Chagall, Master Drawling

It is not for nothing that Chagall is considered one of the most famous avant-garde artists of the 20th century.

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Pablo Picasso

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (1881 – 1973) was a Spanish artist who is regarded by many as the greatest painter in history. He was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. He broke the practices of the past and co-pioneered the art movement Cubism that revolutionized European painting and sculpture. Picasso was a prolific artist and, apart from creating a large volume of work in other media, he made around 1900 paintings in his long career. Several of his paintings are among the most expensive ever sold but his most famous works are generally held by museums. Here are the 10 most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso including his Cubist masterpieces and works from his Blue Period.

1937 - Pablo Picasso

Guernica

Guernica is a town in northern Spain. On 26th April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was bombed by Nazi German and Fascist Italian warplanes on request of Spanish Nationalists. Picasso created this masterpiece in response to the bombing of Guernica. It brought worldwide attention to the Spanish Civil War and is considered one of the powerful anti-war paintings in history. There have been numerous interpretations of Guernica since its creation. On the left of the canvas, a wide-eyed bull stands above a woman grieving over a dead child in her arms. The center is dominated by a horse falling in agony as if struck by a weapon. Under the horse is a dismembered soldier while towards its right is a frightened female figure which appears to have floated into the room through a window. From the right, an awe-struck woman staggers towards the center. The two dominant elements in the painting, the bull and the horse, are important characters in Spanish culture. Guernica is the most famous painting by Pablo Picasso and is considered one of the most brilliant artworks ever created.

1907 - Pablo Picasso

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon)

Originally titled Le Bordel d’Avignon (The Brothel of Avignon), this revolutionary masterpiece is considered one of the most influential paintings of twentieth century as it played a key role in the development of both Cubism and Modern art. It was a radical departure from traditional European painting. Picasso used different styles to depict each figure in the painting with the head of the women pulling the curtain in upper right being the most strictly Cubist element. The painting was controversial not only for its radical style but also for its subject. It was first exhibited to the public in 1916 and its title was changed to lessen its scandalous impact. The Avignon of the work’s title is a reference to a street in Barcelona famed for its brothel. The artwork depicts five nude female prostitutes in a disconcerting confrontational manner. They are rendered with angular and disjointed body shapes with the two figures on the right shown with African mask-like features. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon has had an enormous and profound influence on Modern art.

1937 - Pablo Picasso

The Weeping Woman

In his masterpiece Guernica, Pablo Picasso depicted a weeping woman holding her dead child. He then created a number of portraits based on this figure which culminated with this painting, the last and most elaborate painting of the series. The model in the painting is French photographer and painter Dora Maar, who was his mistress from 1936 to 1944. Maar was one of the most influential figures in Picasso’s life during their relationship and also his primary model. Picasso brilliantly uses distorted images, strategically placed tears, blue chattering teeth and piercing black eyes to depict the pain and horror felt by the figure in the portrait. Apart from being the most famous work in the Weeping Woman series, this portrait is also Picasso’s most celebrated depiction of Maar.

1903 – 1904 - Pablo Picasso

The Old Guitarist

The Old Guitarist was painted by Picasso during his Blue Period (1901 – 1904), which was brought about by his struggle with poverty and the suicide of his dear friend Casagemas. The painting portrays a bent and sightless man who is holding a large guitar close to him. The blue palette adds to the melancholy and accentuates the tragic and sorrowful theme. In 1998, researchers used an infrared camera to discover a young mother seated in the center of the composition, reaching out with her left arm to her kneeling child at her right, and a calf or sheep on the mother’s left side. Although Pablo Picasso later dismissed his Blue Period works as “nothing but sentiment”, these paintings are still hugely popular and The Old Guitarist is the most famous among them.

1932 - Pablo Picasso

Le Rêve (The Dream)

This painting also depicts Marie-Thérèse Walter. Unlike his later mistress Dora Maar whom Picasso often portrayed as tortured or threatening, Marie-Thérèse usually appears as blonde, sunny and bright in his paintings. Picasso created numerous works with elements of eroticism and the erotic content of this famous painting is often noted with critics pointing out that Picasso painted an erect penis, presumably symbolizing his own, in the upturned face of his 22-year-old model. In March 2013, Le Rêve was sold in a private sale for $155 million making it the fifth most expensive painting ever sold at the time. As of 2016, this price is the second highest ever paid to acquire a painting by Picasso after Les Femmes d’Alger (Women of Algiers), which was sold for $179.4 million in May 2015.

