If you've ever been involved in anything remotely creative, or even caught up in the hustle, then you know there's times when your just STUCK. You can't figure out your next move and in many cases begin to doubt yourself. This feeling is what we call the "entrepreneurial depression." Fortunately, it's only temporary and, just so you know, you're not the only one. History's legends have gotten caught in this same state of mind which meant they couldn't become legends overnight. They took their time mastering their legacy and you should too.
Mona Lisa – Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
● Also known as “La Gioconda”
● Painted 1503 – 1506
● Oil paint on poplar panel
○ 21in x 31in
● Painted as part of a portrait series and is the only surviving piece
● The identity of Mona Lisa has been long-contested
○ Originally believed to be the courtesan Mona Lisa Gherardini
○ Scholars now believe that she may have been Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine merchant
● The Mona Lisa is housed at The Louvre in Paris, France
The Scream – Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944)
● 4 versions of “The Scream” were painted between 1893 – 1910
● Oil, tempura, and pastel on cardboard
○ 36in × 28.9in
● “The Scream” was painted as part of Munch’s Frieze of Life series, in which the central themes included sickness, death, love and fear
● Versions of the painting have been stolen multiple times in history – once in 1944 and once in 2004
● On May 2, 2012, a version of the piece sold to a private collector for $119 million, making it the most expensive piece of art to sell at auction
● Three of the versions are houses in museums in Norway
○ The fourth is owned by a private collector
David – Michelangelo (1475-1564)
● Sculpted 1501-1504
● White marble
○ 17ft tall
● Commissioned for the Florence Cathedral, the statue was originally intended to stand on the roof
○ Because 6 tons of marble were unlikely to be moved to the rooftop, the statue was installed near the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio
● David is considered by scholars to be near-technically perfect
● The statue is now house in Florence at the Galleria dell’Accademia
Water Lilies – Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
● Painted 1900 – 1926
● Oil on canvas
○ Sizes vary
● Monet’s Water Lilies is a series of 250 paintings that the artist worked on in the last decades of his life, many while suffering from cataracts
● The subject of the paintings is Monet’s prized water garden at his home in Givenchy, France
● Monet’s water lilies are now housed in museums and private collections around the world
Starry Night – Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
● Painted 1889
● Oil on canvas
○ 29in x 36.25in
● Starry Night is a landscape in the south of France, but is more about imagination than the actual geography
● On the inspiration of the painting, Van Gogh wrote to his brother, “This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.”
● Though Vincent Van Gogh is a major influence in art and his collection is large, he only sold one piece in his lifetime.
● The painting is now housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City
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