100 artworks that shaped the world.

What it is: Hundreds of horses, bulls, deer and other animals painted and engraved on cave walls with mineral pigments.

Why it matters: Among the oldest surviving paintings, discovered in 1940 by teenagers. They show people made art long before writing.

Where to see it: Lascaux, France (original closed; full-size replica at Lascaux IV)

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Try it together: Tape paper under a table, lie on your backs and draw animals by flashlight like the first artists.

What it is: A small limestone figure of a woman, about 11 cm tall.

Why it matters: One of the best-known early sculptures of the human body, possibly a symbol of fertility or abundance.

Where to see it: Natural History Museum, Vienna

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Try it together: Shape a tiny figure from clay and talk about why people might have carried small objects with them.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A painted limestone portrait of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

Why it matters: An icon of ancient beauty and craftsmanship, found in a sculptor’s workshop in 1912.

Where to see it: Neues Museum, Berlin

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Try it together: Draw each other in profile, then talk about what a portrait says about a person.

What it is: A gold funerary mask inlaid with glass and semiprecious stones, made for the young pharaoh.

Why it matters: Found in 1925 after the 1922 discovery of his nearly intact tomb, it sparked worldwide fascination with ancient Egypt.

Where to see it: Egypt

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Try it together: Make a paper mask decorated with symbols that represent your family.

What it is: Thousands of life-size clay soldiers, horses and chariots buried with China’s first emperor.

Why it matters: Discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974; no two faces are exactly alike.

Where to see it: Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, Xi’an, China

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Try it together: Make a small clay figure each and give it a unique face. Talk about why no two soldiers were the same.

What it is: Marble friezes and figures that decorated the Parthenon temple in Athens.

Why it matters: High points of classical Greek sculpture. Where they belong is debated today between Greece and the United Kingdom.

Where to see it: British Museum, London, and Acropolis Museum, Athens

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Try it together: Draw a long frieze of your family doing something together, like a parade across the page.

What it is: An athlete caught at the instant before throwing a discus.

Why it matters: Captured motion and balance in a way earlier sculpture hadn’t.

Where to see it: Original bronze lost; Roman marble copies in Rome and London

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Try it together: Freeze in a sports pose and take turns sketching each other mid-action.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A marble statue of a goddess, missing her arms since its discovery in 1820.

Why it matters: One of the most famous ancient sculptures. No one knows for sure what her arms were doing.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Guess what the missing arms were doing, then draw your version.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A marble goddess of victory landing on the prow of a ship, her robes blown by wind.

Why it matters: Famous for showing wind and movement in stone.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Stand in front of a fan with a sheet and see how fabric moves, then draw it.

What it is: A priest and his sons struggling against sea serpents.

Why it matters: Its rediscovery in Rome in 1506 deeply influenced Renaissance artists like Michelangelo.

Where to see it: Vatican Museums, Rome

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Try it together: Talk about how the faces show emotion, then make the most dramatic face you can.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art. Depicts violence or war.

What it is: A marble statue of Rome’s first emperor as a commander.

Why it matters: A powerful example of art used as political image-making.

Where to see it: Vatican Museums, Rome

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Try it together: Design a poster of yourself as a leader. What would you want people to think?

What it is: Murals inside rock-cut caves telling stories of the Buddha’s lives.

Why it matters: Among the finest surviving ancient Indian paintings and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Where to see it: Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

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Try it together: Tell a family story in four panels, like a comic strip on a wall.

What it is: Glittering glass mosaics showing Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora with their courts.

Why it matters: Masterpieces of Byzantine art and power.

Where to see it: Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

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Try it together: Make a mosaic from torn colored paper squares glued onto cardboard.

What it is: A richly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels with intricate knots and creatures.

Why it matters: One of the great treasures of medieval art.

Where to see it: Trinity College Library, Dublin

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Try it together: Decorate the first letter of your name with knots, vines and tiny animals.

What it is: An embroidered cloth about 70 meters long telling the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Why it matters: A medieval comic strip and an important historical record.

Where to see it: Bayeux Museum, France

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Try it together: Draw a long scroll telling the story of a family trip, scene by scene.

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war.

What it is: A scroll over five meters long showing daily life in a busy Chinese city.

