20. Liberty Leading the People
By Eugene Delacroix
Style: Academic art, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1830
Museum: Louvre, Paris
Reason: This painting is extremely political, and represents the French July Revolution of 1830, where King Charles X was overthrown in replace of a new constitutional monarchy. In this setting of a battlefield, the Lady Liberty serves as a patriotic mother, leading her people forward. This painting especially symbolizes the importance of freedom, and that it is something worth fighting and dying for.
19. Kindred Spirits
By Asher Durand
Style: Landscape Painting
Date: 1849
Museum: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas
Reason: This landscape painting by Asher Durand, depicts two famous artists, the painter Thomas Cole and his friend the poet, William Cullen Bryant, observing an incredible view of the Catskill Mountains. It has a strong blend of colors, with a realistic depth to it, that accentuates the breathtaking geography. For me, the painting demonstrates an admiration for nature, and the inspiration that may come through it.
18. Pollice Verso
By Jean Leon Gerome
Style: Academic Art, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1872
Museum: Phoenix Art Museum
Reason: This Academic painting by Jean Leon Gerome, depicts the wickedness of the Roman Empire, through it's gladiatorial games. The title Pollice Verso is Latin for "turned thumb", a historical reference to how the audience would decide if a defeated gladiator would live or die. This painting creates two perspectives; victory and defeat. On one perspective we see the victorious champion in a glorious pose, and on the other side, we see the defeated gladiator, whose life lies in the hands of a turned thumb. Gerome thus succeeded in creating a sensational historical scene.
17. Garden at Saint Adresse
By Claude Monet
Style: Impressionism, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1867
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Reason: Claude Monet has many incredible paintings, yet this one is my favorite. It is a very colorful and busy painting, full of so much activity, however it does not overwhelm and instead creates a perfect blend of aesthetic comfort. From the flowers in the garden, the two sitting elders, the standing couple, the waving flags, the rippled water, the boats in the distance, and the calm sky; it is clearly a mood-painting and a masterful achievement by Monet.
16. Tres de Mayo
By Francisco Goya
Style: Oil on Canvas
Date: 1814
Museum: Museo del Prado, Madrid
Reason: This horrific scene created by painter Francisco Goya, depicts a massacre of the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invading army in 1808. It is quite a powerful painting, due to the real expressions of the defeated Spanish rebels. It succeeds in stirring up the emotions, sorrow and anger. This painting by Goya, was extremely groundbreaking for it's time, and truly captured the atrocities of war.
By Eugene Delacroix
Style: Academic art, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1830
Museum: Louvre, Paris
Reason: This painting is extremely political, and represents the French July Revolution of 1830, where King Charles X was overthrown in replace of a new constitutional monarchy. In this setting of a battlefield, the Lady Liberty serves as a patriotic mother, leading her people forward. This painting especially symbolizes the importance of freedom, and that it is something worth fighting and dying for.
19. Kindred Spirits
By Asher Durand
Style: Landscape Painting
Date: 1849
Museum: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas
Reason: This landscape painting by Asher Durand, depicts two famous artists, the painter Thomas Cole and his friend the poet, William Cullen Bryant, observing an incredible view of the Catskill Mountains. It has a strong blend of colors, with a realistic depth to it, that accentuates the breathtaking geography. For me, the painting demonstrates an admiration for nature, and the inspiration that may come through it.
18. Pollice Verso
By Jean Leon Gerome
Style: Academic Art, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1872
Museum: Phoenix Art Museum
Reason: This Academic painting by Jean Leon Gerome, depicts the wickedness of the Roman Empire, through it's gladiatorial games. The title Pollice Verso is Latin for "turned thumb", a historical reference to how the audience would decide if a defeated gladiator would live or die. This painting creates two perspectives; victory and defeat. On one perspective we see the victorious champion in a glorious pose, and on the other side, we see the defeated gladiator, whose life lies in the hands of a turned thumb. Gerome thus succeeded in creating a sensational historical scene.
17. Garden at Saint Adresse
By Claude Monet
Style: Impressionism, Oil on Canvas
Date: 1867
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Reason: Claude Monet has many incredible paintings, yet this one is my favorite. It is a very colorful and busy painting, full of so much activity, however it does not overwhelm and instead creates a perfect blend of aesthetic comfort. From the flowers in the garden, the two sitting elders, the standing couple, the waving flags, the rippled water, the boats in the distance, and the calm sky; it is clearly a mood-painting and a masterful achievement by Monet.
16. Tres de Mayo
By Francisco Goya
Style: Oil on Canvas
Date: 1814
Museum: Museo del Prado, Madrid
Reason: This horrific scene created by painter Francisco Goya, depicts a massacre of the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invading army in 1808. It is quite a powerful painting, due to the real expressions of the defeated Spanish rebels. It succeeds in stirring up the emotions, sorrow and anger. This painting by Goya, was extremely groundbreaking for it's time, and truly captured the atrocities of war.
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