Famous

Artworks
Made by: Marijeta Mirkovi, 8.b
 1. What is art ?
Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual,
auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the
author's imaginative or technical skill, intended to be
appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.
In its most general form of these activities include the
production of works of art, art criticism, art history and
aesthetic expansion of art.
 3. The most famous Artworks
1. The Birth of Venus

Artist: Sandro
Botticelli
Painting: The Birth of
Venus
Technique:Temperao
n canvas.
Dimensions:172.5 cm
278.9 cm
Museum:Uffizi,
Florence
Movement: Early
renaissance
(1482.-1486.)

The Birth of Venus

Botticelli, 1485.
 The Birth of Venus-
Sandro Botticelli, 1485.
The Birth of Venus is one of the worlds most famous and appreciated
works of art. it is in the collection of theUffizi Galleryin Florence
Painted by Sandro Botticelli between 1482 and 1485it has become a
landmark of XV. century Italian painting.
The theme comes from Ovids Metamorphoses, a very important oeuvre
of the Latin literature.
Venus is portrayed naked on a shell on the seashore; on her left the winds
blow gently caressing her hair with a shower of roses, on her right a
handmaid (Ora) waits for the goddess to go closer to dress her shy body.
The meadow is sprinkled with violets, symbol of modesty but often used
for love potions.
 It has long been suggested that Botticelli was commissioned to paint
the work by the Medici family of Florence, Italy.
Venus had two aspects: she was an earthly goddess who aroused
humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired
intellectual love in them.
Venus is illustrated as a beautiful and chaste goddess and symbol of
the coming spring.
Her depiction as a nude is significant in itself, given that during this
time in Renaissance history almost all artwork was of a Christian
theme, and nude women were hardly ever portrayed.the reason why
it is famous
 Quick fact:
Most paintings of women during
the middle Ages symbolize the
Virgin Mary, showing her in a
demure appearance with an
angelic smile and covered
head. So Botticelli's depiction of
a beautiful goddess, not only an
obvious symbol of pagan
mythology but also painted as a
nude was groundbreaking.
 2. Mona Lisa,
Leonardo da Vinci,
1503-06.
Artist Leonardo da Vinci

Year c.150306, perhaps

continuing
untilc.1517

Type Oil on Wood

Medium Populus
Subject PossiblyLisa
Gherardini
Dimensions 77cm 53cm

Movement Italian Renaissance

Location Muse du
Louvre,Paris
 2. Mona Lisa-Leonardo da Vinci, 1503-
06.
This portrait was doubtless
started in Florence around
1503.
It is thought to be of Lisa
Gherardini, wife of a Florentine
cloth merchant named
Francesco del Giocondo.
The history of the Mona Lisa is
shrouded in mystery.
Among the aspects which
remain unclear are the exact
identity of the sitter, who
commissioned the portrait, how
long Leonardo worked on the
painting, how long he kept it,
and how it came to be in the
French royal collection.
Leonardo da Vinci
The Face
La Giocondas face displays youth and
maturity at the same time. The
condition of her skin its freshness can
be discerned through the gauze of the
sfumato (and 500 years of atmospheric
effects) reveals the former, whereas
her confident pose and outlook attest to
the latter. Notoriously, she lacks
eyebrows and eyelashes.
As the young lady looks slightly to the
right of the viewer, her eyes squint a
little, miming thoughtfulness perhaps
this is an inner gaze that visualizes a
memory, or recalls an event.
 The Hands
A portrait subjects hands will often reveal
more intent than its face.
The hands frequently become an
iconography agent, holding an object a
letter, a book, a scepter, a weapon, a
flower, a ring that bespeaks not only the
meaning, but also the designed mood and
the purpose of the painting.
Mona Lisas hands, completely empty and
holding nothing, thus emerge as yet
another element that amplifies the enigma.
 An emblematic smile

It is a visual representation of the idea of happiness

suggested by the word "gioconda" in Italian.
Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central
motif of the portrait: it is this notion which makes
the work such an ideal. The nature of the landscape
also plays a role.

