Tell me about a work of art you could think about forever.

Question

Elena · Answer

Moonlight Dance, Voulangis, 1909: Will never stop thinking about this painting of dancer Isadora Duncan by Edward Steichen, on view at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine

Hope Corrigan · Answer

Nāve (Death) by Janis Rozentāls: Death is rarely depicted as a comfort in art but I love that here she’s a woman in white instead of a terrifying grim reaper. Heartbreaking yet serene and gentle.

Myshelf · Answer

Here for my 2nd arresting artist rec: Literally ANYTHING by Chris Roberts-Antieau: Saw her gallery in NOLA years back and haven’t stopped marveling at the genius that she is. There’s soooo much in her art to explore.  IRL her stuff can knock the wind out of me. Photorealistic stitching?!? On taxidermy? And John Wayne Gacy’s murder house in miniature? And snow globes of a killer wasp at a nudist colony?! I mean, who is this genius?!?!

“I’m not a big participant in any sort of social life — pretty much a loner. But I’m definitely an Observer: I watch and listen and usually almost everything boils down to some sort of absurdity. The humorous pieces are a reflection of my observations brought to life.”
–C R-A

Meg · Answer

Lightening Field by Walter De Maria: An interactive work of land art that asks for the commitment to lottery in and travel deep into the New Mexican desert. The art is an impressive work of engineering, its required immersion into sky and land are life changing.

Jess · Answer

Zanele Muholi Qiniso, The Sails, Durban 2019: Saw Zanele Muholi's Qiniso, The Sails, Durban at Tate Modern and can't stop thinking about it. Muholi's self portraits are a direct answer to a history of photography that was never built for Black skin. It's part of Somnyama Ngonyama ("Hail the Dark Lioness"), and it just floors you. Go see it if you can.

Seems · Answer

Musée d'Orsay: A museum in Paris with a wonderful collection of Monet and Van Gogh paintings. Easy to get lost in the brilliance of Monet’s Impressionism style, in particular his sunrises. And the beauty of Van Gogh’s flowers in vase.

Natali · Answer

La Dame a la licorne: the six tapestries at musee de cluny, so many things to analyze and fixate on! “a mon seul desir” has stayed with me forever

alie k. · Answer

portrait of dorian grey by ivan albright: i saw this for the first time as a small child, which you can imagine would be very impactful on the psyche. i visit it every time i go back to the art institute of chicago. pictures of it do NOT do it justice. it’s humongous and terrifying.

Jess · Answer

'I Know It's Over' - by smallwhitemonster: Death is a topic I tend to avoid but there is something so profound to me about this. It’s being the last one in the theater, this sense of not wanting to leave, the glaring exit sign with the dark door to nowhere, the “one last cigarette before I go.”

maeve ⭐️ · Answer

Inflammatory Essays (1979-82) by Jenny Holzer: thirty one essays with language at its most seductive and most dangerous

Fate Dash · Answer

Probably dominant curve by Kandinsky..: Every single work of his gets me thinking.

sunset strip mall · Answer

Anselm Kiefer's "Velimir Chlebnikov" at MASS MoCA (https://massmoca.org/event/anselm-kiefer/): visceral, haunting, breathtaking; wordless and incredibly emotional at the same time

Chaserton · Answer

Pandemonium by John Martin: I want to see this painting in person because it’s 48in x 73in. My laptop doesn’t do it justice. But I could stare at this for hours.

Myshelf · Answer

Ron Mueck’s Dead Dad: It’s small- maybe 2 or 2.5’ in length, and so utterly terribly realistic looking. His tiny hands and feet are so worn out and it’s just beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Tami · Answer

StudioBe: Not just one art work but an immersive experience from Brandan “Balkier”Odums. I’ve visited and revisited many times when in New Orleans and it guts me (in different ways) every single time.

JMC · Answer

Hilma af Klint: I know this woman is controversial. I also know that my brain chemistry was altered when I saw the Tate Modern show highlighting her work in 2023. There is something very magical about being surrounded by her large scale, soothing paintings… To the point that I seriously thought about getting to Paris before her Grand Palais show closes (on 8/30).

dina · Answer

The Tarot Garden, Niki de Saint Phalle: i had the delight of finally getting to see this irl on a trip to italy in april after fixating on it for the past 7+ years. the sheer magnitude and craftsmanship of the project is awe-inspiring, it took over 20 years to get to the point we’re able to see it in today. sadly, Niki wasn’t able to complete it before she passed and the team has chosen to leave it as is, because it felt wrong to finish it without her

Kt · Answer

American History by Jeffrey Gibson: this piece shakes me with its literal and figurative depth, detail and layers. worth spending time with.

Eric F · Answer

2001: A Space Odyssey  (1968): My favorite film of all time. A piece of art that rewards patience and thoughtfulness in an obnoxious world. Every shot is a masterpiece that could be printed and hung in a museum. It’s incredibly prescient, full of existential ideas worth contemplating, and builds an appreciation for the craft of filmmaking.

