Paintings define the painters, almost always. Great Painters are called so because of the quality of their craft and the mode of its creation. Once a great painting takes shape, sometimes art lovers tend to become so overawed by its beauty that they start naming the artist after his creation. Here are some of the great names of artists whose creations have come to precede their names.

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was an ardent lover of nature. He always wanted to keep away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Van Gogh sought comfort in the lap of nature and nature, in return, provided him with the inspiration that he needed for making his love for art express itself. His urge to blend himself in the serenity of nature and losing himself in its vastness made him seek solitary life. With very few persons in the outside world to express his emotional affair with nature and its vast landscapes, van Gogh gave vent to his feelings by way of letters to his brother, Theo Gogh. He wrote in one such letter that “If I felt no love for nature and my work, then I would be unhappy“. Here are some of the Great Paintings that outline van Gogh’s magic with brush and color and define his personality.

‘Sunflowers’ (1889)

Van Gogh’s adoration for sunflowers is evident from the number of paintings made by him depicting the flower’s beauty in the multitude of petals and the brilliance of its color. He made two series of still life painting depicting sunflowers. In the first series executed in Paris in 1887, he painted the flowers as lying on the ground. Whereas, in the second series made a year later he showed the flowers in bouquets placed in vases of different shapes and colors.

For Van Gogh, the flowers were the means to communicate a sense of gratitude. So he hung the first two paintings in this series in the room of his friend, Paul Gaugin, who had been living with him in the Yellow House for a while. It is noteworthy that Van Gogh used nothing but only the three tints of yellow color in all these paintings. The painting, which the painter had hoped to sell for $125, sold for $39.85 million recently. These paintings, the original title in French is ‘Tournesols’ are up for the show in National Gallery, London.

‘Irises’ (1889)

Greeks believed that, in ancient Greece, the goddess Iris acted as a link between heaven and earth and she used the rainbow to make her journey between the earth and heaven. People also believe that the Iris flower has healing power and Van Gogh was probably drawn to that healing force. He started painting Irises within a week of entering the asylum, in Saint-Remy, France, in May 1889. Van Gogh started working from the hospital garden and called the painting the ‘lightning conductor for his illness’. He believed that he could keep himself from becoming insane by continuing to paint the Irises.

Alan Bond, An Australian entrepreneur, had purchased the painting for a record $53.9 million for the work in a 1987 auction. When he became financially troubled, he sold it to the Malibu museum. The painting is on display in the museum’s galleries.

‘Starry Night over the Rhone‘ (1889)

‘Starry Night over the Rhone is also known as ‘Starry Night’. This is one of Van Gogh’s series of paintings on Arles at night. Van Gogh had rented the Yellow House on the Place Lamartine and was living there at that time. Van Gogh painted the ‘Starry Night’ from the bank of the River Rhone which was only a few minutes walk from the place where he resided. Painting at night was a subject that seemed to pose him a challenge.

Van Gogh first chose a vantage point that allowed him to capture the reflections of the luminescent night stars on the placid blue waters of the Rhone at night. The river water also reflected the artificial lights emanating from the houses that dotted the banks of the river. In his letter to his brother, Van Gogh emphasized the importance of capturing the sparkling colors of the night sky and the contrasting reflections of the artificial lighting.

‘Almond Blossoms’ (1890)

‘Almond blossoms‘ is another of van Gogh’s most famous paintings portraying the affluence of nature in its entirety. There are many renditions of the subjects in different shapes and sizes. The variety of such paintings ranges from a small twig inside glass to a tree in full bloom. The most famous of them all are the paintings depicting the blossoming almond branches under a blue sky. Almond flowers are among the first to see the delightful warmth of the spring season. The blossoming almond flowers in spring signal nature’s rebirth after the long winter.

Van Gogh created this piece of painting on the birth of his nephew. When he painted this piece of art, he had been an inmate in Saint-Remy for almost a year. In his letter to his brother, Theo, he expressed his displeasure at being confined indoors for many hours and keeping away from his beloved nature. He wrote “But what a beautiful land and what beautiful blue and what a sun. And yet I have only seen the garden and what I can make out through the window.” (1889)

‘Wheatfields‘ (1890)

Van Gogh created a number of paintings during his stay in Auver sure Oise. ‘Wheatfields with Crows’ (1890) and ‘Wheatfields Under Thunderclouds‘ (1890) are two among these paintings that describe the varying moods of the painter in his solitude. The ‘Wheatfields with Crows‘ has a vibrant yellow colour with life in the form of crows flying other the fields. This may suggest the happier moments of his life in the confinement. It is believed that ‘Wheatfields with Crows’ was Van Gogh’s last completed painting.

At the same time, another painting ‘Wheatfields Under Thunderclouds‘ shows turbulent skies and the path leading to nowhere. Van Gogh was certainly conveying his feelings of loneliness through this painting. However, Va Gogh was looking to appear cheerful when he wrote to his brother, Van Theo, saying ‘I’d almost believe that these canvases will tell you what I cant say in words, what I consider healthy and fortifying about the countryside.

