So many choices, but I'd have to choose Raphael's Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, in the Louvre. There's just something about his expression that's so kind and honest. And he was the 'stand-in' when the Mona Lisa was stolen early in the 20th Century!

Hmmmm....a painting. Not sure, but probably a Caravaggio.

But, if we are allowed to choose a sculpture,then definitely Bernini's Apollo and Daphne at Rome's Borghese Gallery. If you have seen it, you know why!

The Death of Sainte Genevieve by Jean Paul Laurens which is in the Pantheon in Paris. It moves me deeply. Her bound hands in prayer, the angel gently lifting the sheet from her body, oncense swirling around her and the mourners surrounding her bed. It is so life-like, beautiful, peaceful and full of sorrow.

If I were choosing a painter JMW Turner would be tops on the list, for treatment of a subject matter, Monet's series in London would be on top but for a single painting to own, it is Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" that tops the list. I've seen it in two locations besides its home at the Tate Britain and never ceases to bring me joy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/paintin..._sargent.shtml

Picasso's "Guernica" - the greatest anti-war painting ever.

(In the Renia Sofia in Madrid.)

I see the Vermeers are going fast, but fortunately "The Little Street" (my favorite) is still available, so I'll take it.

Why? The description of the painting on the Rijksmuseum"s website says it best: "The scene emanates tranquillity and security."

Anything by El Greco at the Prado. Luckily, the Art Institute here in Chicago has a nice collection, too.

Birth of Venus...I love Boticelli
It is exquisite and I could sit in the Uffizzi and look at the Boticelli paintings all day.

Since everything is going fast...can I have an order of Van Gogh..perhaps Crows in the Wheatfield? No need to deliver, I'll pick it up..And for dessert, perhaps a Renoir...there is one at the Art Institute in Chicago...

I'm a Vermeer lover and some of you have already claimed my favorites from the Netherlands - The Kitchen Maid, The Little Street, View of Delft. I guess I'll take Woman Reading a Letter.

If any of you would sell the others on eBay, I promise to bid high.

Are there any Hoppers in Europe? My favorite is the window open to an ocean view. I was once captive in a room with it for hours. Unfortunately, just being an arts grazer.. have not been as fortunate to have as much exposure to other paintings.

Picasso's "Two Women Running of the Beach" at the Picasso museum. Or maybe the "Still Life with Oranges" by his friend Matisse.

For me.. It would be Titians - Sacred and Profane Love at Rome's Borghese Gallery.

Why? Because my stomach did a major flip flop, in a good way, the first time I saw this.

Aha, just in time! I claim The City Dance and The Country Dance, Renoirs from the D'Orsay.

http://www.renoir.org.yu/gallery.asp?id=33

http://www.renoir.org.yu/gallery.asp?id=32

Next choice would be Edward Hughe's Midsummer's Eve:

http://www.denison.edu/art/fairy/pages/fairy123.html

I totally Ophelia by John Everett Millais, but she is sad. Would I want to hang her in my living room?

http://www.wiliqueen.com/ophelia/millais.jpg

Can I have one of these, please?

I forgot to say why I love them: all of them are so romantic. The Renoirs move me because of their sublime color, shape, and movement. I can almost hearing the music in the background.

Ophelia? The delicacy, tragedy and drama of this painting knock my socks off.

And the Hughes: I am the worlds number one lover of Victorian fairy paintings and this is my favorite.

I would like to have "Bonaparte on Grand St Bernard Pass" by Jacques David.

It is a Romantic vision of Napoleon crossing the pass on his steed, Styrie. It depicts such strength in horse and rider and such masculinity
and power.

I don't know how big it is in person, but I'll make room for it.

http://tinyurl.com/9lpjt

1) jsmith, I am looking at my print of Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" on my office wall as we speak -- will you do a time-share arrangement on the original with me?

Why? Captures the magic of a summer evening. I love the lantern light reflected in the girls' faces.

2) Boticelli's are going fast; I'd be happy with his Annunciation, at the Uffizi.

Why? I love his dreamy faces, and the angel Gabriel's halo and wings are luminous.

3) Munch's "The Scream."

Why? It is actually not a favorite of mine, (and I have never seen it) but I'd like to trap the thief/thieves into selling it to me, see him/her/them arrested, and then return it. (It IS still missing, correct?)

4) A work by Artemesia Gentilleschi (I think I just massacred her name) would be wonderful, but since there aren't that many and so few women are represented in the art world, I'll leave her alone.

5 etc) Throw in any Picasso "blue" period and maybe a Klimt (not a portrait, one of the landscapes), and a Degas on-stage dancer and I will shut up now!

The Rout of San Romano by Paolo Uccello in the National Gallery - I picked this one many moons ago as "my" painting. My approach is that you can "have" one painting in very gallery - the Uccello was my first painting - I have others but need to be faithful to the first one

jsmith, thanks for the link...I forgot how gorgeous that was....magnificent. The Turners at Tate were fabulous,,,I love his landscapes of the British countryside....so sublime.

Can I add two more?

I also want
Unconscious Rivals
and
The Tepidarium

by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Another bid for Renoir's Boating Party. It captures everything I love about France.

Wouldn't mind a copy of Matisse's Jazz, either.

I would choose two paintings, completely different one from the other but both spoke to me when I first saw them.

The first one: "Tough Customers" by John George Brown, part of the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. The boys’ playful and impish looks and the girl’s expression of aggravation are wonderful. I have a poster of it at home which is larger than the original. Of course, I would rather have the original but this one serves its purpose and I enjoy it every day.

