Only 1 in 35 People Can Identify These Famous Works of Art. Can You?

HISTORY

By: Bambi Turner

6 Min Quiz

Image: Expedia via youtube

About This Quiz

Think you can tell the difference between The Mona Lisa and Whistler's Mother, or The Last Supper and The Card Players? Know what that painting of the farmer with his pitchfork is called, or the real name of that painting of a lonely downtown diner? Can you recognize The Scream or Starry Night? Take our quiz to see if you can name some of the most famous works of art ever made from just a single image!

Countless works of art have been created over the centuries, from oil paintings on wood or canvas, to chiseled marble or bronze sculptures to sweeping frescoes. Yet while the vast majority of these works are lost to history, their creators forgotten, a few live on, turning their artists into legends. 

The pieces of art that remain relevant through the years are those with a universal voice, one that people can recognize regardless of language, culture or time period. They reach beyond your eyes and into your heart and soul, making you laugh, smile, cry, and wonder exactly what the artist was thinking as he crafted his masterpiece.

Some works also become famous because they capture images of people or events from a time before cameras or film, living on as the only record to the past. Others are celebrated because they demonstrate remarkable mastery of the medium -- the ability to manipulate light and dark, or use a brush in a way no one ever has before.

Think you can name these works that have endured the decades? Take our quiz to find out!

Can you name this famous work?

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa -- or La Gioconda, as she's known in Italy -- just might be one of the most famous works of art of all time. Completed around 1506, it has hung in The Louvre since 1797.

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Can you name this famous work?

This magnificent work by Michelangelo makes up part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Completed around 1512, it shows Adam and God stretching their arms to touch hands.

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Can you name this famous work?

Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a pearl Earring was painted in 1665, and serves as a celebrated example of the Dutch Golden Age. It's hung in the Hague since 1902, and is considered a tronie -- that's a picture of a head, but distinct from a portrait.

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Can you name this famous work?

Auguste Rodin crafted his famous sculpture, The Thinker, out of plaster in 1880. It was originally called The Poet​ and was part of a Gates of Hell piece inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. Today, you can see one casting of this work at the Rodin Museum in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night in 1889. He was inspired by the view from his window at a French asylum, where he ended up after mutilating his own ear. ​You can gaze into this starry sky at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

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Can you name this famous work?

American artist Grant Wood painted this portrait of his sister and his dentist in 1930. He won a $300 prize from The Art Institute of Chicago for his work.

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Can you name this famous work?

This example is one of more than 250 paintings in the Water Lily Pond series by Claude Monet. Painted in the 1920s, these impressionist masterpieces show his own garden in France. You can find examples of this work at the Met, MOMA, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Can you name this famous work?

Edward Munch produced four versions of his iconic painting, "The Scream," between 1893 and 1910. This work is famous for being stolen and recovered not once but twice -- with thieves snatching the painting in 1994 and 2004.

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Can you name this famous work?

Also known as Aphrodite of Milos, the Venus de Milo was crafted in marble around 100 BC. She stands more than 6 feet tall and can be seen at The Louvre in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Chiseled from marble around 1504, Michelangelo's David is a 17-foot tall nature of a fully nude male. It was initially placed in a public square in Venice, but can now be seen in a Florence museum.

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Can you name this famous work?

This beloved painting by Sandro Botticelli celebrates The Birth of Venus. It shows the goddess Venice as she arrived on the shore, fully formed after developing in the sea. You can take in this work at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

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Can you name this famous work?

Dance of Le Moulin de la Galette shows French workers relaxing in Montmarte on a Sunday afternoon. Painted by Renoir in 1876, it hung at The Louvre until 1986, and now hangs at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Pablo Picasso's anti-war oil painting, Guernica, hangs at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. Celebrated for its use of black, white and gray, it shows the suffering and horror of war. Picasso completed this masterpiece in 1937.

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Can you name this famous work?

Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper in the 1490s. On display at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Gracie in Milan, it shows Jesus and his apostles as depicted in the Gospel of John.

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Can you name this famous work?

Winged Victory of Samothrace -- also known as Nike after the Greek goddess of victory -- was carved out of marble around the 2nd century BC. This iconic sculpture has been at The Louvre since 1884.

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Can you name this famous work?

Andy Warhol became a pop art superstar thanks to his picture of 32 Campbell's Soup Cans. Produced on 32 canvases in 1962, the work is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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Can you name this famous work?

Jackson Pollock went through an intense drip art stage around 1950. One of the largest works he produced during that period was No. 1, also known as Lavender Mist. The piece is now part of the collection owned by the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

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Can you name this famous work?