Why it matters: Famous for its detail: hundreds of people, boats, shops and animals.

Where to see it: Palace Museum, Beijing

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Try it together: Unroll a long paper strip and draw your street, adding as many tiny people as you can.

What it is: Frescoes telling the lives of Mary and Jesus, with a famous starry blue ceiling.

Why it matters: Giotto gave figures weight and emotion, a step toward the Renaissance.

Where to see it: Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy

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Try it together: Paint a ceiling-blue sky with gold star stickers and talk about how color sets a mood.

What it is: A huge, many-paneled altarpiece painted in rich oil colors.

Why it matters: Showed the power of oil paint for detail and light.

Where to see it: St. Bavo’s Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium

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Try it together: Make a folding paper triptych with three connected pictures.

What it is: A couple in a room, with a round mirror reflecting the whole scene.

Why it matters: A landmark of oil painting detail and hidden symbols.

Where to see it: National Gallery, London

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Try it together: Look into a spoon or round mirror and draw what you see reflected.

What it is: A bronze statue of the young David after defeating Goliath.

Why it matters: The first freestanding nude bronze since ancient times, a sign of classical ideas returning.

Where to see it: Bargello Museum, Florence

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Try it together: Compare it with Michelangelo’s David later on this list. How did two artists show the same hero differently?

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: The goddess Venus arriving on a seashell, blown ashore by the winds.

Why it matters: A major work bringing ancient myths back into painting.

Where to see it: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

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Try it together: Collect shells and invent a myth about where one came from.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A drawing of a man inside a circle and square, showing ideal body proportions.

Why it matters: Joins art, math and science, a hallmark of the Renaissance.

Where to see it: Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice

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Try it together: Measure arm span and height for everyone in the family. Are they close to equal?

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A wall painting of Jesus and his disciples at the moment he says one will betray him.

Why it matters: Famous for its drama and perspective. Leonardo’s experimental paint began flaking soon after.

Where to see it: Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

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Try it together: Find the point where all the lines meet, then draw a hallway using one vanishing point.

What it is: A marble sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion.

Why it matters: Carved when Michelangelo was in his early twenties; it’s the only work he signed.

Where to see it: St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

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Try it together: Talk about how a sculptor can make hard stone look like soft fabric. Feel different fabrics, then try to draw their folds.

What it is: A marble statue over five meters tall of the biblical hero before his fight.

Why it matters: Became a symbol of Florence and of human potential.

Where to see it: Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence

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Try it together: Carve a small figure from a bar of soap with a plastic knife.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A portrait of Lisa Gherardini with a famously mysterious smile.

Why it matters: Perhaps the most famous painting in the world. Its 1911 theft made it a global celebrity.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Take turns drawing each other with a “mystery smile” and guess what the person was thinking.

What it is: Hundreds of figures painted across a vast ceiling, including the Creation of Adam.

Why it matters: One of the greatest achievements in Western art, painted over four years.

Where to see it: Vatican City

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Try it together: Tape paper under a table and draw lying on your back to feel what it was like.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A fresco gathering the great thinkers of ancient Greece in a grand hall.

Why it matters: A celebration of learning and a model of balanced composition.

Where to see it: Vatican Museums

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Try it together: If you painted a room full of your heroes, who would be in it?

What it is: A three-panel painting full of strange creatures and dreamlike scenes.

Why it matters: Its imagination later inspired the Surrealists.

Where to see it: Prado Museum, Madrid

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Try it together: Invent and draw the strangest creature you can by combining three animals.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: Thousands of cast brass plaques, heads and figures recording royal history and court life.

Why it matters: Masterpieces of metal casting. Many were taken by British forces in 1897, and their return is an ongoing international conversation.

Where to see it: Museums worldwide; some have been returned to Nigeria

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Try it together: Look at how the plaques record history in pictures, then make a plaque about your family’s history from foil or clay.

What it is: A woodcut of a rhinoceros that Dürer never saw, drawn from a written description.

Why it matters: Shaped how Europeans pictured rhinos for centuries.

Where to see it: Prints in many museums, including the British Museum

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Try it together: Describe an animal in words only and have your kid draw it without looking. Compare with a photo.

What it is: One of the world’s oldest dated carpets, with millions of knots in an intricate pattern.