1921 - Pablo Picasso

Three Musicians

Along with Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso pioneered Cubism, an early-20th-century art movement in which the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints. Synthetic Cubism was the second phase of the movement which was characterized by increased use of color; simpler lines and shapes; and imitation or introduction of a range materials, like cut-out paper, into painting. This painting is a prime example of the Synthetic Cubist style. It portrays a Harlequin, a Pierrot, and a monk which are generally believed to be, respectively, Picasso; and his poet friends Guillaume Apollinaire, who died in 1918; and Max Jacob, who entered a monastery in 1921. Three Musicians is not only among Picasso’s greatest masterpieces but also one of the most renowned works in Synthetic Cubism.

1932 - Pablo Picasso

Girl before a Mirror

This painting portrays Marie-Thérèse Walter, mistress and model of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to around 1935. The young Marie-Thérèse was one of his favorite subjects in the early 1930s. Girl before a Mirror portrays her as beautiful and dressed up with make up on the left side; while on the right side her face is darkened, her eyes are round and hollow, and her intensely feminine body is twisted and contorted. The painting is renowned for its varied interpretations. Some critics consider it to be a representation of Walter’s day-self and her night-self. Others view it as Walter confronting her mortality by looking at the mirror which suggests to her, her ultimate fate. It may also imply her transition from an innocent girl to a worldly woman aware of her own sexuality.

1903 - Pablo Picasso

La Vie (Life)

The Blue Period is a term used to refer to Pablo Picasso’s body of work between 1901 and 1904. The paintings of this period are essentially monochromatic in shades of blue and blue-green. The Blue Period, which is characterized by usually mournful subject matter, was in part brought about by the suicide of Picasso’s dear friend, Carlos Casagemas. Casagemas was an art student and poet who shot himself because of unrequited love for an artist’s model named Germaine Pichot. Along with The Old Guitarist, La Vie is regarded as the pinnacle of Picasso’s Blue Period. The painting portrays a naked couple confronting a mother bearing a child in her arms. The male figure in the painting is a portrait of Carlos Casagemas, who was depicted by Picasso in several posthumous portraits.

1911 – 1912 - Pablo Picasso

Ma Jolie (My pretty girl)

Pablo Picasso co-pioneered the art movement Cubism, which revolutionized European painting and sculpture. Analytic Cubism was the first phase of the movement which was characterized by reducing the forms into basic geometric parts and by a tendency towards monochromatic use of color. This painting exemplifies the Analytic Cubist style. It depicts Marcelle Humbert, who was Picasso’s mistress at the time and who died three years later in 1915. Ma Jolie was Picasso’s nickname for Marcelle. It was also the refrain of a popular song which was performed at a Parisian music hall which Picasso often visited. Ma Jolie is among the most famous paintings by Picasso in Analytic Cubism.

1905 - Pablo Picasso

Family of Saltimbanques

The Rose Period is a term used to describe Pablo Picasso’s artworks from 1904 to 1906. It followed his grim Blue Period and marked the start of his stylistic experiments with primitivism; influenced by pre-Roman Iberian sculpture; and Oceanic and African art. The paintings of Picasso’s Rose Period are usually colorful and optimistic in mood with frequent depictions of circus people, acrobats and harlequins. This painting portrays six circus performers in a desolate landscape. The word “saltimbanco” comes from Italian and is used to refer to street performers. Critics have suggested that this painting is a group portrait of Picasso and his circle, symbolized as poor, independent and isolated. Family of Saltimbanques is the most famous painting of Picasso’s Rose Period.

Vincent Van Gogh

Considered among the greatest painters of all time, Vincent Van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist artist of Dutch origins. His work, which is notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color, had a deep and profound impact on 20th century art. Here are 10 of his most famous paintings from The Potato Eaters (1885) to Portrait of Dr. Gachet, which he painted a few months before his death in July 1890.

