Famous Works of Art - And How They Got That Way

There are many reasons why works of art become famous; few have anything to do with quality. Art museums are filled with masterworks that are unknown to the general public. This book raises questions about how fame is achieved, and ultimately how a work either retains that fame, or passes from the public consciousness. The works of art—which include sculptures, paintings, a photograph, and architecture—examined in individual chapters are: The Great Sphinx Tomb of Tutankhamen The Parthenon Sculptures The Apollo Belvedere Nike of Samothrace Birth of Venus by Botticelli Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci Sistine Madonna by Raphael The Burial of Count Orgaz by El Greco Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer by Rembrandt Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze Luncheon on the Grass by Edouard Manet The Thinker by Auguste Rodin Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh The Scream by Edvard Munch American Gothic by Grant Wood Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange Guernica by Pablo Picasso Campbell’s Soup by Andy Warhol The Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Maya Lin