Ranker

Anime Underground

Button Mash

Graveyard Shift

Total Nerd

Unspeakable Times

Weird History

Weird Nature

Weirdly Interesting

Sports

Music

Entertainment

Living

Culture

Food

Makeup

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Holidays

Watchworthy

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol 

Venus de Milo

Click on any list item to see replica pricing and more information!&nbsp;This is a CrowdRanked List of the most fantastic pieces of art ever made. While art is most definitely subjective, these are pieces that few can argue about and have withstood the test of time and changing cultural tastes. Make your own list and rank the artwork you think is the best, or just make a list to add an item you think is missing.

There have been so many paintings in such a wide range of subjects and movements across history that it can be difficult to narrow a selection to the best paintings ever. This list of the <a href="/list/classical-paintings-zodiac/megan-summers" target="_blank">best paintings</a> in history includes the best Baroque period art, the most famous Renaissance paintings, and even the most famous portraits.

Even though some of the paintings on this list may be from famous artists whose <a href="/list/most-expensive-painting-ever-sold/alby-thompson" target="_blank">works sell for lots of money</a>, like Picasso or <a href="/list/dark-origins-of-frida-kahlo-paintings/erin-wisti" target="_blank">Frida Kahlo</a>, you may also find some classic paintings you recognize from artists whose names you didn&#39;t know, like Jan Brueghel the Younger. There are even famous paintings that may be new to you, like Tiger by German Expressionist Franz Marc and Espa&ntilde;a y Filipinas by Juan Luna. From the smooth precision of painters like Peter Paul Rubens to the broad strokes of Matisse paintings, these famous art pieces are of the very best by the <a class="edS-cl" href="/list/best-painters-of-all-time/ranker-art?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">greatest painters of all time</a>.

This list contains information on the greatest painters of all time, ranked from best to worst by user votes. History&#39;s greatest painters come in many forms. Some famous painters are impressionists while other painters are surrealists. Many of the top painters of all time have been inspired by a variety of classic religious imagery and biblical verses.

What artists will you find on this greatest painters of all time list? Leonardo da Vinci has to be near the top. His works include such iconic paintings as the Mona Lisa&nbsp;and The Last Supper.&nbsp;He was known as <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-renaissance-artists/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">a Renaissance artist</a> and his works now auction for hundreds of millions of dollars. Pablo Picasso is another one of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-paintings-all-time/ranker-art?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best painters of all time</a>.

Claude Monet has inspired many art fans with his beautiful Water Lilies.&nbsp;More modern artists including Jackson Pollock, Georgia O&#39;Keeffe, and Roy Lichtenstein are also featured on this famous painters list.

Which artist do you think is the greatest painter of all time? Vote your favorites to the top.

Art Genres

List of the most famous <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/still-life-artists/kevin?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">still life paintings</a> in the world, listed alphabetically with pictures of the art when available. The popular still life paintings on this list are considered to be some of the most recognizable works of art on the planet, so save yourself a trip to the museum and check out this artwork from the comfort of your own home. still life is an extremely important genre in the art world, so it's no surprise that some of the most recognizable <Art Forms> fall under the still life genre. You can find additional information about these well-known paintings by clicking on the names of the pieces.Everything from Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers to The Basket of Apples is included below. This list answers the questions, "What are examples of still life paintings?" and "What are the most famous still life paintings?"

Art History

William S. Burroughs

What makes a great artist or writer? Is it solely their great work that we should acknowledge? What if they were actually bad people - should that affect our criticism of their work and contributions to art or literature? Many people argue that we need the separate the bad person from <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-painters-of-all-time/ranker-art?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the great artist</a>, as the two are in distinct categories. But sometimes the bad nature of a person seeps into their work, influencing the overall narrative to reflect them.Take H.P. Lovecraft for example: his virulent racism was seeped into his work and made it a challenging read for many people who were offended by his slurs and attacks on other races. Is it right to support these artists by buying their work and giving them money for their prejudice? What if some people use that money to directly spread this bigotry, in a Chik-fil-A type of scenario. Regardless of your view point on the subject, we can all agree that finding out your favorite author was a bigot is less than exciting.Unfortunately though, like everyone else, they are people too, with flaws of their own. Sometimes those flaws are inexcusable, or even run contradictory to the very morals their works preach. The artists and writers below all led less than perfect lives and find themselves among the many artists and&nbsp;writers who were <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-all-time-worst-people-in-history?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">bad people throughout history</a>.