‘Tree Roots’ (1890)

“Tree Roots’ was Van Gogh’s last painting that was sitting half-finished on his easel t the time of his death. A closer look at the painting shows a deep slope in the landscape with roots of the trees becoming exposed after rains washed away the soil around the roots. The roods and the tree have reached a point of collapse. Many critics say that Van Gogh was in sight of the end of his life after his illness and deteriorating mental health. He called the painting ‘lightning conductor for my illness, indicating that he could still manage his mental illness as the painting provided him with enough ‘lightning’ to do that.

Van Gogh always expressed himself in the form of his paintings. He showed the varying hues of his life and his rapidly switching moods through his vibrant and colourful brushstrokes. He was the master magician capable of giving definite expression to the rapidly changing moods of his life through his brushstrokes and his paintings.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn, simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch history. Rembrandt was born in the year 1606 in Leiden, Netherlands. He became famous among art lovers because of his history paintings and etchings. He is also well-known for his self-portraits and paintings on biblical scenes. ‘The Night Watch is one of Rembrandt’s greatest paintings that are still making thought-provoking news.

“The Night Watch”

Rembrandt’s most spectacular painting ‘The Nightwatch‘ is one of the most precious paintings on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The painting was completed by Rembrandt in 1642 at the height of the Dutch Golden Age. The painting is also known as Militia Company of District II under the command of Captain Francis Bannick Cocq. The major and leader of the civic guard of Amsterdam wanted Rembrandt to create a group portrait of his shooting company. Rembrandt painted the group as ‘in-motion’ rather than a static group as the major dictated. The focal figures of the captain and lieutenant at the centre and the girl in the background are almost life-size. The painting occupies the pride of place in the Gallery of Honour specifically built for this painting.

A Major Tourist Attraction

Since ‘The Night Watch‘ was one of the famous paintings in Amsterdam, it was drawing nearly 4000 to 5000 visitors daily. In early 1900, the first attempt was made by an unemployed navy cook who tried to slash it with a knife. But he failed to cause major damage because of the thick paint. Another incident of an attempted revenge attack took place in 1975. In this case, a mentally disturbed man who was denied delayed entry to the museum, cut zig-zag lines across the painting.

Major Attempts of Damage to the Painting

The art was later restored and the experts say that the signs of damage still exist. There was a third case of attempted damage after about 15 years from the second attempt. In this case, a mentally ill German man threw acid on the art piece. The security guards present at the scene of the attack threw water to dilute the intensity of the acid. Experts say that the guards were only partially successful in preventing damage to the painting.

Massive Restoration Launched

There were repeated attempts to cause damage to this magnificent piece of art over a period of time. The conservators of the museum noticed deterioration and discolouration in the painting in recent years since its last restoration in 1975. A blanched picture of a cat at the lower right corner is another telltale sign of deterioration, according to them. The restoration job was conducted inside a 7-meter square ultra-white glass chamber that encased the painting and the conservators. At the same time, the painting will continue to be available to millions of paint lovers worldwide to watch over and vouch for the process of restoration through the usage of ultra-modern digital technology.

Digital Recreation – Monumental Task

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands has published the largest and most detailed photograph of any artwork. Rembrandt’s masterpiece, ‘The Night Watch’ is now visible in ultra sharpness and precision as a 717 gigapixel image available online. The museum used an ultra high definition camera to take 8439 individual photographs. These photographs were then stitched together using artificial intelligence to form the final large image. Each of its pixels represents an area of seven micrometres or 0.005 mm square. Robert Erdmann, senior scientist at the Rijksmuseum explains that ‘making this image has been a great challenge. There were many people who thought that it was impossible, and who thought that the ‘operation Night Watch team was crazy to even attempt it. We have surpassed ourselves in what we can justifiably be described as a world-class achievement’

Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was one of the most prominent impressionsit painers of his time. Most of the famous painters treated him as a friend and mentor. The list of such names includes the greatest names such as Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. They not only exchanged ideas between themselves but they also sought Pissarro’s mentorship. Experts say that it was Pissarro who suggested to van Gogh to use brighter colors and bolder strokes. This apart, Pissarro was one of the admirers of Van Gogh’s paintings.

Rainbow at Pontoise

Camille Pissarro is a proud owner of a wide-ranging portfolio of famous paintings. The subjects of his paintings range from cosmopolitan views of Paris and countryside views of Pontoise. Rainbow at Pontoise is one such series of paintings that represents the rural charms of the French countryside. Many of these paintings adorn the walls of famous museums all over Europe and the US, mainly.

‘Camille Pissarro captures the ordinary subjects of daily life with truth and love to reveal the extraordinary beauty. He shares his experiences through his paintings by blending what he sees with what he feels. Pissaro blends visual objectivity with emotional subjectivity. He is clearly happy as he captures his beloved home of Pontoise’. These are the words of praise that Art critics shower on one of the greatest Impressionist painters of his time.