1889 - Vincent Van Gogh

The Starry Night

Although painted from memory, this masterpiece depicts the view outside Van Gogh’s sanitarium room window at Saint-Remy-de-Provence in France. The work shows the artist’s interest in astronomy and a study made by the Griffith Park Observatory demonstrated that Vincent represented the Moon, Venus, and several stars in the exact position they occupied that clear night. The painting is considered among the greatest works in western art and is definitely the most famous work of Vincent Van Gogh.

1888 - Vincent Van Gogh

Sunflowers

Vincent Van Gogh is considered a master of still life paintings and his series of paintings on ‘sunflowers’ rank among the most famous still life paintings ever created. The paintings are well known for depicting the natural beauty of the flowers and for their vibrant colors. The above painting which is titled Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers smashed the auction record for a painting when it was sold to a Japanese investor for almost $40 million in March 1987. The record was broken two years later by Van Gogh’s Irises.

1889 - Vincent Van Gogh

Irises

Among Van Gogh’s most celebrated works are his paintings and prints of Irises and this painting is the most famous among them. Vincent painted it in the year before his death and referred to as the “the lightning conductor for my illness” as he felt his work was his hope against becoming insane. In September 1987, Irises was sold for $53.9 million making it the most expensive painting ever sold. Its record stood for about two and a half years and as of today it ranks 15 in the list of most expensive paintings ever sold if you adjust for inflation.

1890 - Vincent Van Gogh

Portrait of Dr. Gachet

Paul-Ferdinand Gachet was a French physician who treated Van Gogh during the last months of his life. This portrait of him is one of the most revered paintings by Van Gogh. There are two versions of the portrait and this is the first version. On May 15, 1990, it was sold for US$82.5 million making it the most expensive painting ever sold. To date it remains the highest price paid for art at a public auction. On the inflation adjusted list of most expensive paintings ever sold, Portrait of Dr. Gachet ranks sixth to this day.

1888 - Vincent Van Gogh

Cafe Terrace at Night

Also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, this was the first painting in which the artist used starry background. Visitors can still stand at the northeastern corner of the Place du Forum and view the scene depicted by Van Gogh. Cafe Terrace at Night remains one of the most analyzed paintings by Van Gogh and it is debated whether it is an innovative depiction of Last Supper. There are several references to the painting in popular culture and a cafe in Croatia was redesigned to look like the cafe in the painting.

1889 - Vincent Van Gogh

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Vincent van Gogh is famous for his self-portraits. He painted over 30 of them during his life. This one is famous for the story behind it. After an incident with another prominent painter of the time, Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh cut off part of his own left year with a razor. He then went to a brothel and told a prostitute named Rachel to ‘guard this object with your life’. This is one of the two self-portraits he painted after the incident. It is to be noted that it was his left ear that was bandaged; it appears right as Van Gogh has used a mirror to paint the portrait.

1885 - Vincent Van Gogh

The Potato Eaters

This painting was Van Gogh’s first major work. He wanted to portray the peasants as realistically as possible and deliberately chose coarse models for the work that would seem to “have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish”. After two years and numerous paintings, Van Gogh still considered The Potato Eaters as his best work and he wrote to his sister, “What I think about my own work is that the painting of the peasants eating potatoes that I did in Nuenen is after all the best thing I did”.

1888 - Vincent Van Gogh

Bedroom in Arles

This painting is the first version of three similar paintings which are referred to as Bedroom in Arles and were simply titled The Bedroom by Vincent. The three paintings can be differentiated by the pictures hanging on the wall to the right. This version has miniatures of Van Gogh’s portraits of his friends Eugene Boch and Paul-Eugene Milliet on the right wall in the painting. The subject of the painting is Van Gogh’s bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhone, France, famous as his Yellow House.

1889 - Vincent Van Gogh

Wheatfield with Cypresses

Wheatfield with Cypresses is the title of three paintings by Van Gogh which are very similar in composition. The above painting is the first of the three and was completed in July 1889. Van Gogh, who had a fondness for cypresses and wheat fields, regarded the painting as one of his best landscape paintings and hence went on to create two more similar works. The above painting is the one which is present at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

1890 - Vincent Van Gogh

Almond Blossoms

In early 1890, Van Gogh’s brother Theo had a son who was named Vincent after the artist. Van Gogh was attached to the baby and wrote to his sister-in-law Jo, “He always looks with very great interest at Uncle Vincent’s paintings.” This painting was created by Van Gogh to celebrate the birth of his nephew. Vincent was a fan of Japanese art especially of the woodblock print genre Ukiyo-e and influence of Ukiyo-e can be seen in this famous work which was held in high esteem by the artist.

