Favourite piece of art you've seen

Muahahaha

The Scream by Edward Munch in Norways national gallery in Oslo. Its pretty small in real life but theres something about it that is really dark. Then the history and influence behind it- Munch suffered a lifetime of depression and anxiety after both his mother and sister died from TB when he was a kid and then another sister was put in a mental asylum for the insane.

The painting captures a person living a kind of hell on earth inside their head, its like the subject matter is literally on the cusp of losing their mind. After a couple of minutes of staring at it up close it actually feels pretty unsettling.



Rembrandts Nightwatch in Amsterdam. Its the sheer scale of this when seen that amazes, you just feel small standing there looking at it. Then the detail in it, the use of light and darkness and the depth of field is pretty special





One of the Easter Island statues in the British Museum in London. It dominates the room it is in, when you come around the corner and see it for the first time theres a real wow moment. Then theres questions of how a completely isolated island community in the south Pacific came up with this 1,000 years ago and then went on to make another 60 of them. They weigh between 10 and 15 tonnes each and are made out of volcanic ash. Theres an absolute serious level of work gone into each one and they were making them for over 600 years.

Plus the gold plated inscription below it gives you that bonus airbrushing of British colonialist history -"Donated by Captain Powell of HMS Topaze to Queen Victoria in 1869". Eh no lads, you pillaged their islands and stole it.



My favourite of all is Michelangelos Statue of David in Florence. I was absolutely flabbergasted seeing this, its just breathtaking. Its 17 feet tall and then on a plinth of another 12 feet so it towers right above you. I find it incredibile to think that Michelangelo began this with a single block of marble weighing 5 tonnes and chipped away at it for three years to carve it. He had a 3D map in his head of what he wanted to create from it. Heres an idea of the sheer scale of it





Its impressive from a distance but then you get up close to it and it gets even better. The amount of detail in it is just astounding, every muscle, every vein in his body is carved intricately.








So whats your favourite piece of art that you've seen. Something that when you saw it in the flesh you were left dumbfounded.

playonplayette

Floozie in the Jacuzzi.

Lucy8080

I'm going to plump for classic /modern art here. I won't link a pic. , but ....

The Beano /Dandy or other comics of the time. Enhanced by their summer specials.

Enhanced more by their Christmas Annuals.

Art is nothing unless it delivers a message/connection.

drake70

GBX

Anything by Neil Buchanan

vektarman

My favourite painting that I viewed was Guernica by Picasso.

playonplayette

The Book of Kells

donegal_man

Piet Mondrian, Woods Near Oele is without doubt my favourite painting.

EmmetSpiceland

‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’ by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, although there is some doubt as to who “actually” painted it, in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Brussels.



A wonderful “piece” held on an unassuming part of the wall, you could easily just stroll past it. Which would be a tragedy.

playonplayette

Ive always liked this picture of Rhiannon by Stevie Nicks...

https://www.google.com/search?q=stevie+nicks+painting&oq=stevie+nicks+painting&aqs=chrome..69i57.6557j0j4&client=ms-android-h3g-ie-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=OINmQwlshDzSkM:

mikemac2

A few years ago RTE radio ran a competition to select Ireland´s favourite painting

I didn't vote, I didn't know about it until it was over

This won and it's a worthy winner, I like it a lot

It's in Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland

Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs

Ten of Swords

Kryptos sculpture

Still unsolved

ShatterAlan

I have to concur that the Night Watch is mesmerising as is the Statue of David. When I was in Florence I also visited the Medici Palace. There's a room (well it's more like a hall) with huge paintings of battle scenes on opposing walls. The detail is absolutely breathtaking.



You probably can't classify it as a piece of art per se. It's a monument statue built after World War 2 overlooking Volgograd. But it is awe-inspiring. The Mamayev Kurgan:


mamayevkurgan.jpg

Ted_YNWA

Hieronymus Bosch

See new details every time you look at it.

TheValeyard

I really liked the Raft of the Medusa in The Louvre.





