World's Most Famous Artworks
50 iconic works across the world's greatest museums — with artist, date, medium, and where to see them in person.
Quick answer
World Museum Guide profiles 50 of the world's most famous artworks — the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, Guernica, and more — with the artist, date, medium, and exactly which museum holds each work, so you can plan a visit rather than just read about the art.
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1503–1519
The Louvre, Paris
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh · 1889
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli · c. 1484–1486
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Guernica
Pablo Picasso · 1937
Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid
The Scream
Edvard Munch · 1893
National Museum of Norway, Oslo
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Johannes Vermeer · c. 1665
Mauritshuis, The Hague
The Creation of Adam
Michelangelo · 1508–1512
Vatican Museums, Vatican City
The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci · 1495–1498
The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dalí · 1931
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City
The Night Watch
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1642
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Las Meninas
Diego Velázquez · 1656
Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Kiss
Gustav Klimt · 1907–1908
Belvedere Museum, Vienna
The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1831
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
American Gothic
Grant Wood · 1930
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Nighthawks
Edward Hopper · 1942
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Water Lilies
Claude Monet · 1896–1926
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat · 1884–1886
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Liberty Leading the People
Eugène Delacroix · 1830
The Louvre, Paris
The Hay Wain
John Constable · 1821
The National Gallery, London
The Fighting Temeraire
J.M.W. Turner · 1839
The National Gallery, London
David
Michelangelo · 1501–1504
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
Venus de Milo
Unknown (attributed Alexandros of Antioch) · c. 130–100 BC
The Louvre, Paris
The Thinker
Auguste Rodin · 1902 (large version)
Musée Rodin, Paris
Impression, Sunrise
Claude Monet · 1872
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Sunflowers
Vincent van Gogh · 1888
The National Gallery, London
The School of Athens
Raphael · 1509–1511
Vatican Museums, Vatican City
Whistler's Mother
James McNeill Whistler · 1871
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Pablo Picasso · 1907
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Jacques-Louis David · 1801–1805
Luncheon of the Boating Party
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1880–1881
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Hieronymus Bosch · c. 1490–1510
Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Third of May 1808
Francisco de Goya · 1814
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich · c. 1818
The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein the Younger · 1533
The National Gallery, London
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Édouard Manet · 1882
The Courtauld Gallery, London
Bal du Moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1876
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Olympia
Édouard Manet · 1863
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Primavera
Sandro Botticelli · c. 1477–1482
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1632
Mauritshuis, The Hague
Starry Night Over the Rhône
Vincent van Gogh · 1888
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Café Terrace at Night
Vincent van Gogh · 1888
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Irises
Vincent van Gogh · 1889
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Venus of Urbino
Titian · 1534
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The Bedroom
Vincent van Gogh · 1888
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Saturn Devouring His Son
Francisco de Goya · 1819–1823
Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Two Fridas
Frida Kahlo · 1939
Haystacks
Claude Monet · 1890–1891
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Woman with a Parasol
Claude Monet · 1875
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
At the Moulin Rouge
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1892–1895
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe
Édouard Manet · 1863
Musée d'Orsay, Paris