Unsettling Images

What defines &quot;Goth art&quot;? Much like every aspect of the subculture itself, there are numerous paintings created with the Goth aesthetic in mind. Still, there is&nbsp;a wealth of dark images&nbsp;created well before the concept of Goth ever came to fruition. Decades, even centuries before teenagers of all walks of life, including future <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-had-goth-phases/rebecca-shortall" target="_blank">famous celebrities</a>, went through their so-called &quot;Goth phases,&quot; artists crafted haunting depictions of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dark-plague-art/brenden-donnelly" target="_blank">disease</a>, devils, and existential dread. Much of this gothic imagery&nbsp;can be considered &quot;proto-Goth,&quot; in particular the poetic renderings of suffering by <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-john-everett-millais-bt-379" target="_blank">John Everett Millais</a>, and the anxiety-infused paintings by <a href="https://www.edvardmunch.org/link.jsp" target="_blank">Edvard Much</a>, especially his seminal work &quot;The Scream,&quot; to name only two.

This collection of gothic paintings,&nbsp;created by some of the most renowned painters in history, works as a kind of beginners guide to the images that either directly inspired the Goth movement&nbsp;or inherently appeal to the Goth-minded individual, given their dark and even twisted leanings.&nbsp;

Exit Through the Gift Shop

A list of the best art movies. This is a list not of &quot;art films&quot; but of movies that feature art as a central theme. We tried to include all of the best ones here, but if you believe we missed one, please feel free to add it to the list yourself. All genres have been included. Movies about art can be fascinating and these are the best art films of that genre. The drama, adventure, and politics involved in the creation of famous art can be mind-boggling. And as far as artists go, let us not forget that, &quot;There is no great genius without some touch of madness.&quot; While we might not all enjoy going to the museum to view our favorite works of art, the art films on this list are incredibly accessible and can be enjoyed by almost anyone. If you don't see your favorite art film on this list of the best art films, make sure to add it so others can get a little bit of your good (art film) taste.What are the best art movies? Take a look at this list and you'll see what are the top movies about artists.

Weird

Keith Haring Was Briefly an Evangelist

It's no secret that the art world attracts a lot of unusual people, but the quirks of artists always manage to surprise us. Some of our most revered artists had some pretty weird hobbies: stealing pens, carrying around guns, making time capsules. Others just really needed a bath.Some of these artists, like Salvador Dal&iacute;, have famous quirks and are known for being unusual. However, even those who weren't known as quirky artists have their own strange habits, influences, or traits. Check out this list for some seriously weird facts, and vote up the strangest quirks!

Fan Art

Be prepared for art history as you know it to be totally flipped upside down in the coolest of ways! Classic paintings are put side-by-side with&nbsp;brilliant nerd versions featuring modern-day cartoons and <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-badass-video-game-heroes-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">video game characters</a>. In no way are these works meant to dilute the originals - rather, these nerdy artists pay homage to the historical painters by re-creating illustrations with a geeky flair.&nbsp;

Paintings by renowned artists, such as <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-impressionism-artists/reference" target="_blank">famous Impressionists</a>&nbsp;like Claude Monet, are&nbsp;re-imagined&nbsp;in geek style below.&nbsp;Talent abounds in these bold artworks that both art history buffs and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/scadam-pop-culture-historical-portraits/mallory-weiler" target="_blank">pop culture</a> superfans&nbsp;can thoroughly enjoy. Vote up the best nerdy&nbsp;renditions that honor the style of the original artist.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Oakland

This list of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-world-cities-for-artists/ranker-travel?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best cities for artists</a> will help you find an artists' colony to call your own. Art culture is a rare aspect of any community, especially in small towns. So many cities are lacking in large museums, various galleries, small art vendors, and other staples of an artistic community. For artists, young and more seasoned alike, it can be frustrating to live in a town where the artistic lifestyle isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. This list is the answer to the question, “what is the best city for a budding artist to live?”Artistically inclined cities, from the welcoming community of San Francisco to the southwestern style in Albuquerque, are filled with opportunities for new artists, as well as those who have been artists for decades. Whether you want to travel to one of these artistic cities, take a gander at the exquisite museums and get inspired, or try to showcase your own work for your big break, there’s a city that’s calling your name on this list.The cities on this list are the best places for artists to live because they have plenty of venues for artistic achievement where up and coming artists can illustrate their talent. From independent art shops to large metropolitan museums, these cities are heaven for the artist at heart.&nbsp;