I'd also like to say that the Mona Lisa is a lot smaller than I thought and completely overrated

biko

Skagen painters



And of course the amazing Woman with a Parasol

Lucy8080

The "Statue of David " is a remarkable sight. I reckon ,given enough goes and instruction, we could all make a good fist of any famous painting.

To carve the Statue of David out of a block of marble...jeez. Bit of pressure on that one!

Aongus Von Bismarck

Berties_Horse wrote: »

Paul Henry's landscapes, particularly those with towering clouds looming in the background.

I bought a Paul Henry for my West Cork holiday home. All came about as a result of offloading Bitcoin in December 2017 during the mania phase of the cryptocurrency scam.

Henry's landscapes are very pleasant, but he certainly wasn't a technically gifted artist. Just a decent landscape painter.

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

Hieronymus Bosch

See new details every time you look at it.

I don't know if it's my favourite painting, but it's certainly the most interesting painting I've ever seen. It's a shame it's in Madrid, as Spaniards are incapable of silence even in an art gallery.

Brendog

When I saw the Pieta in the Vatican I was blown away. I'd seen pictures of it before but, looking at it in person my mind just boggled at the detail. Its no wonder its the only piece that Michelangelo signed.

EmmetSpiceland

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

It's a shame it's in Madrid, as Spaniards are incapable of silence

You’ve, obviously, never been near a building “site” over there, A!

GLaDOS

I'm pretty much a philistine when it comes it art, but this piece stood out for me. Proably just because it's so shockingly violent.

Saturn Devouring his Son by Peter Paul Rubens, seen in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

cj maxx

Guernica by picasso,I think.

GLaDOS

Another vote here for the Guernica, that's a pretty amazing spectacle.

GLaDOS wrote: »

I'm pretty much a philistine when it comes it art, but this piece stood out for me. Proably just because it's so shockingly violent.

I can't remember seeing the Rubens one but I distinctly remember the Goya version, also in the Prado; I'm also a bit of a philistine (I went during free entry hours! :pac: ), there are only so many Renaissance-style "masterpieces" I can take before they all look the same. For me the most memorable and interesting part of the Prado was by far the section with Goya's "black paintings".




One place I enjoyed was the Magritte Museum in Brussels, definitely some of my favourite paintings I've seen.

spurious

I always liked 'Earthmother' by Dick Joynt at Dublin Airport. It used to have a prominent position as you entered the airport.

On the right is an image when it was briefly exhibited elsewhere.



On the left is where Dublin Airport have it now. In the shadow of a multi-storey car park.

It looks like a pile of ****. Dublin Airport do not deserve to have it.

MetzgerMeister

For me:

"Taking of the Christ" by Caravaggio



And "Gas" by Edward Hopper. I have this over my fireplace.

Hooked

just stumbled across this post...

and had been sent this FB link the weekend, where people imitated famous paintings. The 2 violent ones above (which I'd never seen until this weekend) are also recreated!

Some crackers in here... https://www.facebook.com/ahmad.ramadan342/

ENJOY!

RobertKK

I find it impossible to have a favourite, I just feel it is an honour when I do get the chance to see the art of people I learned about at school or television/internet.

Van Gogh is probably my favourite, I have seen close to 80 paintings by Picasso, Monet is another whose paintings I love.

One can not equate something one sees via some media compared to seeing it in person where detail and colour can be seen and appreciated.

markjbloggs

Muahahaha wrote: »

Plus the gold plated inscription below it gives you that bonus airbrushing of British colonialist history -"Donated by Captain Powell of HMS Topaze to Queen Victoria in 1869". Eh no lads, you pillaged their islands and stole it.

I think you'll find the Easter Islanders did a pretty good job of pillaging their own island long before the Brits got there.

