Eurotrip2022

🎨Let's talk about some of the famous paintings of the world

In this article, I share with you ten of my favorite paintings.

Narendra Vardi

11 Feb 2023 • 4 min read

Entrance view of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Hi! My name is Narendra Vardi, and I write about my learnings, observations and trends in the Software world. Besides software, I also talk about photography, travel stories, books and movies. If that's something that interests you, consider subscribing.

I have been learning a lot about the world's most famous paintings. This new hobby stemmed from my visit to Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Rijksmuseum is the museum of the Netherlands in Amsterdam. 800 years of Dutch history, with the great Dutch masters as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh.

Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh are some of the most famous Dutch painters. There is a high possibility that you might have seen one of their paintings. I didn't know about Rembrandt's and Vermeer's paintings until I visited Rijksmuseum. But I did know Van Gogh's The Starry Night painting. It was an incredible sensation a few years back on social media, and I believe it remains the same even today.

Below is image of how it looks:

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the actual painting of 'The Starry Night' since it's not available in the museums of Amsterdam. This painting is located in The Museum of Modern Art, an Art museum in New York City.

But I did see various paintings by Dutch artists. Here are five paintings from Rijksmuseum which fascinated me.

Paintings which are part of Rijksmusuem

Portrait of Pompejus Occo by Dirck Jacobsz

Portrait with a skull that too in the 1500s?

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

Gold and Blue, what a clever use of colour. There is a calmness to this painting.

The Little Street by Johannes Vermeer

Observe the details of the building. Is that a photograph?

Still Life with a Silver Jug and a Porcelain Bowl by Willem Kalf

The Night Watch by Rembrandt

This is quite a large painting. 12 by 14+1⁄2 feet

Now that I have talked about some favourite paintings located in Rijksmuseum let me also talk about some paintings which are not part of Rijksmusuem.

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Paintings which are not part of Rijksmusuem

The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

My personal favourite. Imagine asking people to see this painting after they are drunk :P

The Scream by Edvard Munch

Notice the anxiety of the person screaming.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

I like this image because I like 'The Milkmaid'. I love three of Johannes Vermeer's paintings.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

The wave is mysterious. Did you notice boats in the ocean and claws to the wave?

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

I am not yet able to tell why I like this image. Is it because of the excellent use of light to bring your focus to the right side of the canvas?

I am still a noob in understanding paintings. I felt 'Mona Lisa' painting needs more time for me to understand. Hence, it's not on the list.

Understanding Paintings

Some of these paintings are pretty hard to interpret without knowing the history of why the artwork was created in the first place.

I came across the YouTube channel, which helped me understand many things about paintings. If you also found the paintings interesting, I would suggest you check out the YouTube channel at the link: GreatArtExplained

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