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Lewis Cooper

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I was going to head this your TEN BEST PAINTINGS, but I find it impossible to list merely ten...a hundred might be easier. So I'm hoping people might like to offer their favorite paintings, ancient or modern. If this has any appeal it could be an ongoing thing...as someone who likes art and talking about it, I felt it was up to me to suggest this post. We'll see if this boat floats. (I'm sure it's been done before.) There's three paintings I would put in my top ten, after that it becomes a free-for-all. The first Is Manet's 'A bar at the Folie Begere.' It's well known and it's been discussed recently, so I'm not showing a pic of it here...I love all it's oddities, and think it a masterpiece. Another is Bruegel the Elders 'Hunters in the Snow' painted in 1565. The love all his work, it a bright, bawdy window on his world, and intensely imaginative. This painting is considered one of the earlier european landscapes. He'd been on a trip to the Alps, and decided to include 'Alp-like' mountains in his painting. There are no shadows in the foreground, no doubt an artistic decision by Bruegel...I like decisions like that. It's crisp and cold and wintry, full of interest and incident. An absolute gem of a painting. My third suggestion is Renior's 'Dancing at Bougival' 1883. I'm not posting the pic or saying anything about it, until we see how this goes (Always a chance I might be talking to myself) Below is Bruegel's brillaint painting (You'll all know it, but if you're anything like me you can't always remember to title...so a pic or a link is required.) Lew.

D Hillman

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The death of Socrates... firstly the story of it is amazing, he knowingly drunk the hemlock when he had every opportunity to simply walk, a matter of principle. Aside from the beautiful painting there is a lot going on here, Plato sits with his back to Socrates who was an old man but is idealised and muscled despite his 70ish years, Plato himself was young when the event took place but is painted as old to indicate he is remembering it. Socrates points to the heavens, reaches for the cup as if it is a mere trifle and you can imagine his diatribe of inspirational words... the Socratic method of questioning condemns him for being impious and corrupting the youth of the town with his dangerous idea's. Politically it seems we have come around in circles where those that speak truth are vilified so the topic resounds... also that it was painted in the neo-classical revival is interesting to me, because I like the nostalgia of going backwards in time to do things as they were once done before.

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Sylvia Evans

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So hard.... this is one of my very favourites . Van Gogh, The Potato Eaters . It’s got it all ,excellent drawing, atmosphere , social history and just look at that lighting.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Souvenir d'Italie, by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, but better you search it out than I try to upload it, because last time I did that I ended up with swamping the whole web-page with a vast image no one could really see.

David Perry

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I'd love to participate in this but cannot think of a 'best' one, only of those that spring to mind. Im not sure I am fit to judge 'best' anyway. Certainly I would put this one up there: http://www.painters-online.co.uk/gallery/art-view,picture_205190.htm It's by our own Simon Harvey and I have a copy pinned to my study wall. Classics, I'd go for Fighting Temerer and modern paintings would be Summer Victory by Robert Taylor http://www.aviationartgallery.co.uk/Images/Print-info/Summer-victory.htm

Alan Bickley

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As Lew has said, there are so many and I'm too tired to give it much thought at the moment. Turner would almost certainly figure somewhere in my shortlist, although not his well documented and printed stuff as David has mentioned. I'll try and come up with one that inspires me.
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Lewis Cooper

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Daveyboyz....who was the artist...DAVID? I guess I'd include a Van Gogh in my best list, but wouldn't be able to choose just one. I like the potato eaters, interesting palette, I wonder if that was choice or necessity? All those browns suit it...earthy comes to mind. DavidG4YVM...I don't think we can insist on a 'best' painting, I couldn't...for me it changes day by day...only work you find interesting. I tried the link to Robert Taylor's work, and enjoyed it. Robert...is this the Corot you referred to?

Peter Davison

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Difficult to choose one from so many but the impact that JMW's 'Fighting Temeraire' made on me when I first saw it aged 15 has left an indelible mark.
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Lewis Cooper

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So my third definite in the impossibility of choosing a ten best would be Renoir's Dancing at Bougival, painted in 1883. I admire a lot of his work, but far from all of it, I guess I tend to like individual paintings rather than all one artists work. This one is a gem, it's full of simple pleasure, the colours are sumptuous. I saw the original in America. I tend not to take notice of the size of paintings, and this one surprised me...the figures are almost life sized. The painting glowed. It's the little things I admire, the way the hands are painted, not academic but just right. It's only just occurred to me that I've picked three paintings where the artists were painting scenes from the OWN times. As was Van Gogh. I'm just as interested in artists painting 'history' or even fantasy.
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Lewis Cooper

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Yes Stub, Turners 'Fighting Temeraire' is my favorite of his work...I have to confess some of his work leaves me cold. It's in the National Gallery isn't it?

D Hillman

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Yes it was David, Jacques-Louis David... Raphael's school of Athens particularly resonates with me because Ancient Greece is one of my obsessions. A completely unknown to me artist grabbed my attention the other day, Konstantin Razumov does superb figures and usually features lots of flowers (not normally of any interest to me) but I like his colours and softness.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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There's more than one Corot entitled Souvenir d'Italie unfortunately; the one above isn't actually the one I had in mind, though it's similar in colouring. Corot didn't care for sunlight - many of his paintings are in shadow. I like the restraint and muted colours. Not everyone, it is fair to say, does...
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