Guernica is a painting created by Pablo Picasso for the Spanish Pavillion at the Paris International Exposition in 1937. The painting is nearly twelve feet tall and almost twenty-six feet wide. The painting was created entirely in black and white with oil paints. The scene represents death, violence, and helplessness, but does not indicate their cause. Picasso had already been working on Guernica when the Nazi's bombed Gernika on April 26, 1937, and he in turn later named the painting after it.
Las Meninas was originally a painting by Diego Velazquez from 1656, but a series of interpretations were painted by Picasso in 1957. The original Las Meninas is one of the most famous paintings in the world and rests in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. Velazquez's Las Meninas is hailed the "theology of painting" by Luca Giordano for being rendered perfectly for the desired effects.
Mediterranean Landscape is a typical painting in the style of Picasso, using elements of cubism and vivid colors. Little is known about this painting, including the date and reason for which it was produced. It was likely a piece from later in Picasso's career, after both the Blue Period and the Rose Period, when his cubist style gained momentum.
Cafe Terrace at Night was painted in 1888 in Aries, France by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh used oil on canvas for the painting and it hangs in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands. Fitting for the style of van Gogh, the painting uses warm colors and tecniques of depth perspective. This was van Gogh's first painting with a starry sky, a sky that would be painted several more times and become most famous in Starry Night.
The Red Vineyard was painted by van Gogh in November of 1888. It was painted on a piece of burlap and was the only painting van Gogh sold during his lifetime. The Red Vineyard was first exhibited at the annual exhibition of Les XX, 1890 in Brussels, and was sold for 400 Francs. The painting was later bought into a Russian collection and today rests in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Starry Night was painted by van Gogh in 1889 and now rests in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It was painted with oils on canvas and was completed nearly a year after Starry Night Over the Rhone. Van Gogh painted a series of pictures with starry skies as part of a night study, and was not actually happy with this work. Many years later, this famous painting would inspire the song Vincent by Don McLean, which begins with "Starry, Starry Night."