One-Hit Wonder Artists (PHOTOS)

One-hit wonders are much rarer in the art world than they are in music. It seems like every week there's a new single by someone you've never heard of, but artists can often parlay one early hit into a productive career.

In the slideshow below, we present some of our favorite one-hit wonder artists, artists who are disproportionately well-known for one work of art which we show followed by a lesser-known work of the same artist.

Much of our inspiration was drawn from David Galenson's fascinating paper, "One Hit Wonders: Why Some of the Most Important Works of Modern Art are Not by Important Artists," published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, November 2004. Galenson compared one-hit wonder artists to their more prominent contemporaries, noting artists whose fame (at least from the perspective of art history books) rests disproportionately on a single work.

Of course, just because these artists are labeled one-hit wonders doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of their output was sub-par. Some of the artists, like Paul Sérusier and Grant Wood, were cult favorites but only had one work earn a place in popular art history. A one-hit wonder artist may not be art's Billy Ray Cyrus, in other words, but more like art's The Cars.

Looking at these artists' "hits" juxtaposed with their less famous work can be puzzling. Why did the art world see the potential in this one but not that one? Do popular favorites match up with the artists' own favorite work? And why are so many of these images at the Art Institute of Chicago? Give your interpretations and suggest more one-hit wonder artists in the comments below.

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Grant Wood - American Gothic

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Grant Wood - American Gothic

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[FeedbackReturn]

01:25 PM on 08/26/2011

Art '' can and usually is such a fickle thing .

It indeed is in the eye of the beholder and there are a myriad of reasons why one piece may rise through the ranks to staus or stature. It could be perfect timing for the era , or just appear on the market when there is nothing else like it around.

Sometimes it has nothing to do at all with the piece per se' , but rather the artist itself.

Personally , I find art to be '' priceless '' when it combines a mixture of uniqueness , boldness and inspires in me a romantic reaction . ( classic interpreta­tion i suppose , but i don't go for the avant garde stuff )

I like all the examples presented , and some of them are indeed impressive in their detail , but don't quite work for me. Perhaps the Bonaparte depiction was closest.

Call me a snob_if you will , but there is a reason why theirs were one or couple of hit wonders

[friendlier]

06:19 AM on 08/25/2011

I gotta say, I expected a bit more from the Huffington Post's art section. Most of the articles on here are on the, shall we say, Republican level of understanding. Take this one. One "hit" wonders? Save that kind of nonsense for oldies radio please.

[southernsaint]

02:02 AM on 08/25/2011

I would disagree with Caillebotte as well. He gave many struggling artists their chance while he was left to become underrated. While Rainy Day is indeed the most popular, I would argue that Floor Scrapers is equal to if not better.

[A dean89]

04:34 AM on 08/24/2011

I love Bohemian paintings very much.I wanna ask you peeps,is there such thing the Era of American Victorianism?it seems does to me

[navalvet]

08:36 PM on 08/23/2011

Caillebotte's oeuvre contains many works of great interest and impact. His paintings are in London's National Gallery, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the Musée d'Orsay and in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
He was from a wealthy family and did not stick to painting, but he was also a patron of the arts, buying works from fellow impressionists.
Caillebotte is famous for some of his nudes, but he is unique, among impressionists, in his handling of laborers.
See:
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=000105&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=en%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fresultat-collection.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26zsz%3D9

[MarcEdward]

08:08 PM on 08/23/2011

Gericault a one hit wonder?
Gros a one hit wonder?
Who made THIS list up?

[JuStJaKe50]

08:07 PM on 08/23/2011

'' Art '' can and usually is such a fickle thing .

It indeed is in the eye of the beholder and there are a myriad of reasons why one piece may rise through the ranks to staus or stature. It could be perfect timing for the era , or just appear on the market when there is nothing else like it around.

Sometimes it has nothing to do at all with the piece per se' , but rather the artist itself.

Personally , I find art to be '' priceless '' when it combines a mixture of uniqueness , boldness and inspires in me a romantic reaction . ( classic interpretation i suppose , but i don't go for the avant garde stuff )

I like all the examples presented , and some of them are indeed impressive in their detail , but don't quite work for me. Perhaps the Bonaparte depiction was closest.

Call me a snob_if you will , but there is a reason why theirs were one or couple of hit wonders.

[bahkey]

07:52 PM on 08/23/2011

Wheres men at work?

[re think]

07:21 PM on 08/23/2011

Who gives you the right to call Caillebotte a one hit artist. What the fuck do you think Rainy Day is supposed to be anyway...I refuse to be dumbed down about something as personal and profound as art by the fricking Huffington post.

No way is a so called newspaper that is currently running a survey to see how many of its readers liked Kim Kardashian's veil, gonna tell me about Hopper and Caillebotte.

This painting was made around the time photography emerged as an art. Rainy Day is a statement from an artist on both what technology cannot do and what artists can learn from it. He crops what is arguably the main character and he strives for a photorealistic moment catching feel to the painting, as you can tell by all the people in motion....

I mean are you kidding?

[Magickalgirl]

09:17 AM on 08/24/2011

I'm with you. Love your pissed post! :o)

[N133]

07:05 PM on 08/23/2011

WHO IS DETERMINING THIS LIST? DILETTANTE-REPORTAGE. PERIOD.

[Teacher Trish]

07:19 PM on 08/23/2011

Yes, it is a fluff piece. A light hearted, shallow frippery. You didn't expect to get thought provoking intellectual discourse regarding the arts on Huffpost, did you?

[LindaCSmith]

07:03 PM on 08/23/2011

I love it when an article about "art" sparks lively conversation as this one has. I also love it when given the opportunity to share "art" with an audience who sometimes doesn't give this niche a moment's thought. As to the article, I think one of the things about "one hit wonders," no matter the genre or media, is that the "wonder" piece hit at a time and place that caused conversation and hit a nerve. "American Gothic" is one such work.

[duncansdad]

06:46 PM on 08/23/2011

Grant Wood? Who wrote this trash? Fire them and send them to an art apreciation class ASAP!

[skantea]

06:36 PM on 08/23/2011

Two totally different art mediums forcibly united by a meaningless pop culture cliche. This is bad party conversation disguised as journalism. Or worse, not disguised at all.

[bubbepenny]

06:28 PM on 08/23/2011

pretty stupid AOL

[catgirl212]

06:26 PM on 08/23/2011

Too bad the humanities are so underfunded and college kids today don't have the same opportunities to just take interesting classes and work on their majors too.