Fifteen Masterpieces to See before you die

The Arnolfini Portrait

Over the years, I’ve experienced countless moments of awe, discovery, and inspiration while viewing outstanding works of art all over the world. As an advisor, I’m often asked which famous works are my favorites. In keeping with our “15” theme this year, as we celebrate Arnoult Fine Art’s fifteen-year anniversary, I offer this personal selection of fifteen iconic works (in no particular order) to add to your bucket list. Each is a testament to the enduring power of art to move us, challenge us, and connect us across centuries and cultures.

1. Primavera, Sandro Botticelli (Uffizi Gallery, Florence)

   Notes: This work is full of symbolism and allegory, and the cast of characters is so engaging. All of this rendered in Botticelli’s outstanding technique.

2. Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh (Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York)

   Notes: the color combinations in the palette are the result of van Gogh’s study of optics. In person, the impasto (surface texture) is significant.

3. Portrait of Madam X, John Singer Sargent (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

   Notes: An iconic work, ahead of its time, such elegance!

4. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer

   (Mauritshuis, The Hague)

   Notes: Vermeer’s use of light is unrivaled, the dark background highlights the

   beautiful colors

5. Guernica, Pablo Picasso (Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid)

   Notes: Picasso captures the horrors of war. The monumental scale makes it all the more powerful in person.

6. The Striding Man I (L’homme qui marche I), Alberto Giacometti (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Foundation Maeght, St. Paul de Vence)

   Notes: I just love the implied rhythm of these works, and Giacometti’s approach to the figure.

7. Water Lilies (Nymphéas), Claude Monet (Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris)

   Notes: To be in the room with this work is to be surrounded by pure beauty and joy!

8. The Night Watch, Rembrandt van Rijn (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

   Notes: It’s incredible how much has been revealed through the recent restoration. This is a masterwork of characters and activity.

9. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper (Art Institute of Chicago)

   Notes: A quiet atmospheric study, so expertly rendered.

10. The Kiss, Gustav Klimt (Belvedere Museum, Vienna)

    Notes: Full of detail, color, glints of gold, and emotional weight.

11. Las Meninas, Diego Velázquez (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

    Notes: Significant for the unprecedented approach to the portraiture genre, and the included self-portrait of the artist.

12. Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck (National Gallery, London)

    Notes: This work is overflowing with symbolism and finely rendered details (including another artist’s self portrait!), all in a very small scale.

13. David, Michelangelo (Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence)

    Notes: Michelangelo’s mastery of human anatomy is evident here, down to each muscle and vein. He also planned for the perspective of the viewer and adjusted the scale of the figure accordingly.

14. Lady with an Ermine, Leonardo da Vinci (Czartoryski Museum, Krakow)

    Notes: The hand, the clothes the hair, the fur! All just so beautifully rendered, as is the quality of her gaze (presumably towards her lover). That muscular little ermine just gets to you.

15. The Death of Marat, Jacques-Louis David (Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium)

    Notes: perhaps the most dramatic, eloquent and moving work of art relating to the French revolution. The trompe l’oeil details are exquisite!