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí (1904 – 1989) was a Spanish artist who is most famous for his works in Surrealism, an influential 20th century movement, primarily in art and literature. Surrealist artists rejected the rational in art; and instead aimed to channel the unconscious to unlock the power of imagination. Dali used extensive symbolism in his work. Recurring images in his paintings include elephants with brittle legs which evoke weightlessness; ants, thought to be his symbol for decay and death; and melting watches, perhaps symbolic of non-linear human perception of time. Dali’s contributions to Surrealism include the paranoiac-critical method. Though he was expelled from the movement due to clashes with its members, Dali became the most influential Surrealist artist; and perhaps the most renowned twentieth century painter after Pablo Picasso. Here are the 10 most famous paintings of Salvador Dali including The Persistence of Memory, Galatea of the Spheres and The Great Masturbator.

1931 - Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory (La persistencia de la memoria)

This iconic and much-reproduced painting depicts a scene with watches melting slowly on rocks and the branch of a tree, with the ocean as a back drop. Dali uses the concept of hard and soft in this painting. This concept may be illustrated in a number of ways like the human mind moving from the softness of sleep to the hardness of reality. In his masterpiece, Dali uses melting watches and rocks to represent the soft and hard aspects of the world respectively. The Persistence of Memory has been much analyzed over the years as Dali never explained his work. The melting watches have been thought to be an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time; as a symbol of mortality with the ants surrounding the watches representing decay; and as irrationality of dreams. The Persistence of Memory is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of twentieth century art. It is not only the most famous painting of Salvador Dali but also the most renowned artwork in Surrealism.

1937 - Salvador Dali

Swans Reflecting Elephants (Cisnes que se reflejan como elefantes)

Double images were a major part of Dali’s paranoiac-critical method. Like in Metamorphosis of Narcissus, this painting uses the reflection in a lake to create a double image. The three swans in front of the trees are reflected in the lake so that their necks become the elephants’ trunks and the trees become the legs of the elephants. The landscape contrasts with the stillness of the lake as Dali has used swirl-like images to depict the background cliffs and skies. Swans Reflecting Elephants is considered a landmark painting in Surrealism as it enhanced the popularity of the double-image style. It is the most famous double image created by Salvador Dali; his greatest masterpiece using the paranoiac-critical method; and one of the most well-known works in Surrealism.

1936 - Salvador Dali

Soft Construction with Boiled Beans

Salvador Dali painted this masterpiece six months before the Spanish Civil War began. He claimed to have been aware of the war due to “the prophetic power of his subconscious mind”. The painting reflects his anxiety during the time and predicts the horror and violence in the war. It portrays two bodies, one darker than the other, in a gruesome fight where neither appears to be a victor. The monstrous creature is self-destructive just as a civil war is. Dali made sure the painting looked very realistic despite the fantastical creature it depicts. The boiled beans in the painting, which are also mentioned in the title, are perhaps a reference to the simple stew that was eaten by the poor citizens living through a difficult time in Spain. Soft Construction with Boiled Beans is considered one of Dali’s greatest masterpieces and is renowned for brilliant use of surrealism to depict the horrors of war.

1929 - Salvador Dali

The Great Masturbator

In 1929, Salvador Dali met Gala, who became his muse and later his wife. This canvas was created in the same year and is thought to reflect the erotic transformation that the artist underwent due to her arrival in his life. The main yellow area in the painting represents the artist himself sleeping. Out of his head comes the vision, probably representing an erotic fantasy, of a nude female figure, resembling his muse, drawn to the genitalia of a man, presumably the artist. Seen by many as a bizarre self-portrait, the disturbing composition is further plagued by additions like the fish-hook, the bleeding cuts, ants crawling on his face and a grasshopper which has attached itself to his face. The Great Masturbator is renowned for glorifying something that is usually ridiculed and is among Dali’s most controversial paintings.

