Mark Rothko (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970)

                                                    

No. 1

1962

Mark Rothko is very well known for his pieces that deal with rectangles, usually, but not always, as a set of three rectangles placed one above the other (this style is known as Color Field). Two such pieces are shown directly above and below this paragraph. 

Earth and Green

1955

Rothko also experimented with various other styles, including different varieties of Abstraction and Expressionism. I've placed a few especially beautiful paintings below. 

Untitled

1939

Untitled

1944-1945

Underground Fantasy

1940

Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989)

                                      

Cruxifixion (Hypercubic Body)

1954 

The very figurehead of the Surrealist movement (he had in fact once said, "I myself am surrealism"), Dalí was not without his critics. A common grievance, and one I share, is that he lacked a certain sense for composition. Despite this hiccup, the man's brilliance is quite stunning. 

Dali at the Age of Six

1950

Discovery of America

1959

The last painting is one of Dalí's not-so-Surrealist, quite-nearly-Post-Impressionist pieces.

Character Masquerading in Pinning Up a Butterfly

1965

George Grosz (July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959)

                                                                          

Kurfüstendamn 

1925 

After World War I, with Germany in tatters and the ineffectual Weimar Republic operating, New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) came to light. It was an incredibly pessimistic and misanthropic style that was in some ways a reaction to and serious critique of the Expressionist movement. George Grosz, the focus of this post, was one of the movement's chief artists (Otto Dix was the other).

Metrópolis

1916-1917 

Strasse in Berlin

1922-1923

The final painting is a bit strange, simply from the fact that it's not really strange at all. In fact, the piece bears a much greater similarity to Impressionism than it does to New Objectivity. It is perhaps Grosz's moment of calm in an exceedingly stormy life (I won't get into all the details of his difficult existence, suffice it to say that he was torn from his country by his loathing of Hitler and died falling down a flight of stairs from drunkenness).

High Dunes

1940

Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926)

                                                                                  

Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog 

1904

Claude Monet, having just been provided glasses by an oculist and realizing their effect on his sight, threw them violently away, declaring, "If the world really looks like that I will paint no more!"

Monet is my favorite painter of the Impressionist movement. Yet, the little story above (which seems to be true, but certainly has an apocryphal flavor) raises the interesting question of whether novel art is still just as brilliant, if that novelty is created and maintained through a natural mishap, such as Monet's severe astigmatism. What do you think?

The Red Boats, Argenteuil

1872

The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival Of A Train 

1877

The Shoot

1876

The Japanese Bridge

1918-1924

The Four Seasons by Alphonse Mucha (July, 24 1860 – July 14, 1939)

                                                                                                                                  
An unfortunately somewhat forgotten, but amazingly talented painter, Alphonse Mucha is the centerpiece of this post. Art Nouveau in general is not something that is as commonly lauded today as a whole host of other movements, with Kilmt acting as an exception, but is in my opinion one of the most wonderfully beautiful and highly stylized movements in art history.

The Four Seasons

Spring

1896

Summer

1896

Fall

1896

Winter

1896

Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890)

                                            
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most revered painters in the Western canon. Yet only a handful of his pieces constantly show up up in searches and textbooks, which is why, in this post, I've endeavored to expose you to some of his rarer creations.  Actually there are so many passionate paintings out there that I've been forced to painfully pick and choose only a few, while biting into my lip; on a future date, I'll have to make a second post of his wonderful works, but, for now, I hope this suffices.

A Pair of Shoes

1886  

The Beach at Scheveningen in Calm Weather

1882 

Public Garden with Couple and Blue Fir Tree

1888 

 Girl in the Woods

1882 

The Sower

1888

Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640)

                                    
A greatly lauded painter and a favorite of mine, Peter Paul Rubens was a difficult painter for whom to just choose a few pieces out of so much greatness, but here are the ones that most caught my eye:

Fall of the Rebel Angels 

1618-1619

Perseus Liberating Andromeda 

1620s

Two Satyrs

1618-1619

The Fall of Phaeton 

1605

Now for two personal paintings, the first is of Peter with his first wife, Isabella Brandt, and the second is of his daughter, Clara. The painting of Peter's daughter always seemed to me to be one of his most breathing works.

The Honeysuckle Bower

1609-1610

Clara Serena Rubens

1615-1616