Why it matters: A masterpiece of Islamic art and design.

Where to see it: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Try it together: Design a symmetrical pattern on graph paper, then color it like a rug.

What it is: A town square filled with children playing around 80 different games.

Why it matters: A rare look at everyday childhood in the 1500s.

Where to see it: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

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Try it together: Find games you still play today, then try one together.

What it is: An illustrated adventure story originally with around 1,400 large paintings.

Why it matters: Helped define the Mughal painting style blending Persian and Indian traditions.

Where to see it: Folios in museums including the MAK, Vienna, and the V&A, London

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Try it together: Make up an adventure and illustrate one scene in bright colors.

What it is: A beam of light falls across a dark room as Matthew is called.

Why it matters: Its dramatic light and shadow, called chiaroscuro, changed painting.

Where to see it: San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

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Try it together: In a dark room, light an object with a flashlight from different angles and draw the shadows.

What it is: A marble scene of Daphne turning into a laurel tree as Apollo reaches her.

Why it matters: Shows marble looking soft, light and in motion.

Where to see it: Galleria Borghese, Rome

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Try it together: Act out a transformation in slow motion and freeze halfway.

What it is: The artist paints herself as the personification of painting.

Why it matters: Gentileschi succeeded in a male-dominated field and is now widely celebrated.

Where to see it: Royal Collection, United Kingdom

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Try it together: Draw yourself as the symbol of something you love: soccer, music, science.

What it is: A large group portrait of a city militia bursting into motion.

Why it matters: Turned a group portrait into a lively scene with light and action.

Where to see it: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Try it together: Take a family photo where everyone is doing something, not just posing.

What it is: A princess, her attendants and the painter himself, with the king and queen in a mirror.

Why it matters: Endlessly studied for its puzzle of who is looking at whom.

Where to see it: Prado Museum, Madrid

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Try it together: Take a photo where you can see the photographer in a mirror. Who’s the subject?

What it is: A girl in a turban turning toward the viewer, with a glowing earring.

Why it matters: Famous for its light and mystery; we don’t know who she was.

Where to see it: Mauritshuis, The Hague

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Try it together: Use window light to photograph each other turning to look over a shoulder.

What it is: A young woman on a swing in a lush garden, her shoe flying off.

Why it matters: A defining image of playful Rococo style.

Where to see it: Wallace Collection, London

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Try it together: Go to a park, swing, and draw the arc your feet make.

What it is: Three brothers swear an oath to fight for Rome.

Why it matters: Its clear lines and strong message of duty became a model for Neoclassicism.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Talk about a promise your family keeps, and design a family motto.

What it is: Soldiers execute Spanish civilians during the Napoleonic invasion.

Why it matters: Considered one of the first modern images of the horrors of war.

Where to see it: Prado Museum, Madrid

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Try it together: For older kids: talk about how artists use their work to speak out.

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war.

What it is: A man stands on a rocky peak looking over a sea of fog.

Why it matters: An icon of Romantic awe at nature.

Where to see it: Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

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Try it together: Hike to a viewpoint and sketch the view from behind someone, like the painting.

What it is: Survivors of a real shipwreck on a raft, waving at a distant ship.

Why it matters: Turned a news scandal into a huge, dramatic painting.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Talk about how artists can tell true stories. What news story would you paint?

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war.

What it is: A horse-drawn cart crossing a stream in the English countryside.

Why it matters: Helped make everyday landscape a serious subject for painting.

Where to see it: National Gallery, London

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Try it together: Paint outside, called painting en plein air, in a park or backyard.

What it is: A woman representing Liberty leads people over a barricade in the 1830 revolution in Paris.

Why it matters: A lasting symbol of freedom and revolution.

Where to see it: Louvre, Paris

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Try it together: Design a flag for an idea you believe in.

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war. Includes partial nudity.

What it is: A towering wave curls over boats, with Mount Fuji in the distance.

Why it matters: Perhaps the most famous Japanese artwork; it deeply influenced European artists.

Where to see it: Impressions in many museums, including the Met and the British Museum

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Try it together: Make a print with a potato stamp or foam tray and ink.

What it is: A Paris street that looks empty because the exposure was so long.

Why it matters: Believed to include the first person ever photographed: a man having his shoes shined.