Poochie05

I’d agree it can be hard to pick a favourite without a qualifying 'it depends' but the ones that I was most struck with by the colours and level of detail by seeing in person was Monet's Water lilies in the Orangerie in Paris

I don't know how to link it but, I love the song of the mad prince by Harry Clark, its colors are luminous.

http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery.ie/objects/2389/the-song-of-the-mad-prince

Hodors Appletart

I was in Cairo with work and we went into the Museum there. loads of mummies and treasure etc

but when I walked into the small room with the Mask of Tutankhamun my breath was taken away. its a small enough piece but it is absolutely glorious to look at just stunning. it was difficult enough to walk away from it. no picture i'd ever seen of it prepared me and no picture i've seen since does it any kind of justice at all.

mesmerising

suicide_circus

Francisco Goya's Saturn devouring one of his sons

DoctorEdgeWild

I've been very lucky that most of my travels involved seeing art in one form or another. Some amazing pieces that really thrilled me to see but the best feeling I've gotten was from the Klagenfurt Tree Stadium.

https://nextnature.net/2019/09/forest-football-stadium

Great story behind it (the artist saw a drawing of this when younger and then went on to actually make it real!) It was absolutely amazing to see it, I must have spent 4 or 5 hours there, waiting to see it at night with the floodlights on. Got chatting with lots of locals who couldn't believe I'd come from England just to see it. Was absolutely worth it.

Your Face

Silver Moonlight - John Atkinson Grimshaw

Your Face

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba - Claude Lorrain

iamstop

Banksy

Ipso

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

For me:

"Taking of the Christ" by Caravaggio



And "Gas" by Edward Hopper. I have this over my fireplace.

Is Nighthawks one of Hopper’s?

Seamai

Breughal's Hunters in the Snow has been my favourite painting since I was a kid, got to see it in Vienna last year and wasn't disappointed.

Church on Tuesday

Too many to mention but Jim Fitzpatrick's Black Rose is stunningly beautiful.

FrKurtFahrt

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/girl-with-a-pearl-earring/3QFHLJgXCmQm2Q?utm_source=google&utm_medium=kp&hl=en-GB&avm=2

Vermeer. He painted very few (relative to many artists) but what he DID give us is sublime. I've seen 'The Girl With A Pearl Earring' twice, and the Mauritshuis in The Hague is very quiet, allowing time to just look at the masterpiece in unhurried quietness. A hypnotic experience.

Muahahaha

spurious wrote: »

I always liked 'Earthmother' by Dick Joynt at Dublin Airport. It used to have a prominent position as you entered the airport.

On the right is an image when it was briefly exhibited elsewhere.



On the left is where Dublin Airport have it now. In the shadow of a multi-storey car park.

It looks like a pile of ****. Dublin Airport do not deserve to have it.

Jesus thats an awful location for it, Ive parked in that multi story several times and dont think I ever noticed it on the way in or out. Placing it there is like its a hassle to the DAA and they dont want it.

Seamai wrote: »

Breughal's Hunters in the Snow has been my favourite painting since I was a kid, got to see it in Vienna last year and wasn't disappointed.

Nice. Is it just me or do those hunters look like they're about to go down to the ice rinks and butcher the locals?! Something a bit dark about it.

Wibbs

Muahahaha wrote: »

My favourite of all is Michelangelos Statue of David in Florence. I was absolutely flabbergasted seeing this, its just breathtaking. Its 17 feet tall and then on a plinth of another 12 feet so it towers right above you. I find it incredibile to think that Michelangelo began this with a single block of marble weighing 5 tonnes and chipped away at it for three years to carve it. He had a 3D map in his head of what he wanted to create from it. Heres an idea of the sheer scale of it

What's even more incredible is he designed perspective into the statue. If you note from head on the head is too big for the body. He did that so that viewing from below the proportions looked correct(though he made the hands larger to emphasise them). Yeah it was originally outdoors in the weather, though the original plan was to have it up on a roof, but the locals thought it too beautiful to be stuck up high. The block of marble itself had been rejected by two previous sculptors and had lain unused for over thirty years before Mick had a crack at it.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

For me:

"Taking of the Christ" by Caravaggio

Caravaggio was a pure genius with light. He would have made one helluva cinematographer.

