinacademy.com/

• published: 16 Aug 2020
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