Favorite Paintings?

[WAB]

Don't know if this has been done before.

My favorite painter is Caravaggio, hands down. This is my favorite of his. It's called "The Inspiration of Saint Matthew."

I like how the angel's hovering motion is captured in the swirling garments. Also, how the angel is the youth (though ancient), and the old man is the intimidated student. Matthew's anxiety is nicely portrayed, and the angel is so casual, emphasizing a certain point, or points, with his/her fingers.



Anyone got a favorite painting? Post if you can, and maybe a brief description and reason why you like it.

 

[DBT]

On a religious theme.

Adams first wife, Lilith;

 

[ideologyhunter]

Bruegel's my man. I'm always amazed that someone with his sensibility existed and triumphed when he did. My two favorite Bruegels: Hunters in the Snow -- where he creates the essence of winter -- and Peasant Wedding Feast. I have large repros of these and The Triumph of Death on 3 walls of my library. Triumph of Death -- talk about a 180!!! -- should be viewed with the Dead playing Dark Star with maximum feedback and insect fear in the background.

 

[Politesse]

My very favorite painting is Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss".



I want to explain why, I really do, but I have never been able to put it into words. I have a print in my study, and I'll just sit there looking at it. Something about it just seems ancient; the perfect archetype. It represents and challenges at the same time all of our dualities; gender, time, distance, life and death, security and penetration. Like many of Klimts works, there are all manner of eyes and other arcane symbols, which look like they are staring out at you. Like I said, I'm not really sure I know how to explain it. It expresses the things I don't know how to say.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Not sure, but I suspect it would be a Bev Doolittle painting....

 

[WAB]

Bruegel's my man. I'm always amazed that someone with his sensibility existed and triumphed when he did. My two favorite Bruegels: Hunters in the Snow -- where he creates the essence of winter -- and Peasant Wedding Feast. I have large repros of these and The Triumph of Death on 3 walls of my library. Triumph of Death -- talk about a 180!!! -- should be viewed with the Dead playing Dark Star with maximum feedback and insect fear in the background.

Here is Hunters in the Snow:



Is this the Peasant Wedding Feast you mean? I am a bit confused as to what work is attributed to the elder or the younger Bruegel. And there seem to be many paintings on the same theme, with similar titles.



Here is The Triumph of Death:

 

[ideologyhunter]

Thanks for the Brugels!! Yes, that's the Peasant Wedding that hangs in my library. I especially love the little child, who I take to be a girl, eating her porridge on the floor with her little knife tied to her waist, oblivious to the adults, and they to her. Also the plump-faced bride. The reds in the painting stand out. There's so much story in the painting, love it.

 

[Tharmas]

On a religious theme.

Adams first wife, Lilith;

View attachment 20737

Interesting. That's not the version of the John Collier painting I am familiar with. The snake has an extra coil, which makes the figure a little more modest. I wonder what the story is.

 

[ronburgundy]

Don't think I could pick "a" favorite single painting, but Van Gogh's stuff is at the top of my list. Yeah, it's a pedestrian choice, but when you see his stuff up close in person, the emotionality of the texture and strokes is really impactful.

The Siesta

BTW, I dig the gifs this guy creates with Van Gogh's paintings

 

[James Brown]

I'm with Ron. My 'favorite' can change by the day.

Lately I've been intrigued by Piet Mondrian.

 

[Thomas II]

"Woodland Encounters", by Bev Doolitle

 

[Thomas II]

"Woman with Parasol"- Madame Monet and Son - Claude Monet 1875

 

[Politesse]

Don't think I could pick "a" favorite single painting, but Van Gogh's stuff is at the top of my list. Yeah, it's a pedestrian choice, but when you see his stuff up close in person, the emotionality of the texture and strokes is really impactful.

The Siesta

Pedestrian? Not at all. Van Gogh is well-loved for very good reasons. Honestly, I think he is still ahead of his time. (And I love "Noon Rest from Work" also; as I recall, it made it to the next-to-final round of the Art Battle of the Orsay back in TF days.)

 

[Thomas II]

"Christina's World", by Andrew Wyeth

 

[Thomas II]

Bal du Moulin de la Galette - by Renoir

 

[Politesse]

View attachment 20768

Bal du Moulin de la Galette - by Renoir

That is one of my favorites, too. I use a cropped section of it in the title bar of one of the modules for my online cultural anthropology course.

 

[WAB]

La Jeune Fille et la Mort (1908), Marianne Stokes



The contrast between red and black is striking. And the picture is plain scary.

 

[Thomas II]

"Walk on the Beach", by Joaquin Sorolla

 

[Thomas II]

"The Scout - Friends or Foes" , by Frederic Remington

 

[Thomas II]

"Irises", by Vincent Van Gogh