They say the pen is mighty than the sword , but what about the paintbrush ? Can a piece ofartbe so substantial that it shift the man ? Some piece have had that power . But more than its inherent value , nontextual matter often becomes groundbreaking in part due to the way people oppose to it and the circumstances that surround it , explains Ted Snell , honorary prof atEdith Cowan Universityin Joondalup , Australia .

As we will see , the receipt of a work and the attitudes of critic and viewers have a lot to do with its impingement . Otherwise , a urinal is just a urinal . But we ’ll get to that .

Here are seven works of art that changed the world :

Fairey

1. Giotto di Bondone - Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy

fill out in 1305 , Giotto ’s fresco " pioneered the unexampled course of figurative ' reality , ' " according toDaily Art Magazine . In these paintings , Giotto ( c. 1267 - 1337 ) created 3 - D image that were root to the ground and make as if they were real human existence with real emotion , enunciate Snell . Although the artist did not employ linear perspective – that would be developed the next hundred – his figure of speech were convincingly represented on a 2 - D surface , and that was innovational and new , changing the class of fine art account and introducing the Renaissance .

2. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - “Death of the Virgin”

A few 100 later , Caravaggio ( 1571 - 1610 ) shake things up when he was commissioned by the Carmelite church and painted Mary without play to know tropes of her decease , like being welcome into heaven . Instead , Caravaggio show her at the present moment of her earthly death as wan , prostrate and surrounded by heartbreak , offering a naturalistic delineation and transfer the way the hallowed could be represent . The Carmelites take the painting down almost as shortly as it was hung in 1606 . Artist Peter Paul Rubens had the diametrical chemical reaction , and the painting last on to influence many artist , Rubens admit .

" It change art story , but it also alter our mental attitude about death and how field are treated , " say Snell .

3. Pablo Picasso - “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”

After nine months of rescript , Picasso ( 1881 - 1973 ) unveil his monolithic house painting of five cleaning lady in 1907 . It represented a " extremist going away from pictorial conventions and ideas about beauty , in addition to introduce the African and pelagic art as a touchstone for modernist expiration from anti - naturalist figuration , " explain Michael Rooks , Wieland Family Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art , High Museum of Art .

In addition to lean on art from Africa and the Pacific , the work depicted the figures from various perspectives at the same time , allow the viewer to , in consequence , move around them . With " Les Demoiselles d’Avignon , " Picasso add a fourth dimension to theatrical performance – clock time , according to Snell .

" Cubism then became de rigueur , " he says . " You ca n’t imagine how the account of modern painting would have transpirate without it . "

Scrovegni Chapel

4. Marcel Duchamp - “Fountain”

When Marcel Duchamp ( 1887 - 1968 ) anonymously submitted a work to the Society of Independent Artists ' salon , it was at once rejected and became straightaway famous . Possibly " made " in collaboration withElsa von Freytag - Loringhoven , the upside - down urinal signal " R. Mutt 1917 , " question whether an creative person must make an target in parliamentary procedure for it to be considered art or whether choosing it and calling it fine art could be enough , significantly altering the role of the creative person .

5. Frida Kahlo - “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird”

One of themost important artistsof the 20th 100 , Frida Kahlo ( 1907 - 1954 ) put her emotional and physicalpain on the canvasand , like Georgia O’Keeffee , revealed hidden taboo subject area through symbolism of fruit and flush . She also gather aspiration from Mexican traditions and its pre - Latino past . These influences issue forth together in her " Self - Portrait , " and her impact has proven long - lasting . Today she remains an " inspiration to young women , people with impairment , Latinx folks and the LGBQT+ community , " fit in toDistractify .

6. Jacob Lawrence - “The Migration Series”

Exhibited in 1941 , " The Migration Series " chronicle the tale of the Great Migration , during which 6 million Black Americans travel from the rural South to cities in the North . Lawrence ’s ( 1917 - 2000 ) 60 - painting series " premise an American narrative from the Black perspective in the form of an epic , " according to Rooks . TheMuseum of Modern Arthas characterized it as " a turning point in the history of modern art and a key example of the way that chronicle painting was radically reimagined in the modern era . "

7. Banksy - “Girl With Balloon” or “Love Is In The Bin”

British artistBanksy(dates unknown ) has produce plenty of groundbreaking oeuvre since he started " bombing " walls in Bristol in the nineties . Case in point – his2003 painting on the West Bankbarrier rampart in Jerusalemthat depicts a protester throw a nosegay of heyday .

But in 2018 , he shock attender at Sotheby ’s when his " Girl With Balloon " trade for $ 1.4 million andwas directly destroyedthanks to a shredder the creative person had hidden in the skeleton .

" It got halfway through and jammed , " says Snell , who forecast that the value has only increased with the prank . Long term , the workplace could impact the agency in which we value art .

Caravaggio

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

Marcel Duchamp

Kahlo

lawrence

Banksy