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Famous Paintings

Name 40 famous artworks from the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Rijksmuseum, with the artist, year and one checked fact about each.

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  • Two large, rounded heaps of harvested grain stand in a field in warm late light, with a line of trees and soft hills behind.

    Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer)

  • Three men in hats sit hunched over a game at a small table while a fourth man stands behind them, in a plain room with a curtain.

    The Card Players

  • A woman in a striped dress holds a small child on her lap and washes its feet in a basin, seen from above, with a patterned rug, a jug and a painted chest.

    The Child's Bath

  • A young woman in a deep ultramarine jacket stands in profile by a table, holding a sheet of paper close to her face, in front of a pale wall with a large map.

    Woman in Blue Reading a Letter

  • A man with dark curly hair and a moustache, in a dark green-grey coat with a plain lace collar, turns slightly and looks straight out.

    Juan de Pareja

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The Night WatchA large, dark group of men with muskets, pikes and a banner. At the front walk a man in black with a red sash and a man in pale yellow; a small girl in gold glows among them on the left.
Rembrandt, 1642. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. A group portrait of an Amsterdam civic guard company. In 1715 it was trimmed on all four sides when it moved to the town hall.
The MilkmaidA woman in a yellow bodice, blue apron and white cap pours a thin stream from a jug into a bowl on a table with bread, in light from a window.
Johannes Vermeer, about 1660. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Vermeer painted the light on the bread and the basket as tiny dots of pale paint.
The Great Wave off KanagawaA huge curling crest of blue water with clawing white foam hangs over three long, narrow boats full of rowers. A small snow-capped mountain sits low in the distance.
Katsushika Hokusai, about 1830–32. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A woodblock print from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, so many impressions exist; this one is at the Met.
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884People in 1880s dress relax on a sunny riverside lawn, all built from tiny dots of colour. On the right stand a couple with a parasol and a small monkey on a leash.
Georges Seurat, 1884–86. Art Institute of Chicago. Close up, the figures dissolve into small dots of contrasting colour. The canvas is about 3 metres wide.
Wheat Field with CypressesA field of ripe yellow grain under swirling white clouds and a blue sky, with a tall, dark green, flame-shaped tree on the right and low blue hills behind.
Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Painted outdoors while he lived at the asylum in Saint-Rémy; he later made two copies of it in his studio.
The BedroomA small room seen at a steep angle: a yellow wooden bed with a red cover, two rush-seated chairs, a small table with a jug and basin, and pictures on blue walls.
Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Art Institute of Chicago. The second of three versions of his room in the Yellow House in Arles.
Washington Crossing the DelawareA crowded rowing boat pushes through floating ice on a grey river at dawn. An officer stands at the bow, and behind him men raise a flag with stars and stripes.
Emanuel Leutze, 1851. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Painted in Düsseldorf. The flag shown did not yet exist on the night of the crossing, 25–26 December 1776.
Paris Street; Rainy DayA well-dressed couple under an umbrella walk toward the viewer across a wet cobbled crossroads, with pale stone buildings, a lamppost and other walkers beyond.
Gustave Caillebotte, 1877. Art Institute of Chicago. Caillebotte's largest painting: a crossroads a short walk from his home.
Young Woman with a Water PitcherA woman in a white linen headcloth and a blue-and-yellow dress stands by a window, one hand on the casement and the other on a brass jug on a table covered with a red rug.
Johannes Vermeer, about 1662. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The first Vermeer to reach America; Henry Marquand gave it to the Met in 1889.
The Little StreetThe brick front of an old house with a stepped gable and green shutters. A woman sews in the doorway, two children kneel on the pavement, and another woman bends over in a narrow passage.
Johannes Vermeer, about 1658. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. One of only two townscapes by Vermeer; the other is View of Delft.
The HarvestersFarm workers cut and bundle golden grain in a summer field while others eat and rest under a tree. A wide landscape with a church, a village and a bay stretches behind.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Part of a series on the times of the year; five survive, and the other four are in Vienna and Prague.
