Modern art

Three works to remember from Start here: five ways to look.

• Self-Portrait with Saskia

  Compare the heavy shading of Rembrandt’s hat and sleeve with the light lines of Saskia behind him, then find the drawing tool in his hand.

• The Basket of Apples

  Trace the table edge on either side of the cloth. Does it line up? Then compare the bottle’s tilt with the precarious stack of biscuits.

• Portrait of a Government Official

  Look at the official’s shy smile, then at the single crane flying on his chest badge and the spotted leopard tail curling out at lower right.

Three works to remember from Highlights.

• Knight, Death, and the Devil

  Find the hourglass in Death’s hand, the skull at lower left and the tablet dated 1513, then the lizard running the other way.

• Paris Street; Rainy Day

  Find where the lamppost divides the scene, then compare the couple’s size with the pedestrians beyond them. Notice how much empty pavement lies between the groups.

• The Great Wave

  Follow the curl of the great wave out to its claw-like fingers of foam, then drop your eye to the tiny snow-capped Fuji framed in the hollow below.

Three works to remember from Water and light.

• Fishing Boats

  Follow the great pale sail upward to the white flag, then look past the small boats for a distant steamship.

• Houses of Parliament, London

  Follow the building’s jagged silhouette, then look for the same blue and violet tones dissolving into the river and sky.

• Mishima: Morning Mist

  Compare the sharp blues of the rider and the bearers in front with the gray gate, trees and walkers fading into the mist behind them.

Three works to remember from Portraits through time.

• Portrait of a Gentleman

  Look past his shoulder to the window at upper left, with its farmhouse and grazing cattle, then back to his hand on the fur cuff.

• Self-Portrait with Saskia

  Compare the heavy shading of Rembrandt’s hat and sleeve with the light lines of Saskia behind him, then find the drawing tool in his hand.

• Portrait of a Government Official

  Look at the official’s shy smile, then at the single crane flying on his chest badge and the spotted leopard tail curling out at lower right.

Three works to remember from Toward abstraction.

• Water Lily Pond

  Compare the floating lily pads with the deeper vertical reflections. Notice that there is no bridge or distant shoreline to orient the view.

• Farm near Duivendrecht

  Compare the farm with its upside-down copy in the water, then follow the bare branches overhead as they knot into a net of curving lines.

• Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

  Notice how the red, yellow and blue blocks all sit at the edges, pushed out toward the frame around one big white square.

Three works to remember from Color set free.

• The Bedroom

  Trace the floorboards toward the back wall, then compare their angles with the bed, chairs, and tilted pictures.

• Siberian Dogs in the Snow

  Find the blue in the shadows under the dogs, then look for the place where the two white bodies overlap and almost become one shape.

• Painting with Troika

  Follow the three white horses from the blue block at left toward the pink blossoms, then look at the painted frame and the colors it repeats from the picture.