Sculpture wise Laocoon and his Sons is incredibly impressive. It's a Greek statue(by three sculptors) commissioned by a rich Roman.



It impressed Michelangelo very much. As luck would have it he was hanging out in a friend's house(another sculptor) and this friend was summoned by the pope to view the digging up of it(found in a papal vineyard IIRC). The son of Mick's mate, yet another sculptor, who was a small child at the time remembered Mick always around the place and how excited he was to see it. The right arm of the central figure was originally missing when found and they added in an outstretched arm, but our Mick thought that was wrong and suggested it was more likely folded back on itself. Fast forward to the early 20th century and someone digging in the general area found the right arm(or most of it) and Michelangelo had been right. Big shock.

Of other works of art I've seen I dunno if I could make a choice tbh. Too many to love. Early European palaeolithic cave would be in the mix too.

HalloweenJack

https://revistaindiscretos.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/accidente.jpg

I tried linking the painting as an image file but it was massive so I'll leave the link.

It is a painting by Alfonso Ponce de Leon called "Self-Portrait". It was such a striking image and so beautifully painted. The tone of the colour captures the nighttime but the lights of the car draw our focus onto the painter in the middle of it.

It's in a museum in Madrid that is home to modern art and is surrounded by the likes of Dalí, Picasso and Miró. I'm familiar with all those but I had never heard of this guy and he didn't get to paint much (He died when he was 30). I know others will come along and point out more well-known masterpieces that are probably better or more evocative but this is one painting I'd like to bring to people's attention because it immediately knocked me back when I saw it.

Almost any painting of Francis Bacon's that I've seen in the flesh is incredible.

irishguitarlad

HalloweenJack wrote: »

https://revistaindiscretos.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/accidente.jpg

I tried linking the painting as an image file but it was massive so I'll leave the link.

It is a painting by Alfonso Ponce de Leon called "Self-Portrait". It was such a striking image and so beautifully painted. The tone of the colour captures the nighttime but the lights of the car draw our focus onto the painter in the middle of it.

It's in a museum in Madrid that is home to modern art and is surrounded by the likes of Dalí, Picasso and Miró. I'm familiar with all those but I had never heard of this guy and he didn't get to paint much (He died when he was 30). I know others will come along and point out more well-known masterpieces that are probably better or more evocative but this is one painting I'd like to bring to people's attention because it immediately knocked me back when I saw it.

Almost any painting of Francis Bacon's that I've seen in the flesh is incredible.

The creepy thing about that painting is that he died in a car crash afterwards.

Say Your Number

Be right back

Closer to home for me, 'men of the South'. I must start going to international art galleries!

Yester

Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí. I saw it in Glasgow and it's incredibly powerful.

storker

Quite a few of my favourites have already come up so, being a Napoleonic Wars buff, here is a favourite from that period, and one from the Wars of the French Revolution...

The Charge of the French 4th Hussars at the Battle of Friedland (1807) by Edouard Detaille:





The Battle of Valmy (1792) by Horace Vernet:




Link to a really big version of the Valmy painting. Lots of lovely detail.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Valmy_Battle_painting.jpg



.

Rows Grower

It's not there yet but I'm optimistic my favourite piece of art will be adorning the gable of my shed pretty soon.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

I saw this Rene Magritte painting back in 2011 in Portland, Maine at the Portland Museum of Art.

There was a lot of amazing art on display but this painting in particular caught my eye, and I still think of it today.

I've no idea how to define it or how to interpret it, and part of me wants it to remain that way. I love the mystery of it, what could it mean? I am sure I oculd find out the meaning in less than 5 minutes but I'd rather it exist as it did on my first viewing, looking at this painting baffled yet completely engrossed.

Anesthetize

+1 for The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, which has already been posted. An incredible piece of art.

I really like John William Waterhouse paintings. Some of his work is very atmospheric.

The Lady of Shalott (1888)



The Magic Circle (1886)