Where to see it: Original lost; reproductions widely published

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Try it together: Try a long-exposure photo app at night and see what disappears.

What it is: An old warship is towed by a steam tug at sunset.

Why it matters: A glowing symbol of the old age giving way to the industrial age.

Where to see it: National Gallery, London

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Try it together: Paint a sunset with watercolors, letting colors blend into each other.

What it is: A huge painting of an ordinary village funeral.

Why it matters: Shocked viewers by giving ordinary people the scale usually reserved for heroes.

Where to see it: Musée d’Orsay, Paris

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Try it together: Draw an ordinary moment from your day as if it were a big event.

What it is: Three women gather leftover grain after a harvest.

Why it matters: Gave dignity to rural laborers and stirred debate about poverty.

Where to see it: Musée d’Orsay, Paris

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Try it together: Visit a farm or garden and talk about who grows the food we eat.

What it is: People hurry across a bridge in slanting rain.

Why it matters: Van Gogh painted his own copy of it in 1887, a sign of Japan’s influence on Western art.

Where to see it: Impressions in many museums

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Try it together: Draw rain using only lines, then compare with a friend’s version.

What it is: A hazy harbor at sunrise with quick brushstrokes and an orange sun.

Why it matters: A critic mocked its title, giving the Impressionist movement its name.

Where to see it: Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris

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Try it together: Paint the same view fast, in under 10 minutes, focusing on light rather than detail.

What it is: A mother watches over her sleeping baby.

Why it matters: Morisot was a founding member of the Impressionists and showed this at their first exhibition.

Where to see it: Musée d’Orsay, Paris

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Try it together: Sketch someone sleeping or reading quietly.

What it is: A sunny Sunday dance in Paris, with dappled light through trees.

Why it matters: Captures the joy of modern city leisure.

Where to see it: Musée d’Orsay, Paris

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Try it together: Notice dappled light under a tree and try to paint the spots of light.

What it is: A wax sculpture of a young ballet student, with a real fabric tutu and hair ribbon.

Why it matters: Its realism and mixed materials shocked viewers in 1881.

Where to see it: National Gallery of Art, Washington (original wax)

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Try it together: Make a pipe-cleaner figure and dress it with real fabric scraps.

What it is: A barmaid stands in front of a mirror reflecting a crowded hall.

Why it matters: Manet’s last major work, puzzling viewers with its impossible mirror reflection.

Where to see it: Courtauld Gallery, London

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Try it together: Set up a mirror and draw what’s reflected. Does it match what’s in front of it?

What it is: A park scene made entirely of tiny dots of color.

Why it matters: Applied color science to painting, creating a new technique.

Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

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Try it together: Make a picture using only cotton-swab dots.

What it is: A seated man deep in thought, made for a larger work about Dante.

Why it matters: One of the most recognized sculptures in the world.

Where to see it: Musée Rodin, Paris, and casts worldwide

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Try it together: Strike the pose, then ask: what’s the biggest question you think about?

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: Dozens of paintings of the same mountain built from blocks of color.

Why it matters: His approach to shapes paved the way for Cubism.

Where to see it: Museums worldwide

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Try it together: Draw the same tree or building every week for a month and compare.

What it is: Sunflowers in a vase painted in thick, bright yellows.

Why it matters: Painted to decorate a room for Gauguin; now among the most loved paintings.

Where to see it: National Gallery, London, and other museums

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Try it together: Buy sunflowers and paint them with thick paint or crayons.

What it is: A swirling night sky over a sleeping village.

Why it matters: Painted from memory while he was in a hospital in Saint-Rémy; a symbol of imagination and feeling.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York

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Try it together: Go outside at night, then paint the sky the way it feels, not the way it looks.

What it is: A figure on a bridge clutches its face under a blood-red sky.

Why it matters: A universal symbol of anxiety. Munch made several versions.

Where to see it: National Museum, Oslo

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Try it together: Talk about a big feeling and draw it using only colors and lines.

What it is: A mother washes her child’s feet, seen from above.

Why it matters: Cassatt, an American in Paris, made everyday care a serious subject, influenced by Japanese prints.

Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

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Try it together: Draw an everyday moment of caring for someone.

What it is: A portrait in wild, unnatural colors.

