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12 Most Famous Paintings of All Time

Texts adapted from a touropia video

One of the oldest art forms, painting has been around ever since our ancient ancestors first started producing charcoal /ˈtʃɑːkəʊl/ 炭笔 creations on cave walls.

While countless generations of artists have left their mark over the millennia /mɪˈleniə/ 千年, only some artworks have succeeded in transcending time and culture to be revered around the globe. Here's a look at the most famous paintings of all time found in museums around the world.

No. 12 American Gothic

Now hanging up in the Art Institute of Chicago, American Gothic is one of the most famous paintings of 20th century rural Americana. Grant Wood's defining masterpiece was painted in 1930 and depicts a farmer and his daughter standing in front of what is now known as the American Gothic House.

Initially, locals and art critics took the somber tones and characters' puritanical /ˌpjʊərɪˈtænɪk(ə)l/ 清教徒式的 clothes as a critique of rural life. The onset of the Great Depression, however, saw the painting become associated with the resoluteness and indomitable spirit of the American pioneers.

Grant Wood (1891-1942), was an American painter and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest.

No. 11. The Persistence of Memory

One of the greatest and most distinctive works of surrealist art of all time, Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory really does stand out from the crowd. In the 1931 painting, we can see melting pocket watches draped across a bleak landscape.

This strange scene is widely thought to have been inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Dali's fantastic creation can be enjoyed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work.

No. 10. The Kiss

Painted between 1907 and 1908 during the height of Gustav Klimt's golden period, The Kiss veritably shimmers and shines before your eyes as gold, silver, and platinum radiate forth from the canvas.

Influenced by both the arts and crafts and Art Nouveau /ˌɑːt nuːˈvəʊ/ 新艺术（19世纪末至20世纪初）movements, the painting depicts two gold-clad lovers entwined in an intimate embrace, just one of the many highlights of the Belvedere /ˈbelvədɪə/ 美景宫 in Vienna's extensive collection. The Kiss is Klimt's most popular and enthralling work.

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement.

No. 9. Nighthawks

Another of the Art Institute of Chicago's most famous artworks is Nighthawks, which was painted by Edward Hopper in 1942. In the oil painting, we can see four people in a diner late at night. Light shines out of the brightly lit interior, illuminating the darkness outside through the large glass window.

While many take it to depict loneliness and isolation, Hopper himself said it alluded more to potential predators in the night. One of American art's most popular and parodied /ˈpærədi/ 戏仿paintings, Nighthawks is the most renowned and recognizable of Hopper's artworks.

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching.

No. 8. The Great Wave off Kanagawa

The most famous painting to come out of Japan, The Great Wave off Kanagawa 神奈川 was produced by Hokusai using a woodblock print technique sometime between 1829 and 1833.

The stunning scene, with its vivid blues, sees an enormous wave threatening to engulf three fishing boats. As it was developed as part of the artist's 36 views of Mount Fuji series, the iconic volcano can be spotted in the background.

Due to the fact that numerous prints were made, original impressions of the Great Wave off Kanagawa can be found in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art among others.

Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎, 1760-1849), known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e 浮世绘 artist of the Edo Period 江户时代 (1603-1868), active as a painter and printmaker.

No. 7. Water Lilies

Consisting of some 250 different paintings, Claude Monet's Water Lily series was painted at his home in Giverny between 1896 and 1926.

The main subject of the paintings is the water lily pond in the back of his garden, with various other flowers, a wooden bridge, and a majestic weeping willow also featuring. One of the great French impressionists, Claude Monet's paintings are instantly recognizable and are on display in museums around the world.

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism.

No. 6. Night Watch

Arguably the most famous artwork of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Night Watch is one of the most magnificent paintings to ever emerge from the Dutch Golden Age. Painted in 1642 by Rembrandt van Rijn, the enormous canvas portrays a group of civic guards as they head off to practice their shooting.

For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name, Night Watch. The painting is famed for its dramatic use of light that makes it seem as if the life-size figures are actually moving before us.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art.

No. 5. The Scream

The Scream is a series of expressionist paintings and prints by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a bloody red sky. The landscape is the background of Oslo fjord viewed from a hill in Oslo.

Edvard Munch created several versions of The Scream in various media. The first version was painted in 1893, and is on display in the National Gallery of Norway.

It was stolen in 1994 in a high-profile art theft and recovered several months later. In 2004, another version of The Scream was stolen from the Munch Museum, only to be recovered in 2006.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) is the most famous modern Norwegian artist and representative figure of expressionist art.

No. 4. Girl with a Pearl Earring

Although it is often compared with the Mona Lisa, Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Peal Earring, is in fact a tronie /ˈtroː.ni/ 源自荷兰和弗拉芒绘画的充满戏剧感的人物画, not a portrait. Thought to have been painted around 1665 by the Dutch master, the captivating artwork depicts an imagined, rather than real girl wearing a blue turban and a sizable glimmering pearl earring.

Tracy Chevalier /ˌʃevəˈlɪə(r)/ wrote a historic novel fictionalizing the circumstances of the painting’s creation. The novel inspired a 2003 film with Scarlett Johansson, as Johannes Vermeer’s assistant wearing the pearl earring.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a Dutch Baroque /bəˈrɒk/ 巴洛克的 Period (about 1600-1750) painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter 风俗画家.

No. 3. The Last Supper

Painted in the 1490s on a refectory /rɪˈfektəri/ 教会食堂/学校餐厅 wall in a monastery in Milan, The Last Supper is one of the most recognizable artworks on earth. While the years have not been kind to the original, the convent /ˈkɒnvənt/ 女修道院 still sees people come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the fabulous fresco /ˈfreskəʊ/ 湿壁画.

The marvelous mural /ˈmjʊərəl/ 壁画 depicts the scene where the Jesus Christ tells the Twelve Apostles sitting to either side of him that one of them will betray him.

Some writers propose that the person in the paintings seated to the left of Jesus is Mary Magdalene /ˌmæɡdəˈlini/ 抹大拉的马利亚（耶稣从其身上驱逐出7个恶鬼的女人）rather than John the Apostle. This popular theory plays a central role in Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian polymath /ˈpɒlimæθ/ 博学家 of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.

No. 2. Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh’s defining work, Starry Night, describes the view he could see out his asylum window in Saint-Rémy, France, after he had a breakdown and cut off part of his own ear in 1888.

The iconic scene shows a swirling night sky punctuated with stars overlooking a still sleeping village. The Dutch impressionist painter’s stunning creation is now exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and it’s one of the most valued works in their extensive collection.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.

No. 1. Mona Lisa

Widely considered to be the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa has delighted onlookers ever since it was painted in the early 1500s by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is named for Lisa del Giocondo, a member of a wealthy family in Florence.

In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen by Louvre /ˈluːv/ 卢浮宫 employee Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian patriot who believed Mona Lisa should be returned to Italy.

After having kept the painting in his apartment in two years, Peruggia was finally caught when he attempted to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.Today, the Mona Lisa hangs again in the Louvre in Paris, where six million people see the painting each year.

Leonardo da Vinci is the only artist whose name appears twice on this list.

DISCLAIMER

The content is adapted from a video published by touropia in 2024, and reposted on Xijing for learning purpose only. Link to the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y65_Qs1Wq0w