Sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh, 1889; the artist created around 860 oil paintings in his life but he was not commercially successful, and his suicide at 37 came after years of mental illness, depression and poverty
The Large Bathers, Paul Cezanne, 1906; this is the largest, the last, and in many ways the most ambitious work from Cezanne's lifelong exploration of the bather motif
Morning, Louis-Joseph-Raphael Collin, 1884; this piece, that was one of my favorites, was much admired at the Paris Salon and World's Fair in 1889
Avenue de l'Opera: Morning Sunshine, Camille Pissarro, 1898; he was the only artist to show his work at all 8 Paris Impressionist exhibitions, from 1874 to 1886; father figure to all major Post-Impressionists-Seurat, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Gauguin
Princess X, Constantin Brancusi, 1916; this highly controversial sculpture is a rendering of the French princess, Marie Bonaparte; Princess Bonaparte was the great-grand niece of the emperor Napoleon
Sugar Cane, Diego Rivera, 1931; created for an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 1931, this scene was based on a full-scale fresco he had painted at the Palace of Cortes in Cuernavaca
Bust of Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1779; this piece is remarkable because Franklin never sat for Houdon but the two had just met at various events around Paris
Horse, Pipe and Red Flower, Joan Miro, 1920; the artist painted this work shortly after he arrived in Paris, before he joined the Surrealist movement; he became great friends with fellow Spaniard Picasso
In the Luxembourg Gardens, John Singer Sargent, 1879; even 150 years after this painting it's still easy to identify exactly where in the Gardens this couple is; the artist was the leading portrait painter of his generation
Japanese Footbridge and Water Lily Pool, Claude Monet, 1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the largest in the world based on gallery space; in 2018, the victory parade for the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl win finished on the museum steps
The Battle of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama, Edouard Manet, 1864; this work depicted a Civil War battle off the coast of Cherbourg, France on June 19, 1864 in which the Kearsarge ultimately sunk the Alabama
Shaker furniture, 1900; the Shakers were a religious sect that had guiding principles of simplicity, utility and honesty; their beliefs were reflected in the well-made furniture of minimalist designs
Breaking Home Ties, Thomas Hovenden, 1890; voted the most popular painting at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, this work shows the growing number of young men leaving rural America for jobs in the cities
George Washington, James Peale, 1788; the artist made this miniature portrait while Washington was posing for a painting by James's older brother and teacher, Charles Willson Peale
A May Morning in the Park (The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand), Thomas Eakins, 1880; this Philadelphian is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important artists in American art history
Box with the Three Friends of Winter, China, early 1400s; the Chinese celebrated the pine, bamboo and plum together, as they observed that these plants do not wither in winter; together they symbolize steadfastness, perseverance, and resilience
Drawing Room from a Townhouse, 901 Fifth Avenue, NYC, 1920s; this room is the only historic interior in the museum's collection with its original furnishings (bequeathed by the owner to the museum)
Shepherd Girl (Little Bo-Peep), George Romney, early 1780s; Romney is a kinsman of politicians George W. Romney (1907–1995) and Mitt Romney (born 1947); their ancestor Miles Romney was George Romney's first cousin once removed
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Common, JMW Turner, 1834; along with thousands of others, Turner himself witnessed the burning ot Parliament on the evening of October 16, 1834, from the south bank of the River Thames, opposite Westminster
The Bucintoro on Ascension Day, Docked in Front of the Doge's Palace, Canaletto, 1745; the Bucintoro was the ceremonial boat of the doge, the ruler of the Venetian republic, and on Ascension Day they celebrate the marriage of Venice and the sea
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War), Salvador Dali, 1936; the prophetic artist created the piece to represent the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, painting it six months before the conflict began
Three Musicians, Pablo Picasso, 1921; in Cubism, the subject is transformed into a sequence of planes, lines, and arcs; it has been described as an intellectual style because the artists analyzed the shapes of their subjects and reinvented them on canvas
Jug, Vincennes porcelain factory, 1754; this jug is likely one of two sold to King Louis XV's official mistress, Madame de Pompadour, by Paris dealer Lazare Duvaux
Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge, Mary Cassatt, 1879; the artist used her sister Lydia as the model in this work at the Paris Opera House; she is seated in front of a massive mirror that is reflecting the theater scene that she is experiencing
Moonmad, Max Ernst, 1944; Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism; for 5 years he was married to wealthy socialite and art collector Peggy Guggenheim
Bend in the Epte River, Claude Monet, 1888; he created a studio boat from which he painted many of his water-scene works; Abstract Expressionists like Rothko, Pollock, and de Kooning were partly responsible for the huge popularization of Monet’s work
Still Life with Terms and a Bust of Ceres, Frans Snyders, 1630; this incredible painting has a wreath that truly seems three dimensional and was meant to astound the guests of a wealthy patron
Diana, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1893; arguably the best known work of America's finest sculptor at the turn of the century, Diana originally stood on the tower of the original Madison Square Garden in NYC
Portrait of Archbishop Filippo Archinto, TItian, 1558; the artist was considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school; this unique work has the subject half-hidden by a veil
Guardian Warrior, China, early to mid-700s; these clay figures are designed to protect burial grounds; it's amazing that 1300 year old clay figures from China are still intact
LeBon Bock, Edouard Manet, 1873; bock is a dark, rich beer made in the spring; this vivid depiction of a drinker recalls the animated portraits by seventeenth-century Dutch masters like Frans Hals that Manet greatly admired