The middle distance, on the same level as the

sitter's chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this
space: there is a winding road and a bridge. This
space represents the transition between the space
of the sitter and the far distance, where the
landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of
rocks and water which stretches to the horizon,
which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of
the sitter's eyes.

An emblematic smile and the history of the Mona

Lisa which is shrouded in mystery is the reason why
is this picture so popular. Also, it is believed that
Mona Lisa is Leonardo's self-portrait.
 3. The Last Supper,
Leonardo da Vinci
1495.

Artist:Leonardo da
Vinci
Dimensions:4,6m x
8,8m
Location: Holy Mary
of Grace Church
Year:1495.1498.
Movement:Italian
Renaissance,High
Renaissance
Technique:Gesso,
Tempera, Pitch, Mastic
 The Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural
painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of
the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.

It is one of the world's most famous paintings.

Da Vincis Last Supper is depicted in this ritual

meal as a religious ceremony.

Christ is very much the focal point of the entire

piece and we have a sense of asymmetrical
symmetry as he is flanked by his disciples.

There are thirteen people in all (including Christ)
and we can see the figure of Judas Escariot to
the right of Christ, as he was still present at the
meal.
The painting represents the scene of The Last
Supper of Jesus with his disciples, as it is told
in the Gospel of John, 13:21. the reason
why it is famous Also, with this picture
begins use of biblical motifs in painting. The
painting also makes us feel as if we too are a
part of it. This formula has been copied and
become the standard for symbolic paintings
from then on.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist, occupying the center of the
composition, grabs the attention immediately, his
expression revealing resignation and acceptance.
Christs isolation (he is the only character not to
come in contact with any other of the sitting)
reaffirms the melancholy appearance. His features The Apostles React
bespeak an air of the supernatural, of being
removed from earthly concerns. As opposed to Jesus, the apostles demonstrate
decidedly human behavior. Grief, surprise, denial,
anger, disbelief they are all there, creating an
intense wave that seems to break, as if magically,
at the rock which is the shape of the savior.
 4. Girl with a Pearl Earring-
Johannes Vermeer, 1665.

Artist Johannes Vermeer

Year c.1665.
Type Tronie
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 44.5cm 39cm
(17.5in 15in)
Location Mauritshuis,The
Hague,
Netherlands
Movement Baroque, Dutch
Golden Age
 Girl with a Pearl Earring is an oil painting by 17th-century Dutch
painter Johannes Vermeer.
It is a tronie of a girl with a headscarf and a pearl earring.
The painting has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The
Hague since 1902.
It depicts a European girl wearing an exotic dress, an oriental
turban, and an improbably large pearl earring.
The girl in this painting is believed to be Vermeer's eldest
daughter, Maria, who was about twelve or thirteen-years-old at
the time it was created.
 Clothing
The turban being worn in Girl with a
Pearl Earring was a popular prop at
the time and its elaborate folds and
rich materials were a great way of
showing off the artists' skill. The
turban also demonstrates the
influence of other countries as various
slaves came to the Netherlands and
explorers would bring back new exotic
artifacts and inventions.
Johannes Vermeer
Tracy Chevalier wrote a historical novel,
also entitled Girl with a Pearl Earring
(1999), fictionalizing the circumstances
of the painting's creation.
With this painting the viewer is
captured by the subject and believes
they have caught her attention and
caused her to turn her head. This is a
sensual painting with the girl gazing at
the viewer with wide eyes and a parted
mouth and there is an air of mystery
surrounding her identity.
It seems that the pearl earring in
Vermeer's painting represents chastity,
while the "oriental" element mentioned
is illustrated by the girl's turban. the
reason why it is famous Also, the
picture is mysterious because we can
not know if the girl on picture is Vermeer
s daughter.
5. The Scream (The Cry)
Edvard Munch, 1893.

