11. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali
Created in 1931, The Persistence of Memory that ranks 11th in our list of most famous paintings in the world is one of Salvador Dali’s most prominent paintings. It is currently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art. The painting is also popularly known as The Melting Watches or The Soft Watches. It was the artwork that put Dali’s name on the map. He said that he created this painting “to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality.”
Dali resorted to self-inflicted hallucination to go to his creative place in a process called paranoiac-critical method. Many art critics believe that this painting is a nod to Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The painting has been referenced in pop culture many times. It was featured in Doctor Who, The Simpsons, Hey Arnold, Sesame Street, Futurama, Far Side comics, and video games Earthbound and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.
10. The Night Watch by Rembrandt
This famous Baroque art painted by Rembrandt van Rijn was created in 1642. It is currently housed at the Amsterdam Museum and known as one of the most prominent paintings in the Dutch Golden Age. The setting of the painting that ranks 10th in our list of most famous paintings in the world is actually during the day so the title is pretty much inconsistent. The more accurate title for this is the “Officers and Men of the Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Wilhelm van Ruytenburgh.”
The Night Watch is a portrait of civil guardsmen of Netherlands. Rembrandt was commissioned by the city of Amsterdam to do this. The painting was reenacted in the 1982 film Passion. It inspired the musical works of Gustav Mahler and Ayreon. It was also the subject of the 2007 film Nightwatching and was parodied in a Terry Pratchett book cover.
9. Water Lilies by Claude Monet
Inspired by his own flower garden in Giverny, Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, definitely one of the most famous paintings in the world, is one of the 250 oil paintings on the same subject. The Father of Impressionism created this piece in 1916 and is currently displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago. He painted this stunning masterpiece despite having a cataract at that time. His obsession on “water landscapes” was reflected on his repeated artworks on water lilies.
This painting broke the boundaries of Impressionism. He described his creation as, “the illusion of an endless whole, of water without horizon or bank.” Instead of having a view of nature at a field or seaside like what most Impressionists did, Monet changed it by immersing you in the view of the lily pond, taking viewers within instead of keeping them at bay.