Why it matters: Shown in 1905, it helped earn the group the name “fauves,” or wild beasts.

Where to see it: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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Try it together: Paint a portrait using only “wrong” colors, like a green face and purple hair.

What it is: Ten huge paintings of colorful shapes representing the stages of life.

Why it matters: Painted years before abstraction became famous; she asked they not be shown until long after her death.

Where to see it: Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm

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Try it together: Make a painting with no objects in it, just shapes that represent your age.

What it is: An embracing couple wrapped in patterned gold.

Why it matters: An icon of Art Nouveau, using real gold leaf.

Where to see it: Belvedere Museum, Vienna

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Try it together: Decorate a drawing with gold foil, glitter or metallic markers.

What it is: Five figures broken into sharp, angular shapes.

Why it matters: A radical break that opened the door to Cubism.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York

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Try it together: Draw a face from the front and the side at the same time.

Heads-up: Includes nudity, as is common in classical art.

What it is: A violin and candlestick broken into overlapping planes.

Why it matters: Braque and Picasso developed Cubism together.

Where to see it: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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Try it together: Cut a photo into pieces and rearrange them into a new picture.

What it is: An explosion of color and line with no recognizable objects.

Why it matters: Kandinsky linked painting to music and helped launch abstract art.

Where to see it: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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Try it together: Play music and paint along with it. What color is a drum? A violin?

What it is: A black square on a white background.

Why it matters: A radical statement that art didn’t need to show anything recognizable.

Where to see it: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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Try it together: Talk about it: is it art? Why or why not? There’s no wrong answer.

What it is: A store-bought urinal, signed “R. Mutt” and submitted as art.

Why it matters: Challenged the very definition of art, a turning point for conceptual art.

Where to see it: Original lost; replicas in several museums

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Try it together: Pick an everyday object, give it a title, and present it as art. Debate it.

What it is: A smooth, polished form suggesting flight, not a bird’s shape.

Why it matters: U.S. customs once refused to call it art, leading to a 1928 court case.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York, and other museums

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Try it together: Make a sculpture that shows a feeling, like speed, instead of an object.

What it is: A painted pipe with the words “This is not a pipe” in French.

Why it matters: A famous puzzle about images versus real things.

Where to see it: Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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Try it together: Draw an object and label it with what it isn’t. Talk about why that’s funny and true.

What it is: Black grid lines with blocks of primary colors.

Why it matters: Its simple geometry influenced design, fashion and architecture.

Where to see it: Kunsthaus Zürich

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Try it together: Make a grid with black tape on paper and fill some boxes with red, blue and yellow.

What it is: A farmer and a woman stand before a farmhouse; the models were the artist’s sister and his dentist.

Why it matters: One of the most parodied images in American art.

Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

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Try it together: Re-create the pose with your kids and a kitchen fork for a family photo.

What it is: Melting pocket watches in a dreamlike landscape.

Why it matters: An icon of Surrealism and the strangeness of time.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York

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Try it together: Draw a dream you remember, with at least one thing melting or floating.

What it is: A giant close-up of a white flower.

Why it matters: O’Keeffe’s enlarged flowers changed how people looked at nature; it set an auction record for a woman artist in 2014.

Where to see it: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas

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Try it together: Look at a flower with a magnifying glass, then draw it so big it fills the page.

What it is: Twenty-seven panels showing workers and machines in Detroit’s auto plants.

Why it matters: A major work of mural art celebrating labor and industry.

Where to see it: Detroit Institute of Arts

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Try it together: Draw a mural of the jobs people in your family do.

What it is: A worried mother with her children during the Great Depression.

Why it matters: Became the defining image of the Depression and showed photography’s power to inform.

Where to see it: Library of Congress

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Try it together: Look at the photo together and talk about what it tells us about that time.

What it is: A huge black-and-white painting of the bombing of a Spanish town.

Why it matters: One of the most powerful anti-war artworks ever made.

Where to see it: Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

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Try it together: For older kids: talk about how art can respond to world events.

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war.

What it is: A hanging sculpture of balanced shapes that move with the air.

Why it matters: Calder invented the mobile, bringing motion into sculpture.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Build a mobile from a coat hanger, string and paper shapes.

What it is: Two versions of the artist sit side by side, holding hands.