Edouard Manet

His Early Life

Manet was born into an upper-class family. His father was an official in the French Ministry of Justice and his mother was the goddaughter of the Swedish crown prince. His parents wanted to see him lead a life of military service or take law as a profession. As Manet failed twice in the entrance exam, his parents allowed him to enrol in art school in Paris. He sketched artworks in the Louvre where he met the well-known painter Edgar Degas. During most of his active painter life, his paintings could not be popular enough to make him a success financially. Manet died about a year after his last painting ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergere debuted to a mixed review at the Salon. Reacting to the lacklustre show of his paintings, he expressed his displeasure through a letter to his ardent champions. He wrote in his letter saying that ‘they are raining insults on me; someone must be wrong’.

Edouard Manet is famously known for acting as a bridge between the 19th-century art movements called Realism and Impressionism. He once wrote saying that he had no intention of overthrowing old methods of paintings or creating new ones. However, Manet’s radical innovations in color compositions and narrative were at variance with his declared intentions. Manet rejected the conservative sensibilities of Paris’s most prestigious Salons by largely forgoing religious subjects in favour of depictions of bourgeois life. Manet painted life-size paintings of barmaids, courtesans and bullfights. His diversion from the traditional subjects shocked the Academy. However, it earned appreciation from the avant-garde artists who were later known as Impressionists. Surprisingly, however, Manet never aligned himself with the Impressionists. Some of his memorable paintings are as follows:

‘The Luncheon On the Grass’ (1863)

In the painting, Monet had placed the model in nude beside two properly clothed male members. When the conservative panel of judges of the official Paris Salon, Monet exhibited the painting at the Salon des Refuses. The composition was interpreted as a reference to the widespread sex work that took place in French Parks. The painting evoked outrage and laughter from the crowds that flooded the Palais des Chams-Elysees to see the painting. In his reaction to public response to expression of nudity in his “Luncheon on the Grass’ painting, Manet wrote a letter in 1862 to writer Antonin Proust and said, “So, they’d prefer me to do a nude, would they? Fine I shall do them a nude…. Then I suppose they shall really tear me to pieces” Manet followed up with another nude with the same model, that is his painting ‘Olympia’.

‘Olympia’ (1863)’

Manet’s painting ‘Olympia’, a new nude featuring the same model as in the case of “The Luncheon on the Grass’ provoked harsh criticisms. Experts say that Manet portrayed the woman as a sex worker with slippers on, the orchid tucked behind her ear and a coloured lady in the background offering a bouquet, assumably from a patron. As the curators deemed the painting offensive, his friend Monet eventually convinced curators to display it at the Musee de Luxembourg.

‘Bullfight’ (1865-1866)

Manet visited Spain in 1865 and stayed there for about a week. He had been immensely impressed by 17th-century Spanish art. As a result, he painted a series of paintings with bullfighting as his subject. In this painting on bullfights, he has depicted the tense situation that prevails moments before the real fight starts. He has also painted a dead horse lying prostrate on the ground. Manet has provided exactness to the visual recreation of the action-hungry crowd, a tense face-off between the bull and the torero and the tense silence that normally preceded the fierce bullfight.

‘The Balcony’ (1869)

Manet was famous for painting the bourgeois lifestyle. In his painting ‘The Balcony’, Monet has placed the picture of his fellow impressionist painter and close friend Berthe Morisot seated in the foreground. Standing behind her in the painting is another painter Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemet. On the right of the painting is the picture of violinist Fanny Claus. There is another figure of an unidentified male in the shrouded background. This painting did not find favour with the 1869 Salon. Rather than being welcomed, the painting attracted a lot of critical reviews. Gustav Caillebotte, another Impressionist painter, bought the painting after Manet’s death in 1883. Caillebotte bequeathed the painting later to the French government in 1894.

‘Portrait of Emile Zola’ (1868)

Emile Zola was a famous art critic and novelist. He was an early fan of Monet and he considered Monet as the one who was least heralded. Impressed by Manet’s painting ‘The Luncheon on the Grass’ Emile Zola wrote a highly flattering review of Manet. He also defended Monet the following year at the independent exhibition that Monet organized outside the Exposition Universelle. As his expression of gratitude, Monet offered to paint Zola. Manet filled the painting around the picture of Zola with objects that are accessories to Zola’s profession, such as inkwells, quills, journals, etc. He also painted a small version of his controversial painting ‘Olympia’ which Zola had regarded as Manet’s masterpiece.

‘Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets’ (1872)

In his painting ‘Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets’, Manet has painted the picture of his fellow impressionist and close friend Berthe Morisot. Unlike in the case of Manet’s other paintings where he used uniform light, he chose to paint only half of Morisot’s face in illumination. Morisot is seen holding a bouquet of violets that blend with her dark-coloured dress. The painting received highly appreciative reviews from a few French writers and critics.

‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergere’ (1882)

‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergere was the last major work that Manet completed before his death in 1883. When it was exhibited at the 1882 Paris Salon, viewers were intrigued by the puzzle of its composition. In the painting, though the barmaid is seen facing the viewer, the mirrored wall behind her back does not reflect the viewer. The mirrored wall also shows her back and the gentleman with who she was conversing on the right side of the painting. The mirror also shows the noisy crowd in the background.