Artist Edvard Munch

Year 1893.
Type Oil,tempera,pastel
andcrayonon
cardboard
Dimensions 91cm 73.5cm
(36in 28.9in)
Location National Gallery,
Oslo, Norway
Movement Expressionism
 The Scream is the popular name given to
each of four versions of a composition,
created as both paintings and pastels,
by Norwegian Expressionist artist
Edvard Munch between 1893 and 1910.
The works show a figure with an
agonized expression against a landscape
with a tumultuous orange sky.
Edvard Munch created the four versions
in various media.
The National Gallery in Oslo, Norway,
holds one of two painted versions.
The Munch Museum holds the other
painted version and a pastel version
from 1893. These three versions have
not traveled for years.
 In a way, the painting reflects the mood of
20th century, the age of the anxiety and
uncertainty.
His style is quite crude, often executed in
muted colors, but expressive in conveying
psychic reality.
Munch was a pioneer artist in that he sought
out his own style.
This is the mark of any great artist; one who
could imprint his style and personality onto
the canvas.
In this respect, he excelled as an artist in
part due to the exploration of his neurotic
nature. the main reason why is famous
 6. The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh, 1889.

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Year 1889.
Catalogue F612JH1731
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 73.7cm 92.1cm
(29in 3614in)
Movement Postimpressionis
m
Location Museum of
Modern Art, New
York City
 The Starry Night is an oil on canvas by the Dutch post-
impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-
facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rmy-de-
Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an
idealized village.
It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of
Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through
the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest.
It is regarded as among Van Gogh's finest works, and is one
of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western
culture.
 During the year Van Gogh stayed
at the asylum, the prolific output
of paintings he had begun in
Arles continued.

During this period, he produced

some of the best-known works of
his career, including the Irises
from May 1889, now in the J. Paul
Getty Museum, and the blue self-
portrait from September, 1889,
in the Muse d'Orsay.

The Starry Night was painted

mid-June by around 18 June, the
date he wrote his brother Theo to
say he had a new study of a
starry sky. Vincent van Gogh
 Van Gogh depicted the view at different times of day and under various weather conditions,
including sunrise, moonrise, sunshine-filled days, overcast days, windy days, and one day with rain.

The pictorial element uniting all of these paintings is the diagonal line coming in from the right
depicting the low rolling hills of the Alpilles mountains. In fifteen of the twenty-one versions, cypress
trees are visible beyond the far wall enclosing the wheat field.

One of the defining aspects of Van Gogh's popularity

is his tragic life story, full of failure, grief and despair
to his paintings which are awash in vibrant life, color
and energy. the reason why is famous
Also, the light that the oils capture is hard to describe
and NO Photograph does justice to the masterpiece.
 7.The Artists Mother
(Whistlers Mother)
James Whistler, 1871.

Artist James McNeill

Whistler
Year 1871
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 144.3cm
162.4cm
(56.8in
63.9in)
Location Muse
d'Orsay,Paris
Movement Impressionism
 Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1,
best known under its colloquial name
Whistler's Mother, is a painting in oils
on canvas created by the American-
born painter James McNeill Whistler in
1871.
The subject of the painting is Whistler's
mother, Anna McNeill Whistler.
Anna McNeill Whistler posed for the
painting while living in London with her
son at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.
The painting is displayed in a frame of
Whistler's own design.
James McNeill
Whistler
 Whistler is best known for this nearly monochromatic full-length figure. The painting
was purchased by the French government and is housed in the Muse d'Orsay in Paris.
Several unverifiable stories relate to the painting of the work; one is that Anna Whistler
acted as a replacement for another model who couldn't make the appointment. It is
also said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his
mother was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period.
The image has been used since the Victorian era, especially in the United States, as an
icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and "family values" in general.
The painting has been featured or mentioned in numerous works of fiction and within
pop culture. Some saw it as "the dignified feeling of old ladyhood", "a grave sentiment
of mourning", or a "perfect symbol of motherhood", others employed it as a fitting
vehicle for mockery. the reason why is famous