Beautiful.
Moving.
Though-provoking.
Famous.
Technically brilliant.
What makes a work of art great? What makes it worthy of being a favorite? And are those the same thing?
I’ve tried to come up with a list of my favorite art works. Not every favorite is great, though, and not every great work of art is a favorite of mine. So what criteria should I use to create this list?
I think any or all of the attributes I listed above, individually or in combination, could qualify a work for my list. But I’m not going to worry about the criteria. I’m just presenting my favorites, the individual works of art that I have seen in my travels and, for whatever reason, loved. Here they are, in chronological order:
Boy with Thorn (antiquity)
Musei Capitolini, Rome
David (1504)
Michelangelo (1475–1564), Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence
The Creation of Adam (1508–1512)
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Rome
Old Woman and Boy with Candles, (1616–17)
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Mauritshuis, The Hague
David (1624)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), Galleria Borghese, Rome
The Bull (1647)
Paulus Potter (1625–1654), Mauritshuis, The Hague
Las Meninas (1656)
Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Milkmaid (1660)
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The Merry Family (1668)
Jan Steen (1625–1679), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Murals of the Grand Palace, Bangkok (1780s)
Street Urchin Eating a Watermelon (1881)
Pericles Pantazis (1849–1884), Averoff Art Gallery, Metsovo, Greece
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886)
Georges Seurat (1859–1891), Art Institute of Chicago
Panels from the Ingram Street Tearooms (1900)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) and his wife Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh (1864–1923), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Three sculptures
Pablo Gargallo (1881–1934), Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
Guernica (1937)
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Reina Sofia, Madrid
Nighthawks (1942)
Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Art Institute of Chicago
Quito verde (ca. 1960)
Oswaldo Guayasamin (1919–1999), Museo Casa Guayasamin, Quito
