23. Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai
Known as the most famous Asian painting, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) ranks 23rd in our list of most famous paintings in the world. It is a woodblock print created by Katsushika Hokusai sometime between 1830 and 1832. It is part of the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fiji series. While most people will notice the breathtaking waves in this painting, the Mount Fiji is at the center of it. Hokusai became famous for his clever use of indigo and Prussian blue. His impressive juxtaposition of the humongous wave foreground and tiny mountain background is what makes this painting spectacular.
These prints are currently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute in Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, British Museum in London, and National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Hokusai is known to have used the Ukiyo-e technique or the Japanese art of creating woodblock prints and paintings. The Great Wave is one of the most reproduced prints in the world. You can find it on John Mayer’s album cover, the water wave emoji, and Quicksilver logo.
22. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
Displayed at The Art Institute of Chicago, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was created in 1884. This masterpiece is the largest and most famous work of French painter George Seurat. He used the pointillism technique in this artwork, creating minuscule dots to paint. These tiny dots appear solid when viewed from afar. He is known for being a master of complementary colors and Parisian life.
Seurat was once quoted saying, “I want to make modern people, in their essential traits, move about as they do on those friezes, and place them on canvases organized by harmonies of color.” On May 1886, the painting had its biggest exposure at the eighth Impressionist exhibition.
21. Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez
Painted in 1656, the Las Meninas was created during the Baroque period by Spanish Golden Age leading artist Diego Velázquez. This masterpiece is currently exhibited at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. The setting depicts Infanta Margarita Teresa surrounded by her meninas namely María Agustina Sarmiento and Isabel de Velasco, chamberlain José Nieto, chaperone Marcela de Ulloa, two dwarfs Mari Bárbola and Nicolasito Pertusato, and a mastiff.
This was created during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain, who made an appearance in the painting through a portrait hanging on the wall with his wife Mariana of Austria. It is the first painting within a painting. Velázquez painted himself in the artwork as well, gaining the reputation as probably the world’s first photobomb. This masterpiece is known for its multi-layered meanings and day-in-life or genre painting.