1951 - Salvador Dali

Christ of Saint John of the Cross

This painting is known as Christ of Saint John of the Cross because its design is based on a drawing by the 16th-century Spanish friar John of the Cross. The composition consists of a triangle, which is formed by the arms of Christ and the horizontal of the cross; and a circle, which is formed by the head of Christ. The triangle might be seen as a reference to the Holy Trinity while the circle may represent unity, that is all things exist in the three. Although the painting is a representation of crucifixion, it is devoid of nails and blood. According to Dali, the inspiration of the painting came to him through a cosmic dream, in which he was convinced that depiction of nails and blood would mar his portrayal of Christ. Christ of Saint John of the Cross was voted Scotland’s favorite painting in a 2006 poll and it is considered by many to be the greatest religious painting of the twentieth century.

1937 - Salvador Dali

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

The paranoiac-critical method is a technique in Surrealism which was developed by Salvador Dali in the early 1930s. It is used by the artist to tap into his subconscious through systematic irrational thought and a self-induced paranoid state. Considered one of the main achievements of surrealism, Dali used it in several of his paintings, especially those involving optical illusions and other multiple images. According to Greek mythology, Narcissus, who was renowned for his beauty, fell in love with his own reflection in water. Dali’s interpretation of the Greek myth, this painting shows Narcissus sitting in a pool, gazing down. Metamorphosis of Narcissus was created by Dali during his paranoiac-critical period and is among his most renowned works using the technique.

1952 - Salvador Dali

Galatea of the Spheres

After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Salvador Dali became captivated with nuclear physics and the theories of disintegration of the atom. It was also a time when he had renewed interest in Catholicism. The led to his Nuclear Mysticism period, in which his works often used ideas from modern science as means of rationalizing the Christian religion. Realizing that matter was made up of atoms, Dali made his works appear to disintegrate into multiple atoms. This painting is a portrait of Gala Dali, his wife and muse. Her face is composed of densely populated spheres, representing atomic particles, which give a marvelous three dimensional effect to the canvas. Galatea in the title refers to a sea-nymph in Classical Mythology named Galatea, who was renowned for her virtue. Galatea of the Spheres is one of the most renowned paintings from Dali’s Nuclear Mysticism period.

1944 - Salvador Dali

Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening

Salvador Dali said that this painting was intended “to express for the first time in images Freud’s discovery of the typical dream with a lengthy narrative, the consequence of the instantaneousness of a chance event which causes the sleeper to wake up.” It shows the sleeping figure of the artist’s wife Gala Dali floating above a rock. Beside her naked body, two drops of water, a pomegranate and a bee are also airborne. Gala’s dream is prompted by the buzzing of the bee and is portrayed in the upper half of the canvas. In a succession of images, a pomegranate bursts open to release a giant red fish from whose mouth two ferocious tigers emerge together with a bayonet which will soon wake Gala from her restful sleep. The elephant, later a recurring image in Dali’s works, is a distorted version of Elephant and Obelisk, a sculpture by famous Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

1966 – 1967 - Salvador Dali

Tuna Fishing (Homage to Meissonier)

This painting was created by Salvador Dali at the end of his illustrious career and is considered to be his last great masterpiece. He spent two summers to create the artwork in which, apart from surrealism, he has used styles such as Action painting, Pop Art, Pointillism, geometrical abstraction and psychedelic art. Including images from ancient Greek sculpture to modern cinema, Tuna Fishing depicts violent struggle between men and large fishes as a personification of the limited universe. The painting is dedicated to Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier, a 19th century French painter known for his depictions of battle scenes. Dali considered Tuna Fishing to be his most ambitious work and it is considered by his fans a testament to the mastery he had acquired in his profession during his career.

1937 - Salvador Dali

The Burning Giraffe

The Burning Giraffe is seen as an expression of the personal struggle of Salvador Dali with the civil war going on in his home country. The painting depicts two feminine figures with undefined phallic shapes protruding from their backs. The hands, forearms and face of the nearest figure are stripped down to the muscular tissue beneath the skin. Prominently, there are opened drawers protruding from the left leg and chest of the figurine. Salvador Dali was a great admirer of famous neurologist Sigmund Freud and several paintings of Dali were influenced by Freudian theories. These open drawers can be traced to Freud’s psychoanalytical method and refer to the inner, subconscious within man. The burning giraffe image in the background was described by Dali as, “the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster.” He believed it to be a premonition of war.