Dan Brown&rsquo;s novel&nbsp;The Da Vinci Code has been thoroughly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/books/art-architecture-does-the-da-vinci-code-crack-leonardo.html?pagewanted=all">debunked</a> as being nothing but a &ldquo;beach book&rdquo; with no basis in reality (despite Brown&#39;s claims of a scholarly pedigree). Brown&rsquo;s become something of a joke to actual art history scholars, mainly because he made the general public start thinking there were mysterious codes and symbols in Renaissance art&mdash;and hidden meaning in art in general&mdash;when there largely isn&rsquo;t. There&rsquo;s no doubt, of course, that artists use symbolism&nbsp;in their work and have for centuries, but it&rsquo;s not the coded biblical messages and prophesies that a lot of people think.

There are, however, other examples of hidden&nbsp;meanings, messages, and &ldquo;Easter eggs&rdquo; in Renaissance art that are pretty damn cool, even if they don&rsquo;t tell us when the world will end or where the treasure is hidden. Read on for some of the coolest&mdash;and totally legit&mdash;examples of secrets hidden in Renaissance art.

Mockery

Jim Carrey

No matter what role they’re most famous for portraying or how cool they seem on the big screen, most actors are weird. If you live in LA or New York, you can’t walk down the block without stumbling across weird actor art projects. (Especially if you live near Shia LaBeouf.) Whether they’re wearing bags over their heads and sitting silently in an art gallery, or rapping for eight hours straight in modern art museum, weird actor stunts are all around us. Why do actors do such weird things? A lot of them got their start in the art world, so acting out with a bag full of confetti and a bottle of pig’s blood is pretty much first nature. The rest of them probably just don’t want to be left out. Put on your beret and take a look at these actors who do “art” projects, ranked by how hard they make you roll your eyes. There are a few celebrities known for artsy stunts who are able to move in out of the commercial world with ease. Actors like James Franco and musicians like Lady Gaga have mastered the ability to smear themselves in glue and thumbtacks one day, and appear in a Honda commercial the next. Most of the actors who do weird things on this list are pretty cool, but that doesn’t mean that their artwork is any less embarrassing.

poll

Shanghai

List of the best international cities for artists. The art community is spread far and wide across the globe. It is the dream of many young and seasoned artists to be able to tour the grounds of the Louvre or experience an underground art performance in Tokyo. If you are an artist or simply a lover of great art, this list explores, “what are the best world cities for artists?”Since the United States is a relatively new culture, there isn’t the sort of artistic history that exists in international cities like Rome, London, and Vienna. In Florence, you can experience the rich history of groundbreaking artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Donatello. An artist in Saint Petersburg can explore any of the two hundred museums or wonder at the artistic architecture of Palace Square. No matter what your artistic preference, from historical to modern, there is something for any type of artist. This list explores the best of the best world cities with strong artistic atmospheres. The art culture of these cities cannot be replicated through art classes at the local college. These cities have art that must be experienced first hand in order to inspire even the most novice artist.&nbsp;

This is a list of the greatest pieces Pablo Picasso did in the span of his astonishing career, decided by the Ranker community. Because this is a CrowdRanked list, Ranker visitors can make their own lists and vote on the artwork to help decide where individual paintings belong on the list. What are the best Picasso paintings? Picasso can be a polarizing artists because of his explorations in Cubism and away from a traditional aesthetic, but there is no denying that he was one of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-musical-artists-of-all-time/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">greatest artists of all time</a>. Rank the best items on this Pablo Picasso paintings list and add any that you think are missing. Share this Picasso paintings list with your friends to compare their answers too!

Funny

It's a truly beautiful thing when life imitates art. Those rare moments when life mirrors a recognizable form of art that makes you stop and say, &quot;whoa dude, life is totally imitating art right now.&quot; You know how much you love to say that to all of your dudes. The question is, are these life mimics art moments merely a series of random coincidences? Or are they more proof that life is an illusion and everyone lives in The Matrix? Anyway, these are 25 instances of life eerily resembling some form of art. So, it's fair to argue that these pictures are life at its most beautiful.

