ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Famous is Not Synonymous With Great.

Updated on March 23, 2012

The Question Made Me Think

The question that was asked, as to the 10 most famous paintings in the world, made me really think about that. I came to the conclusion that no one has the correct answer--even the experts disagreed. It reminded me of something that I had concluded many years ago, and that was that the world's most famous were not the same as the world's greatest. Years ago, when I did an art tour of Europe, I was able to visit some of the truly great galleries and view some of the works of art from the greatest artists of the past. I was able to see the Mona Lisa up close, before she was hidden behind layers of glass for her protection. I stood before the crumbling Last Supper and was touched by its beauty. I was amazed to view Rembrandt's Night Watch up close and see how fluid his brush strokes appeared and how almost impressionistic they were. When I visited the Sistine Chapel, with the great ceiling paintings by Michelangelo, I was stunned by the love and devotion he must have had to paint such a masterpiece on his back. But his greatest works, I believe, were his sculptures. Not the famous David, or the perfect Pieta --but the later works that he never finished ( or did he mean them to be that way?) When I saw his sculptures of the slaves --as if they were pulling themselves from the stone they were carved from and then the last Pieta of Christ in his mother's arms--roughly carved but full of the passion that she must of felt--I stood there and wept. Of all the finished and famous works of art by this great master, Michelangelo, these were by far the most powerful to me. I was only 16 years old, and not very well versed in my studies of art yet, but I could not help but feel the great emotion that the artist had portrayed through these magnificent "unfinished sculptures."

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci
The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci | Source

So What Is Great Art?

There have been many artists in our history that have been wonderful perfectionists. The German artists were known for their great attention to detail, and many of the Italian artists were masters of the perfect figure. But, some of the truly "greats" so to speak, were not the ones that used the perfect techniques or masters of realism. I feel, and this is just my opinion, that the "greats" were the ones that somehow communicated their passion through their art---so that somehow we observers were touched by their message --either through their paintings or sculptures. Is it possible to communicate these powerful feeling through art? I believe it is. Van Gogh certainly succeeded to touch many with his powerful Starry Night, and Renoir was not the greatest perfectionist as an artist, but you cannot help but feel his passion for the people he painted when you look at his creations. This is true of Goya also, and Cezanne and Monet and Dali and the Diego Riveras of the world. They say that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"--- lets add---"and in the heart of the artist."

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)