Marc Chagall

Active in the twentieth century, Marc Zakharovich Chagall (1887 – 1985) was a Russian-French artist who worked in a variety of media but is most renowned for his paintings. During his time, he was the foremost Jewish artist in the world and has since been referred to as “the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century”. Chagall is most known for his brilliant use of color to attract the viewer’s attention. His artworks are usually lively and imaginative and often combine Cubism and Fauvism with his folkish style. Know more about the art of Marc Chagall by studying his 10 most famous paintings.

1911 - Marc Chagall

I and the Village

Created during the best phase of his career, this is the most famous painting by Marc Chagall. It is dominated by the image of a green-faced man and a goat staring at each other; and a glowing tree held in a hand. This is complemented by several scenes like that of a goat being milked and a collection of houses, some upside down. The painting consists of dreamlike images of Russian landscape and symbols from folk stories. As its title suggests, I and the Village is influenced by Chagall’s memories of his homeland and his relationship to it. The use of clearly defined elements with specific meaning like the Tree of Life, and the daringly whimsical style of the painting were considered ground breaking at the time.

1938 - Marc Chagall

White Crucifixion

This painting is perhaps the most critically acclaimed masterpiece of Chagall. It is also among the most eloquent depictions against hatred. It puts on one canvas the suffering of Jesus and the Jewish people. The crucifixion of Jesus is depicted at the center of the painting while violent acts against Jews, such as burning of a synagogue, surround the central scene. Jesus is shown wearing a prayer shawl implying that he is Jewish and thus connecting his suffering to that of the Jews. White Crucifixion, with its dark intensity, is remarkably different from most of Chagall’s works, which are lively and imaginative. It is the favorite painting of Pope Francis, the 266th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

1950 - Marc Chagall

La Mariée (The Bride)

The striking quality of Chagall’s works was his ability to attract the viewer’s attention and capture his imagination through colors. Such was his mastery that he portrayed striking images even while using just two or three colors; and this is evident in this renowned artwork. The bride is dressed in a lively red dress as compared to the soft blue and grey background which gives the impression that the woman is about to jump of the canvas and it is the viewer to whom she is being presented, and it is he who is the groom.

1913 - Marc Chagall

Paris Through the Window

While in Paris during the best phase of his career, Chagall often remembered his home and life in Vitebsk; and majority of his artworks based on his homeland are from this period. This famous masterpiece shows a two faced man looking through his window at what is a visually appealing snapshot of Paris. Through a juxtaposition of imaginary and the real, Chagall shows his present experience of life in Paris as well as patterns from his life in Russia. The duality he is experiencing is perhaps the reason behind the figure looking both ways. The painting, especially the Eiffel Tower, is inspired by the early Cubist art of fellow artist and Chagall’s friend Robert Delaunay.

1964 - Marc Chagall

Circus Horse

Mark Chagall loved the circus and said that its artists helped him ‘move toward new horizons’. It became one of his favorite subjects during his early years in Paris and remained so throughout his career. This painting, in which Chagall has used vibrant colors and dazzling tones to capture the festive mood of the circus, is his most famous painting on the subject. Circus Horse was created in the late stage of his career, when Chagall was in his seventies. It is considered one of his finest and most vigorous late works.

1913 - Marc Chagall

Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers

Among the earliest self-portraits of Chagall and one of his first works in Cubism, this painting shows the artist working on a canvas. He has seven fingers perhaps suggesting the difficulty of what he wants to accomplish with the normal count of fingers. Created during his first stay in the capital of France, it shows Paris with its iconic Eiffel Tower through the window while Vitebsk, his homeland in Russia, is shown among the clouds in a surrealist manner within his studio. Through these two images Chagall dramatically expresses his conflict between picturesque Vitebsk and modern Paris.

