Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

"Everyone knows the painting of the lady with the enigmatic smile, the glowing skin, and the soulful eyes. Many have read the best seller that embroils her in a tale of mystery, murder, history and power in the name of religion. Admired, copied, stolen, analyzed and certainly immortalized, this gentle masterpiece is at once aloof and alluring."

The Dance Lesson by Edgar Degas

"Degas was a sympathetic observer of the ballet dancer at work in preparation and rehearsal. His keyhole view encompassed the sublime and the mundane. At center, Jules Perrot instructs a dancer, while others rest showing no sign of the gracefulness they will display later on. (Note the dancer scratching her back!) Perhaps the greatest draftsman of his contemporaries, the involved arrangement of figures reveals the thoroughness of Degas‘ technical mastery."

The Scream by Edvard Munch

"Painted in 1893, this painting of raw emotion was the most powerful depiction of human suffering and pain ever seen in art. Considered to be the first expressionistic painting, its grotesque distortions and sweeping strokes brutally reflect Munch's early years of illness and loss, and herald his future anguish. A haunting work that cuts to the core of the human condition."