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Art Appreciation | Paintings

Montessori Art Appreciation: Famous Paintings Every Kid Should Know

These are some of the world's most famous and most beloved paintings that kids (and adults!) should know. Can you name all of them?

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Appreciation

It was reported just this week that the world’s oldest known cave painting has been found in the Leang Tedongnge cave in Indonesia. It’s a painting of the Sulawesi warty pig, created using dark red ochre pigment, with two hand prints above it. A calcite deposit that had formed on top of the painting was found to be 45,500 years old using uranium-series isotope dating so the painting underneath is believed to be at least that age — possibly even older!

 

Mankind, and painting, has come a long way since then, and for centuries we have had the privilege of enjoying the works of the hands of many, many artists worldwide.

 

Children are natural artists themselves and can benefit from early exposure to the world’s greatest masterpieces. Here are some of the paintings that kids (and adults!) should know.

Seven Famous Paintings: Their Stories and the Artists Behind Them

It’s impossible to pick just 7 paintings to introduce to a child but these masterpieces are a pretty good place to start. (If your favorites aren’t here, don’t worry! They might be in the next section, the “gallery.”)

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night

The Starry Night

by Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world and is just one of many popular works of art by Vincent Van Gogh. The Dutch painter, now loved by millions throughout the world, suffered from mental health problems and is known for having cut off his own ear at one point in his life. His other famous works include another starry night painting (Starry Night Over the Rhône), a series of sunflower paintings, and 43 self-portraits.

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Claude Monet Water Lilies

Water Lilies

by Claude Monet

Guess how many water lily paintings Claude Monet made in his lifetime. 250! Claude Monet was a French painter and his paintings of water lilies depicted the flower garden in his house in Giverny. Remarkably, many of them were painted while Monet could not see clearly due to cataracts (clouded lenses) in his eyes.

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Andrew Wyeth Christinas World

Christina's World

by Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth was an American painter. He had a neighbor named Christina who had a muscle problem that left her unable to walk. One time, Andrew Wyeth saw Christina crawl across a field to a house and that inspired him to make this painting.

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Edvard Munch Scream

The Scream

by Edvard Munch

Can you feel the emotion in this painting? Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist, wrote about what made him paint this scene in his diary: “One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture…. This became The Scream.”

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Johannes Vermeer Milkmaid

The Milkmaid

by Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter and this is one of his most popular paintings. Just as in The Milkmaid, a lot of Vermeer’s paintings depict characters inside a room with light coming from a window. He is also known for his liberal use of the expensive pigment lapis lazuli to produce the striking ultramarine blue — sometimes even as an underpainting, to be covered by other colors like red — in his paintings.

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Sandro Botticcelli Birth Venus

The Birth of Venus

by Sandro Botticelli

Venus is the Roman goddess of beauty and love and she is said to have risen out of the sea foam. She is painted here arriving at the seashore after her birth.

 

Sandro Botticelli, the artist, was an Italian Renaissance painter who also created another iconic Renaissance painting, the Primavera.

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Leonardo Da Vinci Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

by Leonardo da Vinci

No list of famous paintings can be complete without mentioning the Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda. Its painter, the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, is known as a polymath (someone who is an expert at lots of different things) but he is most famous for his works of art. Another famous painting of his, The Last Supper, is the most reproduced religious painting of all time, and a copy can often be found in many homes here in the Philippines.

Montessori "Nomenclature Cards"

Gallery of Famous Paintings

Put your mouse pointer/cursor above the paintings to reveal their names and artists.

For mobile users, tap on the paintings to reveal the same information.

List of Paintings (PDF) 

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Andrew Wyeth Christinas World

Christina's World

Andrew Wyeth

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Caspar David Friedrich Wanderer Sea Fog

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Caspar David Friedrich

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Claude Monet Water Lilies

Water Lilies

Claude Monet

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Claude Monet Impression Sunrise

Impression, Sunrise

Claude Monet

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Diego Velazquez Las Meninas

Las Meninas

Diego Velazquez

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Edvard Munch Scream

The Scream

Edvard Munch

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Eugene Delacroix Liberty Leading People

Liberty Leading the People

Eugène Delacroix

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Francisco Goya Tres Mayo

El Tres de Mayo

Francisco Goya

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Georges Seurat Sunday Afternoon

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Georges Seurat

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Grant Wood American Gothic

American Gothic

Grant Wood

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Gustav Klimt Kiss

The Kiss

Gustav Klimt

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Hieronymus Bosch Garden Earthly Delights

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Hieronymus Bosch

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings James McNeill Whistler Mother

Whistler's Mother

James McNeill Whistler

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Jan Van Eyck Arnolfini Portrait

The Arnolfini Portrait

Jan van Eyck

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Johannes Vermeer Girl Pearl Earring

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Johannes Vermeer Milkmaid

The Milkmaid

Johannes Vermeer

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Leonardo Da Vinci Last Supper

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Leonardo Da Vinci Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Michelangelo Buonarotti Creation Adam

The Creation of Adam

Michelangelo Buonarroti

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Pablo Picasso Three Musicians

Three Musicians

Pablo Picasso

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Piet Mondrian Composition II

Composition II with Red Blue and Yellow

Piet Mondrian

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Rembrandt Van Rijn Night Watch

The Night Watch

Rembrandt van Rijn

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Salvador Dali Persistence Memory

The Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dalí

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Sandro Botticcelli Birth Venus

The Birth of Venus

Sandro Botticelli

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Sandro Botticelli Primavera

Primavera

Sandro Botticelli

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night

The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh

HuntersWoodsPH Montessori Culture Art Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Vincent van Gogh

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Famous Paintings Quiz

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