Why it matters: Kahlo’s self-portraits explored identity, culture and pain.

Where to see it: Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City

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Try it together: Draw two versions of yourself: one at home and one at school.

Heads-up: Shows exposed hearts.

What it is: Sixty panels telling the story of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the South.

Why it matters: A landmark of storytelling in a series.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Phillips Collection, Washington

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Tell your family’s story in six small panels with a caption for each.

What it is: A moon rises over a small village and its white crosses.

Why it matters: One of the most famous photographs ever made, taken with only seconds to spare.

Where to see it: Prints in many museums

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Try it together: Go out at moonrise and try to photograph the moon over your neighborhood.

What it is: People sit in a brightly lit diner late at night, seen through the window.

Why it matters: An enduring image of city loneliness.

Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

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Try it together: Visit a diner and draw the scene. Make up stories about the people inside.

What it is: Layers of dripped and poured paint across a huge canvas.

Why it matters: Pollock’s drip method made the act of painting itself the subject.

Where to see it: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Try it together: Outdoors, drip watered-down paint onto a big sheet with sticks.

What it is: Cut and painted paper shapes arranged in a spiral.

Why it matters: Made when Matisse, mostly unable to stand, “drew with scissors.”

Where to see it: Tate Modern, London

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Try it together: Paint paper, cut big shapes and arrange them into a spiral.

What it is: Thirty-two canvases, each showing a different soup flavor.

Why it matters: Brought everyday products and mass production into fine art.

Where to see it: Museum of Modern Art, New York

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Draw your favorite snack package as if it were in a museum.

What it is: A comic-book fighter jet firing a missile, in bright colors and dots.

Why it matters: Pop Art borrowed from comics and ads to question what counts as art.

Where to see it: Tate Modern, London

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Try it together: Draw a comic panel using only dots for shading.

Heads-up: Depicts violence or war.

What it is: Mirrored rooms filled with lights or dots that seem to go on forever.

Why it matters: Kusama’s immersive rooms are among the most popular artworks today.

Where to see it: Museums worldwide

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Place two mirrors facing each other and look into the “infinity.”

What it is: Fourteen large dark paintings in a quiet, nondenominational chapel.

Why it matters: A space for reflection built around abstract art.

Where to see it: Rothko Chapel, Houston

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Try it together: Sit quietly in front of one color for a minute. How does it make you feel?

What it is: A large head that looks like a skull and a face at once, full of energetic marks.

Why it matters: Basquiat rose from street art to the top of the art world.

Where to see it: The Broad, Los Angeles

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Try it together: Draw a self-portrait mixing words, symbols and colors.

What it is: A painted quilt about a girl who dreams of flying over Harlem from her rooftop.

Why it matters: Joined painting, quilting and storytelling; it also became a picture book.

Where to see it: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Make a paper quilt square that tells one memory.

What it is: A huge canvas of dense, colorful dots and marks.

Why it matters: Kngwarreye began painting on canvas in her late seventies and became one of Australia’s most celebrated artists.

Where to see it: Private collection

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Try it together: Paint a landscape you love using only dots and dabs.

What it is: A giant bronze spider over nine meters tall, a tribute to the artist’s mother.

Why it matters: Turned a creature people fear into a protective symbol.

Where to see it: Casts outside museums including the Guggenheim Bilbao

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Try it together: Make a sculpture of an animal that represents someone you love.

What it is: A stenciled girl reaching for a red heart balloon.

Why it matters: When a framed version shredded itself at auction in 2018, it became world news.

Where to see it: Originally a mural in London

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Make a simple stencil from cardstock and spray or sponge paint through it.

What it is: Thousands of saffron fabric gates lining Central Park’s paths.

Why it matters: Showed how temporary art can transform a familiar place.

Where to see it: Central Park, New York (temporary; removed after 16 days)

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Make a temporary art piece in your yard with leaves or chalk, then photograph it.

What it is: About 100 million handmade porcelain seeds spread across a gallery floor.

Why it matters: Explores mass production and individual effort; each seed was made by hand.

Where to see it: Tate Modern, London (and other museums)

See images and gallery details ↗Explore on Google Arts & Culture ↗

Try it together: Make 20 small clay beads by hand. Talk about how long 100 million would take.