Liv · Answer

masaccio's expulsion from the garden of eden

chelsi · Answer

Mami Hirano - Revived a Unicorn (2014): This one will continue to haunt me. It was on display at Eye of Gyre in Omotesando in 2018 along with other artists as part of a Bio-art exhibit celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus.

From the gallery page…

“By choosing subject matters that are both real and imaginary–such as a unicorn and her beloved dog who was battling an illness–and faithfully producing all the elements that make up those life forms including bones, innards, muscles, and skin, Hirano creates works about the structures of these life forms, the preservation of life, and the topic of resuscitation. Her works are a deep reflection on absence and death, preservation and creation, and recognition and existence; and invites viewers in this modern age to ponder on how we should face these contemplations.”

heaths moon · Answer

Gelitin's Rabbit/Hase/Coniglio: O B S E S S E D

its gone now, but this GIANT bunny laid there for 20 years and could be seen from space. gelitin is a rad af art collective out of austria and has made some of the coolest, most mysterious installations over the years.

alloblro · Answer

The Weather Project: Saw so many years ago but still think about it.

carley rickles · Answer

Fair Park Lagoon: For more land art that restores degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems look to the work of Patricia Johanson.

Fair Park Lagoon is an ecological restoration project that reconnects people with water through art.

Anna Griffin · Answer

Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors: If this comes to your city run don’t walk to see it!

“The Visitors” was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced at a museum before. In one room, surrounded by nine screens, you follow nine musician “visitors” as they perform—part song, part incantation—in a historic mansion. I highly rec timing it so you view from start to finish, yes the full hour!

Gail · Answer

The Unicorn Tapestries: We all know her - she’s been used as a backdrop for tv shows and substack articles and ren faires - but the added lore and debated symbolism keep me so fascinated by this series (and the passing of ownership!)

Hannah · Answer

Odysseus and Argos reunite: Just watched The Odyssey, so now, this… 😭

Nora · Answer

Maya Lin: Storm King Wavefield: An eleven acre artwork. Epic and breathtaking. The largest publicly accessible work by Maya Lin.

pairofgeese · Answer

Empire of Light (René Magritte): Like many others have said about their chosen artwork, seeing this in person completely transfixed me. I didn’t go to the Guggenheim in Venice to see any particular piece, but when I caught sight of this through the doorway, I was drawn to it like a magnet. The simplicity of the surrealism somehow altered my brain chemistry and I think about the painting on a strangely regular basis, even though it’s been 13 years since I fell in love.

Sealligator · Answer

Jessica Penn in Black with White Plumes by Robert Henri: She used to live at the Seattle Art Museum where I visited her all the time. When I found out she’d moved to Arkansas I took a road trip in part just to visit her - but they’d just removed her from display.

The woman’s name was actually Jesseca and what little I know about her makes me believe she was a force. The painter couldn’t be bothered to spell her name right in the title and I feel like I can see her confidence in herself and her scorn for the dumbass painter in her gaze. I love her utterly.

Liana · Answer

Andrew Wyeth - Christina’s World (1948): This painting has stuck with me ever since I first saw it in elementary school. It just really sparks the imagination. I love coming up with new stories of why she’s in the field or who she’s reaching for. It’s great for ekphrastic poetry, too.

Tara · Answer

intersellar: I know it’s not a painting but by all accounts a masterpiece.

Annie Pontarelli · Answer

Liza Lou | Kitchen: I'm dying to see this in person someday. "A full-scale and exactingly detailed kitchen encrusted in a rainbow of glistening beads, Liza Lou’s monumental installation took five years to make. After researching kitchen design manuals as well as historical tracts about the lives of nineteenth-century women, Lou made drawings and three-dimensional models to achieve a loose outline of Kitchen’s floor plan. She then fashioned the objects out of paper mâché, painted them, and applied the beads in a mosaic of surface pattern. This work, in Lou’s words, “argues for the dignity of labor”—a labor that here manifests as process and subject alike, and which is linked to gender, since crafts and kitchen work are traditionally female domains. Kitchen might also be read as a commentary on American life—even the American dream—with its ubiquitous products (Tide and Cap’N Crunch), aspirations (glittery surfaces and suburban assimilation), and realities (dishes in the sink and other kitchen drudgery).

chio · Answer

galore oklou album

Julia Rotstein · Answer

The Woman in Gold by Gustav Klimt: Anything he ever painted leaves me speechless, but this one in particular will always stand out the most. The history behind it, the gold and silver leaf, the uniqueness!

Francesca McConchie · Answer

The Last Supper: It is hard to describe how trippy it is to view this in person…it’s like it radiates crazy energy and you can feel it moving through your body. You have to view it in very small groups in a sealed chamber. It was 20 years ago when I last saw it and I still think of it often, and not for religious reasons. I find all da Vinci’s work has a weird trippy energy to it but this one the most, I think he perhaps had some magic powers (Leonardo…but ok, possibly Jesus too). A must if you’re ever in Milan.