1918 - Marc Chagall

The Promenade

This painting was created at the time Chagall was ecstatic due to his marriage to his sweetheart Bella Rosenfeld a couple of years ago and the sense of freedom and optimism he experienced as a Jew due to the October Revolution. It shows Chagall holding hands with Bella, who is fluttering like a flag in the wind. Chagall uses elements of Cubism and Futurism in the painting. The exhilarating image he has created in the artwork makes it one of his most romantic paintings.

1913 - Marc Chagall

The Fiddler

This painting is a representation of a fiddler in Chagall’s village, Vitebsk. Chagall uses the fiddler to create an image of the internal battle of an average individual, which is accentuated through his choice of colors and other elements. Created at a time when nostalgia dominated his thoughts, the painting highlights his cultural and religious legacy through the image of a violinist dancing in a rustic village. Chagall’s image of the fiddler served as an inspiration for the famous 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof, which held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years.

1912 - Marc Chagall

Homage to Apollinaire

In 1910, Chagall relocated to Paris and his first stay of four years in the French capital is considered by art historians as the best phase of his artistic career. Created during this time, Homage to Apollinaire is perhaps the most enigmatic of his works. The composition was motivated by Chagall’s admiration for the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, whose poetry often concerned with the clash between the modern and the traditional. It shows a man and a woman to be joined at the hip surrounded by geometric shapes, names of several poets and numbers.

1917 - Marc Chagall

Bella with White Collar

Marc Chagall met Bella Rosenfeld, the daughter of a wealthy Russian jeweler, in 1909. At the time Marc was a penniless apprentice. They fell in love immediately and married in the summer of 1915. Bella acted as Chagall’s muse and appeared in many of his works. This portrait is Chagall’s most famous representation of her. In it she stands over a lush pastoral landscape and at her feet are two tiny figures which presumably represent Chagall and the couple’s daughter, Ida.

Rene Magritte

René François Ghislain Magritte (1898 – 1967) was a Belgian artist most renowned for being one of the leaders of the influential 20th century art movement, Surrealism. Surrealist artists rejected the rational in art. However, in contrast to others like Salvador Dali and Max Ernst who created distorted and dream-like representations of real forms mixed with abstract shapes, Magritte evoked strangeness and ambiguity in realistic depictions. His objects are often ordinary in singularity but surreal by context or their relationship to each other. Known for his thought-provoking images, Rene Magritte was one of the most influential figures of 20th century art and, along with Dali, the most renowned Surrealist artist. Know more about his art through his 10 most famous paintings including The Son of Man, The Lovers, Golconda and The Treachery of Images.

1928 – 1929 - Rene Magritte

The Treachery of Images

This painting shows a pipe below which Magritte has painted the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe.”, French for “This is not a pipe.” The statement means that the painting itself is not a pipe; it is merely an image of a pipe. When asked about the famous painting Magritte said, “it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been lying!” The Treachery of Images belongs to a series of word-image paintings by Magritte from the late 1920s. It was painted when he was 30 years old and is considered a work meant to counter oppressive rationalism. The Treachery of Images is considered one of the most influential masterpieces of the Surrealism movement and it is the most famous painting by Rene Magritte.

1964 - Rene Magritte

The Son of Man

The Son of Man, a self portrait of Magritte, depicts a man in an overcoat and a bowler hat but his face is largely obscured by a hovering green apple. However, his eyes can be seen peeking over the edge of the apple. Magritte created two similar paintings the same year: Man in the Bowler Hat, which portrays a similar figure whose face is obscured by a passing bird; and The Great War of the Facades, which depicts a woman in a similar seaside setting with flowers blocking her face. He said about the painting, “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.” The Son of Man is not only one of the most famous paintings of Magritte but also an iconic work of Surrealism which has appeared in popular culture numerous times.

1953 - Rene Magritte

Golconda

One of the most renowned masterpieces of surrealism, Golconda depicts a scene of nearly identical men dressed in dark overcoats and bowler hats; who seem to be either falling down like rain drops, floating up like helium balloons or just stationed in mid air. The backdrop features red-roofed buildings and a mostly blue sky. There are various interpretations of the painting including it being a demonstration of the blurred line between individuality and group association. The title Golconda is taken from the city of Gol konda (“Round shaped hill”) in the state of Telangana in southern India. Golkonda, or Golconda, is renowned for the mines that have produced some of the world’s most famous gems, including the Koh-i-Noor and the Hope Diamond.

