The 100 Most Important Art Works of the Twentieth Century



The 100 Most Important Art Works of the Twentieth Century

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1. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Cubist: 1907): the geometry of naked French ladies.

2. Pablo Picasso, Guernica (Surrealist: 1937): screaming horse and severed heads.

3. Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (Futurist: 1913): lumpy multi-dimensional walking.

4. Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (Futurist: 1912): downhill kaleidoscope.

5. Vladimir Tatlin, Monument to the Third International (Russian Constructivism: 1919-20): steel-framed ziggurat

6. Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory (Surrealist: 1931): limp watches.

7. Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space (1928): smooth and shiny, pointy and skinny.

8. Robert Smithson, SpiralJetty (Conceptual Art: 1970): coil of rocks in the water.

9. Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (Art Nouveau: 1907-08): sparkly cape.

10. Marcel Duchamp, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (Dada: 1915-1923): shiny things on glass.

11. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (Dada: 1917): urinal.

12. Rene Magritte, The Human Condition I (Surrealist: 1933): a painting of a painting in a window

13. Paul Cézanne, Mont Ste-Victoire (Impressionist: 1904-1906): vague hilly landscape.

14. Constantin Brancusi, The Kiss (Transcendentalism: 1908): two lovers fused into a block.

15. Richard Hamilton, Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? (Pop Art: 1956): cheesy muscle man and stripper.

16. Willem de Kooning, Woman I (Abstract Expressionist: 1952): the ugliest picture ever painted ever. In fact, you have to admire the skill with which the artist managed to rid this painting of anything asthetically pleasing.

17. Max Ernst, Elephant of the Celebes (Surrealist: 1921): steam powered pachyderm -- or long-necked cow.

18. Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (American Realist: 1942): diner, outside looking in.

19. Henri Matisse, The Dance (Fauvist: 1910): ring around the rosey.

21. Jasper Johns, US Flag (Neo-Dada: 1958): three flags in one

22. Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Abstract Expressionist: 1950): orangey brown dribbles.

23. Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel (Dada: 1913): spokesmodel

24. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Berlin Street Scene (Expressionist: 1913)

25. Paul Cezanne, The Large Bathers (Impressionist: 1905): mob of riverside nudes.

26. Gustav Klimt, Judith and Holofernes (Art Nouveau: 1901): sultry woman holding a severed head.

27. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (Pop Art: 1967): backyard pool.

28. Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme et Volupte (Fauvist: 1904): seaside nudes on a hot day.

29. Giorgio de Chirico, Melancholy and Mystery of a Street (Surrealist: 1914): shadow from around the corner.

30. Meret Oppenheim, Object: Lunch in Fur (Dada: 1936): Fuzzyware®

31. Joan Miro, Birth of the World (Surrealist: 1925): bike and balloon or sperm in smog.

32. Max Ernst, The Robing of the Bride (Surrealist: 1940): nude bird ladies.

33. Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Horse (Futurist: 1914): machine, tendon.

34. George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey's (American Realist: 1907): sweaty boxers (not the dogs and not the underpants)

35. Jasper Johns, Target with Four Faces (Neo-Dada: 1955)

36. Umberto Boccioni, The City Rises (Futurist: 1910): tornadoes in red.

37. Henri Matisse, The Joy of Life (Fauvist: 1905-06): stop spying on my dreams, dammit!

38. Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow (Abstract Expressionist: 1956): orangey yellow splotch.

39. Roy Lichtenstein, M-Maybe (Pop Art: 1965): worried comic book woman.

40. Joan Miro, Composition (Surrealist: 1933)

41. Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych (Pop Art: 1962): movie star worship

42. Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Can (Pop Art: 1962): exactly what it says.

43. Carlo Carra, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli (Futurist: 1911): vibrating red mob.

44. Wassily Kandinsky, Composition VII (Der Blaue Reiter: 1913)

45. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Five Women in the Street (Expressionist: 1913): with feathered hats and fur-trimmed coats.

46. Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Ambrose Vollard (Cubist: 1909-10): lumpy face

47. Claude Monet, Waterlilies (Impressionist: 1907)

48. Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer (Primitive Art: 1907): flute-playing satyr in the jungle.

49. Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning (American Realist: 1930): lonely urban storefronts.