Water Lily PondA green arched footbridge crosses still water crowded with floating flowers and round leaves, framed by dense trees and hanging willows.
Claude Monet, 1900. Art Institute of Chicago. The Japanese-style bridge in Monet's garden at Giverny; one of 18 similar views he painted in 1899–1900.
The Death of SocratesIn a stone prison, an old man sitting up on a bed raises one hand and reaches toward a cup with the other, surrounded by grieving followers in robes.
Jacques-Louis David, 1787. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sentenced to death, the philosopher reaches for the cup of hemlock while still teaching.
The Jewish BrideA man in a golden garment with wide sleeves rests his hand on the chest of a woman in a red dress; both look down, against a dark background.
Rembrandt, about 1665–69. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On a visit in 1885, Van Gogh reportedly said he would give ten years of his life to sit in front of it for two weeks.
Aristotle with a Bust of HomerA bearded man in a wide black hat and a robe with white sleeves wears a heavy gold chain and rests his hand on a sculpted head of an old man, in deep shadow.
Rembrandt, 1653. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Met paid $2.3 million for it in 1961, then the highest price ever paid for a painting.
At the Moulin RougePeople sit around a table in a crowded nightclub under harsh light, men in top hats stand behind, and a woman with an acid-green face is cut off at the right edge.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892–95. Art Institute of Chicago. The artist painted himself in the background: the short man beside his much taller cousin.
Madame XA pale woman in a tight black evening gown with thin jewelled straps stands turned sideways, her head in profile, one hand on a small table, against a warm brown background.
John Singer Sargent, 1883–84. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It caused a scandal at the 1884 Paris Salon, and Sargent repainted the fallen shoulder strap.
Self-Portrait with a Straw HatA man with a red-orange beard in a wide-brimmed yellow hat looks sideways at the viewer, painted in short dashes of blue, yellow and orange.
Vincent van Gogh, 1887. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Painted in Paris on the back of an earlier canvas, The Potato Peeler.
IrisesA large bouquet of tall violet-blue flowers with long, sword-shaped green leaves in a white vase, on a green tabletop against a pale background.
Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Painted in May 1890, just before he left the asylum at Saint-Rémy; the pink background has faded.
Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer)Two large, rounded heaps of harvested grain stand in a field in warm late light, with a line of trees and soft hills behind.
Claude Monet, 1890–91. Art Institute of Chicago. Part of a series; in 1891 Monet showed fifteen of these canvases side by side in Paris.
The Card PlayersThree men in hats sit hunched over a game at a small table while a fourth man stands behind them, in a plain room with a curtain.
Paul Cézanne, 1890–92. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. One of five paintings on this subject that Cézanne made in the early 1890s.
The Child's BathA woman in a striped dress holds a small child on her lap and washes its feet in a basin, seen from above, with a patterned rug, a jug and a painted chest.
Mary Cassatt, 1893. Art Institute of Chicago. The steep view from above and the flat patterns show Cassatt's interest in Japanese art.
Woman in Blue Reading a LetterA young woman in a deep ultramarine jacket stands in profile by a table, holding a sheet of paper close to her face, in front of a pale wall with a large map.
Johannes Vermeer, about 1663. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The map of Holland on the wall has been read as a hint that the letter comes from someone who is away.
Juan de ParejaA man with dark curly hair and a moustache, in a dark green-grey coat with a plain lace collar, turns slightly and looks straight out.
Diego Velázquez, 1650. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Pareja was enslaved in Velázquez's workshop; freed in 1654, he became a painter himself.
The Song of the LarkA barefoot young woman holding a sickle stands still in a field at dawn and looks up, with the red sun low on the horizon behind her.
Jules Breton, 1884. Art Institute of Chicago. In 1934 a Chicago Daily News contest named it America's best-loved picture.
View of ToledoA hilltop city under a stormy dark sky, with rolling green hills, a river and a stone bridge below.
El Greco, about 1599–1600. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. One of only two surviving landscapes by El Greco; he moved some of the city's landmarks.
