Is there a work of art that has moved you?

Question

Have you seen a specific work of art (for instance, a certain painting) and been moved by it? Or maybe it's more than one work by a certain artist...

I'd be curious to hear about your experience and know what sort of emotional response you had.

Answer 1

Irises by Van Gogh...i love how there's only one white iris in the corner...always reminds me that im not alone in a crowd anymore...but no one ever looks at that painting that way....good question by the way!

Answer 2

Most of the works that I have seen by Michelangelo, including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, David, Moses and the Pieta are among the most moving pieces I have seen. (I only wish that I had remembered my glasses when we toured the Sistine Chapel). I could have spent my entire 2 week vacation there just gazing at the ceiling.

For a non specific piece of art, the Forum area (ruins) of Rome were one of the most amazing places I have ever been. To think about the people that built the temples and churches, the Colosseum, and of all the people throughout time that tread through those streets just was mind boggling..

Answer 3

http://www.humanitiesweb.org/gallery/275...

Francis Bacon's "three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion" is a very powerful work to me. The figures are distorted and pained, in agony over the sight that they bear witness to - A crucifixion. But not THE crucifixion, an unnamed person, but we never see the sight they are reacting to, so we relive it through their eyes. And what of their eyes? One has hair in it's face and is grimacing, another has some sort of bandage around its head, the other has its head back like a howling dog. These creatures are not human or animal, but still reflect human pain and agony. A crucifixion is one of the most volatile deaths a human can inflict upon another human. This picture was creating after Bacon saw the photos taken at the Nazi death camps in 1944, this speaks to the immense atrocities that were committed there. I get chills nearly every time I see this painting but I still love it. Bacon called the mouth the locust of pain, that all the pain radiated from the mouth. Even though most of his work is very dark, I find it very sincere and emotional. He seemed pretty messed up, but I guess that happens to a lot of the good ones.

Answer 4

Yes. The first time was with a small pastel by Odilon Redon at the Petit Palais fifteen years ago. There was a sudden, total identification, which caused time to stand still and all other noises to be blocked out. I felt as though I was dwelling within the picture and there was the recognition of something larger than me and the feeling of being a part of it. Perhaps some of it was grace and a moment of unforgettable happiness.

Answer 5

My avatar (quite unfairly on my part, I might add) is a painting by J. Ruth Gendler... one of my favourite artists. This painting makes me feel like part of everything... connected to the world, the moon, the cosmos... it's almost an electric current sparking through my veins, and yet at the same time... it gives me the deepest feeling of peace. Were I able to paint a self-portrait of me at my best... this is what it would look like.

Answer 6

I have a painting from a painter "Franke" (I think he's french). Anyway, it's a beautiful mountain and lake scene, but what makes it beautiful is that there is a window pane around it and it seems like you are looking out the window at the mountain and lake. It's serene and I love it.

Answer 7

Too many paintings over the years have moved me for too many reasons to mention them all here.

The works have been as varied as you can imagine, from Picasso's 'Guernica' (political) to Van Gogh's 'Crows Over A Wheatfield' (personal turbulence) to Man Ray's Photographs (intellectual) to Edvard Munch's 'Madonna (sensual).

Picking a personal favorite would not be easy for me.

Answer 8

I wasn't actually moved by this but the picture of the Last Supper kept me occupied for ages... I was counting the hands and cups because you know like The Da Vinci Code. I was at it for days (not continuosly)

Answer 9

The Horse-head Nebula - painter unknown.

In this painting the horse-head is attracting galaxies to itself with visible tractor beams, devouring them by the dozens. Digestion / combustion takes place in a huge "oven"-like stomach.

Very frightening picture! When will it turn its attention to our milky way is what comes to mind.

Answer 10

The sun, moon, stars and sky move me everytime I take the time to gaze at them. No human art really has the kind of effect that the art that is our envirnment holds.