50. Aristide Maillol, The Mediterranean (1902-05), pensive woman, solid.

51. Georgia O'Keefe, Black Iris (American Realist: 1926): flower, really close-up

51. Pablo Picasso, The Three Dancers (Cubist: 1925)

52. Grant Wood, American Gothic (American Realist: 1930): ma, pa, pitchfork.

53. Paul Klee, Twittering Machine (Blaue Reiter: 1922): a wagon full of snappy stick critters.

54. Yves Klein, Anthropometry Performance (Neo-Dada Performance Art: 1960): nude women frolicking in paint. I may not know art, but I know what I like.

55. Edvard Munch, Dance of Life (Expressionist: 1900): unhappy lawn party.

56. Diego Rivera, The Arsenal: Frida Kahlo Distributes Arms (Socialist Realist: 1928): heroic peasant revolt.

57. Vera Mukhina, Worker and Farm Girl (Socialist Realist: 1937): heroic Commies.

58. Alberto Burri, Sacking and Red (1954): pile of burlap.

59. Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World (American Realist: 1948): girl in field.

60. Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (Futurism: 1912): enthusiastic dachshund.

61. Francis Bacon, Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef (Expressionist: 1954): pope and meat.

62. Pierre Bonnard, Nude in Bath (Impressionist: 1936): very relaxed (with dog)

63. Francis Picabia, Amorous Parade (Dada: 1917): happy machines

64. Max Beckmann, Self-portrait with a Red Scarf (1917): creepy boy scout

65. Christo, Surrounded Islands (Conceptual Art: 1980-83): floating pink in Biscayne Bay

66. Fernand Leger, The Builders (Cubist: 1950): hardhats and girders

67. Pablo Picasso, Girl with Mandolin (Cubist: 1910): refracted banjo player.

68. Henri Matisse, Harmony in Red (Fauvist: 1908): setting the table

69. Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation No. 30 (Abstract Expressionist: 1913)

70. Robert Rauschenberg, Retroactive I (Neo-Dada: 1964): JFK and astronauts

71. Henri Matisse, The Green Stripe (Fauvist: 1905): portrait of the old lady.

72. Giorgio de Chirico, Uncertainty of the Poet (Surrealist: 1913): torso and bananas

73. Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue (De Stijl: 1930): strictly divided space.

74. Juan Gris, Homage to Pablo Picasso (Cubist: 1912)

75. Raoul Hausmann, The Spirit of Our Time (Dada: 1919): mechanical head.

76. Jackson Pollack, Blue Poles, (Abstract Expressionist: 1948): squiggles -- now with lines!

77. George Grosz, Gray Day: banker, veteran and ditch-digger, to work. (New Objectivity: 1921)

78. Robert Delaunay, The Eiffel Tower (Cubist: 1911)

79. Kurt Schwitters, Merzbild 25A, The Star Picture (Dada: 1920):

80. Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (Conceptual Art: 1965)

81. Henry Moore, Reclining Figure (1929): lumpy lady.

82. Pablo Picasso, Self-Portrait (Cubist: 1903)

83. Francis Bacon, Study of Red Pope (Study from Innocent X) (1962)

84. Umberto Boccioni, States of Mind I: The Farewells (1911)

85. Umberto Boccioni, The Noises of the Street Invade the House (1911)

86. Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party (1974)

87. Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man (1960): spindly stick man.

88. Henri Matisse, Blue Nude (Fauvist: 1952)

89. Marc Chagall, I and the Village (1911): happy farm montage.

90. Lucio Fontana, Spatial Concept (1951): gash in red.

91. Ad Reinhardt, Black Painting (Abstract Expressionist: 1960-66): solid black square, I kid you not. The man hikes down to his local Home Depot, buys a bucket of Sherwin-Williams, and slaps it on a canvas. And it took him six years to do it.

92. Peter Halley, CUSeeMe (1995)

93. John Heartfield, Hurray, the Butter is Gone! (Dada: 1935): hungry Nazis.

94. Eduardo Paolozzi, I was a Rich Man's Plaything (Neo-Dada: 1947): movie poster.

95. Dorothea Tanning, A Little Night Music (Surrealist: 1946): unwholesome playground. Children in a hallway.

96. Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (Post-Modernist: 1991): shark in a case

97. Jenny Holzer, Protect Me From What I Want (Conceptual Art: 1985-86)

98. Hermann Nitsch, Orgien Mysterien Theater (1985): Jesus and meat.

99. Giorgio de Chirico, Song of Love (Surrealist: 1914): mask of Alexander the Great and rubber glove. I'm afraid to ask what this has to do with love.

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