Two Sisters (On the Terrace)A young woman in a large red hat and a little girl in a flowered hat sit outdoors by a railing with a basket of yarn, with a river, boats and blossoming trees behind.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881. Art Institute of Chicago. Painted at a riverside restaurant in Chatou; despite the title, the models were not related.
The Love LetterSeen through a dark doorway: in a room with a black-and-white tiled floor, a seated woman in yellow with a lute looks up at a maid standing beside her. A broom and slippers lie in front.
Johannes Vermeer, about 1669–70. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In 1971 a thief cut it from its frame while it was on loan in Brussels; it was recovered and restored.
The Dance ClassYoung ballet students in white tutus stretch, fidget and wait around a large rehearsal room while an old man leaning on a tall stick instructs one of them.
Edgar Degas, 1874. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The teacher is the ballet master Jules Perrot, in a room of the old Paris Opéra, which had burned down the year before.
Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-LazareA steam locomotive pulls in under a glass-and-iron station roof filled with clouds of smoke and steam, with pale city buildings beyond.
Claude Monet, 1877. Art Institute of Chicago. One of twelve known paintings Monet made of this Paris station.
The Threatened SwanA large white bird with wings spread wide hisses at a dog swimming toward its nest at the water's edge.
Jan Asselijn, about 1650. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In 1800 it became the first painting bought for the national gallery that grew into the Rijksmuseum.
The Horse FairPowerful grey and dark horses rear and plunge as men lead them along a dusty, tree-lined road.
Rosa Bonheur, 1852–55. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. To sketch at the Paris horse market, Bonheur got police permission to wear men's clothes.
The Assumption of the VirginA tall altarpiece: a woman in blue and red rises on clouds among angels, arms open, above a crowd of men in bright robes gathered round an open stone tomb.
El Greco, 1577–79. Art Institute of Chicago. The centre of El Greco's first major commission, an altarpiece for a convent church in Toledo.
The Merry DrinkerA smiling man in a wide black hat and a lace collar raises one hand and holds a glass of wine in the other, painted with loose, quick strokes.
Frans Hals, about 1628–30. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The medallion on his chest is thought to show Prince Maurice of Orange.
The SyndicsFive men in black with tall black hats sit and stand behind a table covered with a red patterned rug, looking out as if interrupted; a sixth man without a hat stands behind.
Rembrandt, 1662. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Five officials who checked the quality of cloth for Amsterdam's drapers' guild; the man without a hat is their servant.
The Herring NetTwo fishermen in oilskins haul a catch of silvery fish into a small boat on a rough grey sea, with sailing ships far off on the horizon.
Winslow Homer, 1885. Art Institute of Chicago. Painted at Prouts Neck, Maine. After a stay in an English fishing village in 1881, Homer painted mostly the sea and the people who work on it.
Winter Landscape with Ice SkatersA frozen river crowded with tiny figures gliding, sledding and playing, beside a town, bare trees and a tall tower under a pale sky.
Hendrick Avercamp, about 1608. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Avercamp was mute and probably deaf, and was known as the Mute of Kampen.
The Basket of ApplesA still life of red and yellow fruit spilling from a tilted wicker container onto a table with a white cloth, beside a wine bottle and a plate of biscuits.
Paul Cézanne, about 1893. Art Institute of Chicago. The edges of the table do not line up on either side of the cloth, and the bottle tilts.
The Windmill at Wijk bij DuurstedeA tall, round tower with sails stands on a riverbank under a vast cloudy sky, with a sailing boat on the water and a castle and church nearby.
Jacob van Ruisdael, about 1668–70. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Seen from low down by the river Lek, the mill towers over the town's castle and church.
The Battle of WaterlooA huge, crowded scene of war under smoke: officers on horseback gather in the centre among soldiers, while wounded men lie and are carried off in the foreground.
Jan Willem Pieneman, 1824. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. At 5.67 by 8.23 metres, it is the largest painting in the Rijksmuseum.

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Young ballet students in white tutus stretch, fidget and wait around a large rehearsal room while an old man leaning on a tall stick instructs one of them.

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Published September 28, 2026