Edward Hopper's Nighthawks painting was completed in 1942, and shows a group of people at a downtown diner. Hopper sold the painting to the Art Institute of Chicago for $3,000 just a few months after completing the work.

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Can you name this famous work?

You might call it the melting clocks picture, but this surrealist work is actually called The Persistence of Memory. Completed in 1931, the work by Salvador Dali has been at New York's Museum of Modern Art since the 1930s.

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Can you name this famous work?

The Kiss is a 1908 oil painting by Gustav Klimt. It shows a couple embracing and is covered with silver and gold leaf. This over-sized work of art can be seen at the Galerie Belvedere in Vienna, Austria.

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Can you name this famous work?

Three musicians is actually a pair of cubist-style paintings by Pablo Picasso. Both feature a trio of what appear to be musical artists, and were completed in the 1920s. You can see one of these works at MoMA in NYC, while the other is housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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Can you name this famous work?

Diego Rivera's 1935 painting, The Flower Carrier, shows a man straining under the weight of a huge basket of wares. You can see this masterpiece at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.

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Can you name this famous work?

The Son of man is a 1964 self-portrait by Rene Magritte, where the painter's face is obscured by an apple. This work has long been in a private collection, but it did feature heavily in the 1999 film, "The Thomas Crowne Affair."

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Can you name this famous work?

Officially called A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande, this 1984 work by Suerat shows families relaxing on the banks of the Seine. Done in the pointillist style, it measures 7 feet by 10 feet and has been part of The Art Institute of Chicago's collection since 1924.

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Can you name this famous work?

The Dance by Henri Matisse is a name given to two very similar paintings showing five dancing figures. One copy is on display at MoMA in NYC, while the other is at The Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

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Can you name this famous work?

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years is a bold little statue by Degas. Originally cast in wax, numerous copies were cast in bronze after his death, and are now on display at museums around the world.

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Can you name this famous work?

Vincent Van Gogh painted a lot of self-portraits, but this one is extra celebrated because it's sans barbe -- or without beard. This work sold at auction in 1998 for a whopping $71 million.

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Can you name this famous work?

Van Gogh's painting, Cafe Terrace at Night, has been splashed into everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs. Completed in 1888, it's now on display at the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands.

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Can you name this famous work?

Las Meninas is Spanish for "the ladies in waiting." The 1956 work by Diego Valaquez shows members of the royal court of Philip IV, and is on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

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Can you name this famous work?

School of Athens is a Raphael fresco that can be found at the Vatican. Completed around 1511, it represents the concept of Philosophy, and shows figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Euclid.

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Can you name this famous work?

Rembrandt's The Night Watch was completed in 1642 during the Golden Age of Dutch art. The huge work of art, at 12 feet by 14 feet, shows a military group displayed in a mastery of light and shadow. You can view this work in person at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

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Can you name this famous work?

Rodin's The Kiss was crafted from marble in 1882. One of three life-sized versions made in his lifetime, this sculpture of a couple embracing was inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. One copy can be viewed at the Rodin Museum in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Officially named Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, this masterpiece is more often referred to as Whistler's Mother. Painted in 1871 by American artist James McNeill Whistler, it's owned by the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Edouard Manet's 1863 painting, Olympia, shocked the public during its day. Not so much because the subject was nude, but because she was staring so boldly from her bed. You can catch her gaze at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

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Can you name this famous work?

Painted in 1814 by Francisco de Goya, The Third of May 1808 celebrates Spanish resistance to French invasion in the Peninsular War. This painting hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

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Can you name this famous work?

This painting, called The Card Players, was actually one of five in a series painted by Cezanne in the 1890s. Just one of the five sold at auction in 2011 for more than $250 million.

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Can you name this famous work?

Pablo Picasso painted Garcon a la Pipe -- Boy with a Pipe -- in 1905. The painting sold to a private collector in 2004 for more than $100 million.

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Can you name this famous work?

Salvator Mundi is a famous painting of Christ created in 1500 by Leonardo da Vinci. It sold to a collector for a whopping $450 million in 2017.

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Can you name this famous work?

Arnolfini Portrait is a full-length double portrait of an Italian merchant and his wife painted by Jan Van Eyck in 1434. Though the woman looks pregnant, she wasn't -- this misconception is inspired by the style of her dress, which was fashionable at the time.

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Can you name this famous work?

Andrew Wyeth painted the realist style Christina's World in 1948. The work was inspired by his neighbor, Christina Olson, who crawled to get around due to a muscular disorder. MoMA purchased the painting from Wyeth for just $1,800.

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