What is the work of art that fascinated you the most? Why?

Question

For me, it is Mona Lisa and Guernica.

Answer 1

Anything by Escher - I can get lost looking at his pictures, they never seem to end.

Answer 2

I love pre-raphaelite stuff - Belle Dames Sans Merci is a favourite (Although Bristol art gallery have it hung in the worst location for viewing!)
Other High Victorian stuff fascinates me - I love the astounding detail and the narrative nature of it. If I had to chose, the fairy feller's master-stoke by Richard Dadd. It was the inspiration of Freddie's song of the same name from "Queen II". The characters in the song are:

The Fairy Feller, the Pedagogue, the Arch Magician, the Apothecary Man and the Ostler
'Ploughman, Waggoner Will'
'A Politician with senatorial pipe'
'A Satyr' peeps under lady's gown'
'Tatterdemalion and a junketer there's a Thief and a Dragonfly Trumpeter'
'Fairy dandy tickling the fancy of his lady the friend, the nymph in yellow'
'Soldier, Sailor, Tinker, Tailor, Ploughboy'
'Oberon and Titania watched by a Harridan, Mab is the queen'

When you read up on the history of Dadd, it becomes more fascinating.

A very Close second must come self-portrait by Vincent Van Gough. Naff though it sounds, I can't shake off the lyrics of Starry Starry Night, especially when I look into Vincent's 'eyes of china blue'.
I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

Answer 3

There are three pieces that really come to mind.

1) Nigel Mansell O.B.E. by Alan Fearnley.

I'm a fan of motor racing and my father is a fan of Mansell in particular. When I was around 9 I ended up skipping school to go and pick up a print from the artists gallery at his home. We were led through by his secretary (who'd just gotten back from a horse ride) into this cosy country manor living room full of furniature and the original of this print was hanging on the wall. It was so huge it took up almost the whole wall and I was allowed to look closer, I could see every tiny brush stroke, every intimate detail and it looked so incredibly real and alive that I could almost hear the engines. I've never forgotten how much I loved that picture, and when we finally got a print (we went to pick up indycar champions, not this one) I could still look at it and feel the same sense of exhilleration.

2) A personal piece of art that a friend did of one of my original characters. It's like she read my mind - he's absolutely perfect and I would never want to lose it, it would break me.

3) A picture of Squall Leonhart by a japanese digital artist called Maxim. Her art is so beautiful, so exquisite that it defies belief. I visit her deepforest website as often as I can just to be sure she hasn't updated and this one features Squall with an extensive tattoo over his back. It was actually done for a friend of mine and the thrill that it invokes is amazing.

Answer 4

Unfortunately I don't remember the name or artist of this one but it's a sculpture I saw in the Kroller muller museum in Holland.
They have a large park in which they have placed many statues and sculptures. I still remember vividly our art history teacher telling us that there was a work of art placed at 20 feet away. Everyone was looking and no one saw it. It was a sculpture of a bronze tree, placed in between a few other trees. The thing was that if one didn't pay attention to it, you couldn't tell it apart from the other trees. So every ignorant would just have passed by it only the real attentive person would have seen it. That idea appealed to me in a very special way that i'll never forget that experience.

Answer 5

The Human Body:
Its the highest form of Art
It was made by the Highest Form: God
It is still not fully understood by humans
It pleases the eye before all other things
It is the easiest to understand
To interact with this art is art itself.
The Human Body

Answer 6

Someone else already said it, but:

The Human Body.

It really is truely the most beautiful piece of artwork.

My next favorite would be anything from H. R. Giger, Cliver Barker, Huss, Verlinde, Grassie, Di-Maccio, Beksinski, Brom, Barlowe, etc.

Answer 7

There is a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, in which he faces the viewer straight on. I saw it in the Van Gogh museum in 1999, and cannot remember the name, but I could swear it was alive, the feeling of someone looking straight into your eyes from that portrait was so strong. Without a doubt, that is the most evocative painting I have ever seen.

Answer 8

The Mark Rothko room in the Tate Modern.

It fills the space with such an oppressive yet, I find, calming atmosphere. I could sit there all day!

Also, don't know who did it but the giant artificial sun at the Tate was fantastic. Even had people sunbathing in front of it!

Answer 9

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. It has always fascinated me. It seems so perfect but there are odd little things if you really look.

Answer 10

all the art which has a soul. every artist can learn how to paint by 80% in art schools but only the best have more. i love the art that inspires me, i really love the art of aborigins done just in dots. good art for me is the one that i have aha moment when i see it. Van Gogh´s Sunflowers have great story behind and he really put himself into the painting.

Answer 11

Hieronymus Bosch' Garden of Eartly Delights and Rodin's Gates of Hell

My fascination with good/evil, and the fact that I can spend hours looking at them and trying to see all of the fine details