&quot;You can either buy clothes or buy pictures,&quot; Gertrude Stein told Ernest Hemingway, according to his memoir&nbsp;A Moveable Feast. And if you purchased one of the most expensive paintings ever sold, it&#39;s a solid bet you bought a&nbsp;picture&nbsp;of a woman without clothes. Yes, undressed women&nbsp;are the subject of several of the <a href="/list/best-paintings-all-time/ranker-art" target="_blank">most valuable paintings</a> here, along with&nbsp;card players;&nbsp;a wealthy Amsterdam couple;&nbsp;the American flag;&nbsp;colors; and&nbsp;Jesus sporting long, curly hair.&nbsp;

A variety of artists are represented, living and passed on, including Pablo Picasso (with a whopping five paintings on the list), Jasper Johns, and Claude Monet - whose painting here is not even one of <a href="/list/claude-monet-best-paintings/ranker-art" target="_blank">his most popular</a>. Every one of the paintings on this list cost more than $100 million. That&#39;s a lot of clothes. But fine art is priceless, right?

In a <a href="https://www.cartooncollections.com/directory/keyword/rembrandt_paintings" target="_blank">New Yorker cartoon</a> by J.B. Handelsman, Rembrandt stands at an easel and says, &quot;I feel another self-portrait coming on. Bring in the funny hats.&quot; Rembrandt&#39;s early painted &quot;selfies&quot;&nbsp;would fit on any Instagram feed (floppy big hats and all), but other painters from the past&nbsp;instead created&nbsp;self-portraits hidden in&nbsp;other paintings, creating&nbsp;a fine-art version of &quot;Where&#39;s Waldo?&quot;&nbsp;

This practice was especially common during the Renaissance, which valued creative independence, although earlier artists did it as well. (Perhaps some of these secret self-portraits foreshadowed&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/beautiful-fore-edge-paintings/laura-allan" target="_blank">fore-edge paintings</a> starting in the 1700s.) But in some cases, the artist, even if not the center of attention, was still not too secret or hidden, and often peered out at the viewer.&nbsp;

James Hall, in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Self-Portrait-Cultural-History-James-Hall/dp/0500292116" target="_blank">The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History</a>, writes that self-portraits&nbsp;raise questions: &ldquo;Is the artist looking at us with a view to portraying or judging us? Is the artist looking at a mirror, with a view to portraying or judging themselves? Is the artist creating a persona to serve specific ends?&quot; In the end, the viewer gets to decide.

While Picasso and Van Gogh are pretty much household names, many <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-female-painters/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">famous female painters</a> have not achieved the same level of worldwide&nbsp;fame. Due to historical suppression and gender bias in the art world, sadly a lot of women painters go unrecognized during their lifetime and beyond. However - with the recent presence&nbsp;of artists like <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/frida-kahlo-swag/kellie-kreiss" target="_blank">Frida Kahlo</a>&nbsp;in pop culture - there is a newfound interest in all those women who made a big impact on the art world. Who are the best female painters of all time? Help decide below!&nbsp;There are plenty of famous female painters of the 21st century that are still churning out new work. Japanese artist Yayoi&nbsp;Kusama, for example, is a jack of all trades visual artist who works not only in painting but in installation, sculpture, and fashion. There are also historic female painters, like Mary Beale and Clara Peeters, whose work is now being recognized more than ever. From contemporary painters to historic artists, you'll find some great women artists below. Vote the best female painters to the top of the list!&nbsp;

Hieronymus Bosch filled his &ldquo;Garden Of Earthly Delights&rdquo; with monsters, creatures, and men pulled from dreams and nightmares. Scenes are overflowing with allegories told through moments of weirdness and whimsy. Some Hieronymus Bosch creatures are simply oversized animals while others are creepy Bosch monsters enjoying earthly delights.

One of the most unique Bosch creations in the &ldquo;Garden Of EarthlyDelights&rdquo; is his Butterfly Monster. This angry creature&#39;s wings jut off its head as it stabs a captive human with a giant sword. Elsewhere a pack of green and grey beasts feed on a fallen knight. Not all of Bosch&#39;s subjects are monsters. &ldquo;Garden Of Earthly Delights&rdquo; also features a duck feeding a man and maybe the first pre-internet appearance of a Unicorn Cat

Which of Hieronymus Bosch&#39;s creepy and charming creatures best captures your imagination? Vote your favorites from &ldquo;Garden Of Earthly Delights&rdquo; up to the top of this list.