The second one I would choose is "Il Bacio" ("The Kiss") by Francesco Hayez at the Pinacoteca Di Brera in Milan. I find it breathtaking. Wow, to be the lady in blue....

In a sentiment almost identical to the very first reply on this thread... by Intrepid1 - -

Governors of the Wine Merchant's Guild
Oil on canvas, 193 x 305 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

by Ferdinand Bol

http://www.geerts.com/images/painters/bol-guild.jpg

And if I can't have that...

...then almost anything by Bouguereau or any Venice scene by Canaletto - - since no one has spoken up for either artist yet.

Best wishes,

Rex

Sir Edwin Lanseer's painting called "Dignity and Impudence".I saw the original in the Tate Gallery and totally fell in love with it. While in the gallery, I had to stop and buy the poster to bring home. It's now framed and hanging in my home and I still love it.
You will like it only if you are a dog lover .especially if you happen to have a large dog and a small terrier. IT's precious. All you dog lovers do a search on Landseer in the Tate.

Second choice is also at the Tate. IT's anything by Turner. I didn't have time to get out my book and to deside which one.

Third, any watter lillies by monet.

We saw a wonderful exhibit at the Jacquemart in Paris. The painter was Jaques-Louis David...loved it all but especially the Death of Marat.

Also we saw an exhibit of Camille Claudel (sp.) in Dinan. I love her sculpture..especially The Flute Player and The Waltz.

The Monet painting with The Bridge and the Water Lilies from D'Orsay. The first boy that I fell in love with sent me a card with the same exact picture on it when he went home to Germany. He told me: "The bridge illustrates the distance between us." The picture makes me think of him every time I see it.

The Floor Scrapers. Caillebotte. Why? Because it exists.

Vedette, perhaps my posting from a previous thread might help to satisfy your craving for a little Jazz.

Author: jsmith
Date: 04/21/2005, 01:50 pm
When in Paris last November we visited the lithographers, Idem Anciens Ets Mourlot in Montparnasse. They were in the process of reproducing Matisse's "Jazz" with the approval of the Matisse family.

If you have an interest in purchasing one of the limited edition, you could contact Patrice Forest at the website:
[email protected].

You could also contact him by telephone at 33(0) 1 43 35 35 35 or fax at 33 (0) 1 43 27 63 74

Anyone familiar with Mourlot know how faithful this will be to the original. The blue ink for this addition, for example, was prepared especially to match the original by a British firm because it was no longer available.

gualalalisa, London's Imperial War Museum contains an antiwar painting by Sargent "Gassed" that is no less horrifying than "Guernica".

http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Gassed/Gassed.htm

Rembrandt's "The Nightwatch" is one that I really found dramatic at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam:

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/r/rem.../night_wa.html

It's a large painting and I would probably need a different home in order to hang it.

Monet's "La rue Montorgueil"

Vermeer's "Woman Reading A Letter" in the Zwinger, Dresden

.......not paintings but drawings by
Matisse.

........the portrait heads in the Musee Matisse in Nice.

Why? Absolute purity.

I am going to be greedy and take home the Self Portrait by Whistler from the Wallace Collection in London.
Who knew he was so handsome??

Could I have a fresco, please?

I'd take "Venus and the Three Graces" if anyone is tired of this Botticelli.

But if it has to be a painting (sigh...) I'd find a home for "The Young Martyr" by Delarouche. I'm not sure why - that isn't normally my kind of thing, but do I find myself thinking about it at the oddest times.

I would want Boticelli's "The Birth of Venus" on my wall. It is breathtaking to see it in the Uffizi Gallery and is a painting that is so ethereal and beautiful in its artform and figures, that it is impossible to describe.

Actually, I might change my mind. If anyone else would like Vermeer's Milkmaid, that I chose before, I can let them have it, if I can have Velasquez's Las Meninas, for the way it plays with you and makes you wonder what life would become for the little princess.

By the way, I believe it's coming to London for what will probably be this year's blockbuster show.

only one? The 202 paintings Marei von Saher will be getting back all look good to me!

If I have to pick one today it would be 'View on Delft' by Johannes Vermeer (Mauritshuis, the Hague) because of the colour of the sky, the clouds, the reflections in the water, the way that the painting has captured a sense of tranquility. Tomorrow however I might pick another one!

I'm a big time Klimt fan and had thought that The Kiss was my favorite until I saw his Judith in the Belvedere in Vienna. Wonderful. I do, however, think that Judith and Hugh Grant are twins separated at birth.

Hmmm...if I could only have one, it probably wouldn't be one of the world's most famous paintings because everyone would think it was a fake ;-)

So...leaving out the well known greats, I would pick Jan Davidsz. de Heem's Fruit Still Life with a Silver Beaker
http://www.liechtensteinmuseum.at/en/pages/1361.asp

I saw it for the first time last year and something about it just grabbed me. The web image doesn't do justice to the depth and subtle beauty of the painting.

Barring that, it would probably be a portrait of a 16th century noblewoman I saw in the basement of the Bern Museum of Art. She had such a terrific humourous and shrewd expression on her face and a "been there done that" attitude. Alas, I've lost the name of the painting (and the artist) but I must seek her out again on a future visit to Switzerland.

Finally, would pick the National Portrait Gallery's painting of Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick. It's not a particularly impressive painting, merely one of several formal portraits made to go with a banquet celebrating the heroes of Waterloo, but the guy is one of my husband's ancestors, so it would be nice to own this family painting. (Even though my husband looks nothing like him.)

http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/po...0&role=sit