EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ONE

    There are a handful of artworks in the world that just about anyone would recognize, even if they passed through life asleep at the wheel. The obvious greatness of some of these works earns them this honor. Some of them touch a mysterious point in our psyches, and some of them are just not so clear as to why they make the list. Here are some of the honorees.
    Michelangelo Buonarroti Simoni's (1475-1564) unbelievable marble sculpture named Pieta', created around 1498, is his only signed piece of art. His masterpiece frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel include The Creation of Adam, painted around 1511.

    Fifteenth century genius, Leonardo da Vinci's (1452-1519) The Last Supper is painted on the wall of a convent refectory in Milan around 1495. Leonardo did not use true fresco technique, causing the piece to deteriorate and need extensive restorations. His intriguing portrait (around 1503-1506) of a woman named Lisa Gherardini became known as the Mona Lisa. If you want to see her now at the Louvre Museum, you will only have about 15 seconds to gaze upon her. A piece only occasionally displayed in it Venice home is his Vitruvian Man from 1490. Originally a study in proportions, it is now used frequently as a symbol for scientific study.

    The next honoree is unusual in that the artwork was never finished. Gilbert Charles Stewart (1755-1828) painted this portrait of George Washington in 1796, and used it as a reference piece for himself while he painted 130 more copies which he sold for $100 each. This painting became the basis for the portrait seen on the one dollar bill.

    Why do we have such fascination with Whistler's Mother? Massachusetts born James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) actually called this artwork which he painted in 1871, Arrangement in Grey and Black #1. The model he had arranged for that day never showed up, and his mother stepped in.

    Who does not love the grace and wonder found in Starry Night, painted in 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), a troubled soul who saw the world in a way that others of his time did not?

    The power of human thought was never so well depicted as in the 1904 cast bronze sculpture by France's Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), The Thinker (originally called The Poet). There were actually 28 castings made of this massive sculpture.

    French impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) had an obsession with the images of the pond lily, and for that the world is grateful. He produced around 250 paintings of water lilies between 1897 and 1926.

    Undoubtedly the most famous Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch (1863-1944) produced from 1893 to 1910 four versions of The Scream (three paintings and one pastel). Although most of us see this as an image of horror or mental anguish, Munch recounts that he was walking over a bridge and heard "a scream through nature". Ok.

    1886 brought the dedication of the Statue of Liberty by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904). A gift from the citizens of France, it was shipped across the Atlantic in pieces and assembled on its waiting pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island.

    The turn of the century became very sensuous with the works of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). His 1908 The Kiss was but one of many of his artworks that broke ground in the subjects of erotica and design.

    Our minds were bent in the 20th century with surrealist artists Rene Magritte (1898-1967) from Belgium, and Spain's Salvador Dali (1904-1989). I can't imagine what people thought in 1931 when they first saw Dali's Persistence of Memory. By the time Magritte painted this self portrait called The Son of Man, in 1964, it actually reflected the years of cultural unrest that were just beginning.

    I'm not going to bother to show you, because everyone recognizes a Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painting when they see his cubist style.
    A prolific painter from Iowa, Grant Wood (1891-1942) had one of his Midwestern portraits become one of the most parodied artworks ever. His American Gothic was painted in 1930.

    From 1927 to 1941 Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) and 400 workers carved away at a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota, creating portraits of four of our finest presidents in stunningly monumental size. At that time it had to be traumatic to the people who belonged to the remnants of the Plains Indian tribes, as the Black Hills was regarded by them as a very spiritual place. These gargantuan likenesses represented the culture that had helped destroy the Native American way of life. It is said that the idea for the project on Mt. Rushmore simply began with brainstorming about how to get more tourists to the area. Well it certainly worked, and there is nothing else quite like it.

    Don't we all wish that we could sit in at that diner and hear the conversations of the Nighthawks? New York state native Edward Hopper (1882-1967) brought us this intriguing image in 1942.

    Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) in 1948 brought us a portrait of a woman gazing toward a farmhouse, Christina's World. America has loved to speculate about her ever since.

    Hungry for some art? Andy Warhol (1928-1987) came to the rescue with his art piece, Campbell's Soup I. Everyone asked at the time, "How can that be art?" Well, not only was it art, but it is now considered iconic pop art.

    Has anyone from around here created art that absolutely everyone knows? Santa Rosa's cartoon artist, Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) successfully drew a cast of characters that people all over the world watched never grow up, but who gave out tidbits of wisdom that we all can use.
    All of the aforementioned artworks have fallen victim to many parodies. I think that is a compliment to their status in our culture.