The online art gallery overstockArt.com, published today its official top five list of most popular oil paintings for Mother’s Day 2011. Topping the chart is Claude Monet’s maternal sensual masterpiece Poppy Field in Argenteuil. Other artists named on the 2011 Mother’s Day Top 5 Most Popular Oil Paintings for Mom list include Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Gustav Klimt.

The oil paintings that made the 2011 Mother’s Day Top 5 Oil Paintings for Mom list are:

1. Poppy Field in Argenteuil, Claude Monet – In this colorful oil painting, originally created in 1873, Claude Monet painted his wife and son strolling together among the poppies.
2. Le tre eta della donna (Mother and Child), Gustav Klimt – Mother and Child is part of Klimt’s famous oil painting Three Ages of Woman. The painting depicts an image of a mother cradling her young son. The original was created in 1905, three years after the death of Klimt’s baby son, Otto.
3. Maternity, Pablo Picasso – This stunning oil painting, originally created in 1905, depicts the intimate bond of mother and child.
4. Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Pierre-Auguste Renoir – This masterpiece by Renoir is a celebration of the beauty of spring and the promise of youth. Interestingly, the two girls depicted in the painting were not sisters, as indicated by the work’s original title, but unrelated models.
5. The Tree of Life, Stoclet Frieze, Gustav Klimt – The Tree of Life, Stoclet Frieze was Klimt’s last great mural work. The painting presents the life cycle as many of his other works of art did, but in a more serene way than pieces such as Beethoven Frieze.

More than 2,000,000 page views to overstockArt.com’s Mother’s Day gallery, were tracked. According to the click tracking, “Poppy Field in Argenteuil,” was the most sought after painting clicked at almost 34 percent, and Klimt’s “Le tre eta della donna (Mother and Child)” garnered 21 percent of the clicks to grab second.

“Mother’s Day is our third busiest selling period of the year,” said David Sasson, founder and president of overstockArt.com. “People love giving their moms the gift of art for Mother’s Day – it is a wonderful expression of love that will last a lifetime.”

Last March the revered Nude, Green Leaves and Bustwas viewed by the British public for the first time available at the Tate Modern in the new Pablo Picasso room.  In May the painting had sold for a record $106.5 million (£65.5 million) at Christie’s in New York. The work features Marie-Therese Walter, the model and lover of the artist, whom Picasso first met in 1927. It is only one of a series of his muse, but the most favored.

Painted on March 8, 1932, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is the most intensely hued and energetic of the nude pieces Picasso rendered at what is considered by some scholars as the highest point of his creative output. The piece is currently showing next to other Picasso works in the museum’s collection.

Before its auction and public debut, the piece had been with LA based collectors Sidney and Frances Brody for nearly six decades. According to a Tate press release, “They had acquired the work in 1951 from Paul Rosenberg & Co., Paris and New York whom in turn had acquired it from the artist in 1936. During that period it had been exhibited publicly only once, in 1961, to commemorate Picasso’s 80^th birthday. The lender wishes to remain anonymous.”

Thanks to this lender’s generosity the British public is in for a rare treat.  An art exhibition exploring links between the artist and Britain will open at the museum in the following year.

Wanted to hand over a short “cheat sheet” of great art that will work great with the Spring season’s home decorating trends. Some paintings that are a great fit for the season include:

Bright Colors:
Farbstudie Quadrate (Color Study of Squares), Wassily Kandinsky – Incorporate bright and bold colors to bring the beauty of summer into your home. Kandinsky’s tour de force “Farbstudie Quadrate” bursts with bright colors and a contemporary design. An over-sized 48” x 36” hand painted canvas of this masterpiece is available for $262.

Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom (Interpretation in Red), Vincent van Gogh – Bring a burst of bright red to a room with overstockArt.com’s truly unique red rendition of van Gogh’s masterpiece, which depict branches of white almond blossom against a red background as opposed to the original blue sky. The red rendition has been a bestseller since it debuted on overstockArt.com in 2010. A 24” x 20” hand painted canvas of this tour-de-force is available starting at $119.

Orange Is In:
San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight, Claude Monet – One of the most talked about shades of the season is orange – the color is back in, in a big way. Add the sun-drenched shade to any space with this famous oil painting by Monet. A 24” x 20” hand painted canvas of this masterpiece is available starting at $119.

Muted Shades:
Water Lilies and Agapanthus, Claude Monet – On the other side of the seasonal color trends are subdued hues such as lighter shades of purple, green, turquoise and more. Monet’s “Water Lilies and Agapanthus” beautifully illustrates the flowering water lilies near his Giverny home with a variety of serene shades. A 20” x 24” hand painted canvas of this work of art is available starting at $109.

Sunny Inspired Décor:
Sunflowers, Claude Monet – The bright yellow of sunflowers immediately brings sunshine and summer to mind. Monet’s masterpiece “Sunflowers” would be a nice accent for almost any space in the house. A 20” x 24” hand painted canvas of this bestseller is available starting at $119.

Beach Chic Décor:
Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries, Vincent van Gogh – Bring the beauty of the beach inside with van Gogh’s famous “Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries.” This painting provides the wonderful imagery of a Mediterranean fishing village with the boats waiting on shore before hastening out for a summer day at sea. A 24” x 20” hand painted canvas of this work of art is available for $119.

Print Patterns:
Garden Path at Giverny, Claude Monet – Art prints are in in a big way this spring and this vivid oil painting, originally created in 1902, brings t o life the lush colors of a blooming garden. Monet’s masterpiece has been one of overstockArt.com’s best-selling oil paintings the past two years. A 24” x 36” hand painted canvas of this fine art piece is available starting at $179.

These are just a few suggestions inline with the Summer and Spring trends of 2011. I hope you enjoy decorating your space and I hope that the colors of the art will have a positive affect on your dwelling wherever it may be.

Here are a few of many of Picasso’s horse drawings & paintings. There are many great Pablo Picasso horse drawings from 1936 & 1937 when he was doing studies for Guernica.

The bottom right piece Tete de Cheva was actually stolen from a Swiss museum in 2008. Picasso seems to be very popular with art stealing criminal crowd.

On my trip to visit the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, I found the many images of Picasso’s horses to be electrifying! His preparation as he set forth to depict the Spanish Civil War of 1936 in this monumental piece is astounding and awe inspiring.