Séraphine

On this list of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-painters-of-all-time/ranker-art?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the best artist</a> biopics, you’ll find movies detailing the lives of painters, sculptors, visual artists, and a whole host of others spanning the centuries from the Renaissance to the present. Artists live such rich lives, full of volatile emotion and undeniable talent, making them perfect subjects for biographical films. One of the best artist biopics of all time is Frida, starring Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, the artist Diego Rivera. Hayek was nominated for <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/child-actors-nominated-for-oscars/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">an Academy Award</a> for her performance, and she set the bar high for artist biopics. Also on this list, you will find the exceptional The Agony and the Ecstasy, starring the one and only Charlton Heston as Michelangelo during his painting of the Sistine Chapel. Other essential artist biopics on the list include Basquiat, Pollock, and Vincent and Theo, a film about the mercurial Vincent Van Gogh and his loyal but volatile brother Theo. Vote up the best artist biopics below, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section.&nbsp;

The Art of Art

pageType

safe_grapeshot

needs_editorial_work

top_search_1-2

exclude_RLblocks

ticker_exclude

site_wide_RL_exclude

non_votable_list_of_all

cb_the-art-of-art

srch

no_amp

&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;List of the most famous animal painting paintings in the world, listed alphabetically with pictures of the art when available. You might also enjoy &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-landscape-art-paintings/reference&quot;&gt;famous landscape paintings&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ranker.com/list/life-imitating-art-photos/nathandavidson&quot;&gt;times life imitated art&lt;/a&gt;. The popular animal painting paintings on this list are considered to be some of the most recognizable works of art on the planet, so save yourself a trip to the museum and check out this artwork from the comfort of your own home. animal painting is an extremely important genre in the art world, so it&apos;s no surprise that some of the most recognizable fall under the animal painting genre. You can find additional information about these well-known paintings by clicking on the names of the pieces.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This list is made up of different items, including &lt;span class=&quot;edS-i&quot;&gt;A Horse Frightened by a Lion&lt;/span&gt;&nbsp;and &lt;span class=&quot;edS-i&quot;&gt;The Little Blue Horse.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;This list answers the questions, &quot;What are examples of animal painting paintings?&quot; and &quot;What are the most famous animal painting paintings?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

Famous Animal Paintings List | Popular Paintings in the Animal Painting Genre

Famous Animal Paintings

Famous Works of Art Lists: Great Art Throughout History and Today


Artwork

Arts

Best Rankings of Famous Artworks, Paintings and Designs by Well-Known Artists and Designers

arts

Reference

Gender

Age 30 and over

Gen Xers

Age under 50

Region

American

West Coast US

Us States

A Horse Frightened by a Lion

A Horse Frightened by a Lion (1770) is a painting by British artist George Stubbs.

The World Cow

"The World Cow" (1913) is a painting by German Expressionist painter Franz Marc.

A Lion Attacking a Horse

A Lion Attacking a Horse (1765) is a painting by British artist George Stubbs

Allegory of War

Allegory of War (c. 1640s) is a painting by Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Younger.

List of the most famous animal painting paintings in the world, listed alphabetically with pictures of the art when available. You might also enjoy <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-landscape-art-paintings/reference">famous landscape paintings</a> and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/life-imitating-art-photos/nathandavidson">times life imitated art</a>. The popular animal painting paintings on this list are considered to be some of the most recognizable works of art on the planet, so save yourself a trip to the museum and check out this artwork from the comfort of your own home. animal painting is an extremely important genre in the art world, so it's no surprise that some of the most recognizable fall under the animal painting genre. You can find additional information about these well-known paintings by clicking on the names of the pieces.This list is made up of different items, including A Horse Frightened by a Lion&nbsp;and The Little Blue Horse.This list answers the questions, &quot;What are examples of animal painting paintings?&quot; and &quot;What are the most famous animal painting paintings?&quot;

List of the most famous animal painting paintings in the world, listed alphabetically with pictures of the art when available. You might also enjoy famous ...