18 Wild And Left-Field Works Of Art, Explained

A quick guide to all that important artwork that nobody really gets.
18 Wild And Left-Field Works Of Art, Explained

Cracked pays people to make smart memes. Visit the Photoplasty and Pictofacts Workshop to get in on it.

We've all heard of Art with a capital A -- important works that fancy people are all super impressed with, that don't seem particularly impressive to the rest of us. But here's your chance to get up to speed on what it is that makes important works important.

So now you can be fancy and have impressive tastes, too.

Artwork

This is Bridge, by Robert Ryman. It sold for$20.6.million in2015. All-white paintings such as this are more about the response they provoke from vie
CRACKEDcO In Steve McCurry's most iconic photograph Afghan Girlhe shows his technical style by using low light and shadows to get the purest colors,
JACKSON POLLOCK revolutionized painting. Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950 Where other artists stood their canvases upright and brushed on paint, Polloc
CRACKED c GOM Jeff KooNS describes his Balloon Dogs sculptures as being symbolic of humans as breathing machines; a balloon filled with air represen
Laocoon and His Sons has been a puzzle and subject of endless debate since the work was discovered in 1506. What is certain about this scene from the
Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas are deep, heavy works of brooding emotion, greatly misunderstood during his time... ...except for No.25, the Op. 79 Sonat

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka's works often depict illogical, bureaucratic reactions to surreal situations. For example, in 'The Metamorphosis', Gregor Samsa wakes up t
CRACKEDOON It's just an old lady, who cares? Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1 by James McNeill Whistler shows that a painting can be visually ar
Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas (I656) is thought of as one of the first modern paintings because of how it challenged notions of viewer, artist, and su

Art

This untitled watercolor by Wassily Kandinsky has been called the first Abstract painting. Kandinsky realized that simply using colors and shapes coul
CRACKEDoON Vincent van Gogh pioneered stippling - painting with big visible brushstrokes. This and his superior work with colors to express emotion ra
Black Iris ll by Georgia O'Keeffe is commonly seen as an artistic representation of the female genitalia. O'Keeffe herself disputed this view and ex

Picasso

Picasso's Les Demoiselles d Avignon revolutionized artistic representation G by showing multiple perspectives simultaneously. such as the figure in th
Rhein II by Andreas Gursky remains the most expensive photograph in the world. It portrays a vast expanse and a river with straight banks, which is

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Girl with a Pearl Earring looks so mysterious because it's technically not a portrait. A portrait captures the appearance of a specific person. This p
Constantin Brancusi's sculpture ofFish has no eyes or scales. CRACKEDCON It is meant to show just the flash of its spirit.
The Bean's real name is Cloud Gate. You're supposed to see the distorted reflection of the Chicago skyline, and then walk under the Gate to see yo
This painting is known as Son of Man by Rene Magritte This painting represents a conflict of what we can see versus what we can't see because one th
Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?