First and last paintings of 11 famous artists
Compare first and last works of Monet, Klimt, Caravaggio, Turner, Degas & Botticelli. See how 11 masters evolved from start to finish.
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Klimt founded the Vienna Secession in 1897, a movement that rejected conservative academic art for decorative symbolism and Art Nouveau sensuality. His early work was conventional and academic, earning official commissions.
Around 1900, he transformed his style completely, covering canvases in gold leaf and intricate ornamental patterns inspired by Byzantine mosaics. He turned portraiture into shimmering decorative surfaces where aristocratic Viennese women emerge from abstract backgrounds of spirals, eyes, and geometric shapes.
Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Corot bridged Neoclassicism and Impressionism across the 19th century, painting luminous outdoor landscape sketches decades before the Impressionists made this approach famous. His direct studies in 1820s Italy captured atmospheric light effects with striking modernity.
He maintained two parallel careers: poetic silvery landscapes for the official Salon and fresh spontaneous sketches for himself and friends. The Impressionists considered him a predecessor, though he never fully abandoned traditional composition. He was unusually generous, supporting younger struggling artists including Daumier and Millet.
Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Caravaggio pioneered the Baroque style in late 16th-century Rome by using dramatic contrasts of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) to create theatrical religious scenes. He painted biblical figures as ordinary street people with dirt under their fingernails, making sacred stories viscerally real and contemporary.
His violent personal life mirrored his art: he killed a man in a brawl and spent his final years fleeing Roman justice. He died mysteriously on a beach at 38, possibly murdered, while trying to return to Rome with a papal pardon.