1928 - Rene Magritte

The Lovers

This painting shows a male figure in black suit locked in embrace with a woman clad in red. The figures are kissing each other but, interestingly, through veils; and this is what makes the painting thought provoking. Like many of Magritte’s paintings, there are several interpretation of the painting including it being a depiction of our inability to fully unveil the true nature of even our most intimate companions. Faces hidden from view is a common feature in many Magritte paintings. When he was 14, Magritte’s mother committed suicide by drowning. He witnessed the body of her mother with her wet nightgown wrapped around her face and some have speculated that this trauma led him to show obscured faces in his works. However, Magritte denied this. The Lovers is one of the most popular and most analyzed works of Rene Magritte.

1953 – 1954 - Rene Magritte

The Empire of Light

The Empire of Light is a title shared by a series of paintings by Rene Magritte created between 1953 and 1954. It exemplifies the sort of simple paradox that is seen in some of the most successful works of the artist. In the bottom half of the picture is a nighttime street lit by a single street light; while the top half depicts daytime sky with fluffy clouds. While the two halves are calm in singularity, the juxtaposition of day and night creates an unnerving and thought provoking image. The title of the painting perhaps refers to the impenetrable darkness in the lower half over which the luminosity of the sky has no effect. The Empire of Light is one of the most famous works created by Magritte in his later years.

1933 - Rene Magritte

The Human Condition

Magritte used to frequently use objects to hide what lies behind them. In this painting, he places an unframed landscape painting in front of a window with the painting being completely congruous with the landscape that lies outside the painting. The Human Condition thus consists a painting within a painting. It shares its thought provoking title with another painting of Magritte and several of his drawings. Two of the favorite themes of Rene Magritte were the “window painting” and the “painting within a painting.” The Human Condition is one of the earliest paintings to feature either subject and in it he combines the two, making the work perhaps his most subtle and profound statement of their shared meaning.

1937 - Rene Magritte

Not to be Reproduced

Edward James was a British poet and a well known patron of the surrealist art movement. This painting was commissioned by James and it is considered to be his portrait, though the face of the subject is not depicted in the work. Not to be Reproduced portrays a man standing in front of a mirror. However, instead of the mirror showing his reflection, it shows his replicated image. Interestingly the mirror stays true to the book on the mantelpiece and correctly reflects it. The book on the mantelpiece is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was one of the favorite authors of Rene Magritte and the depicted book is considered one of the greatest novels in the English language.

1928 - Rene Magritte

The False Mirror

This painting depicts an enormous lash-less eye with a luminous cloud-filled blue sky filling the iris and the pupil represented by an opaque black disc. Also, the pupil is not in its natural position but at the center of the eye. Magritte’s eye functions on multiple enigmatic levels: the viewer both looks through it, as through a window, and is looked at by it, thus seeing and being seen simultaneously. Man Ray, prominent American visual artist who owned the painting from 1933 to 1936, described The False Mirror as a painting that “sees as much as it itself is seen.”

1935 - Rene Magritte

The Portrait

The Portrait exemplifies Magritte’s method which unsettles the viewer through ordinary objects due to their context. The painting depicts an almost photo-realistic table setting with a slice of ham in the center. It is painted like a realistic still life but any expectation of everyday reality is crushed due to the unblinking eye that stares at the viewer from the center of the slice of ham on the plate. Also, Magritte has brilliantly used such a perspective that it seems that the image is inviting the viewer to take a seat and consume what lies on the table.

1926 - Rene Magritte

The Lost Jockey

Magritte’s earliest works were influenced by abstract art movements like Impressionism, Cubism and Futurism. His art started taking a new direction in 1924 and by 1926 he had painted The Lost Jockey, which is regarded as his first work in surrealism. Magritte designed theater sets in Brussels in the early 1920s and many of his early works contain theater settings including this painting. The Lost Jockey depicts a rider in between over-sized balusters which have branches protruding from them. The jockey is riding on a wooden stage with curtains. The Lost Jockey is renowned for being the first surrealist painting of Rene Magritte.

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