Roberta Smith Selects Some of Her Favorite Paintings - NYTimes.com. The links are separate for each critic, but Smith's is a good start
I can't claim to have seen even half of the paintings in town. I haven't been to the Frick; my visits to the Brooklyn and Whitney Museums have been rare and brief. Still, it's a fun exercise, so here are mine:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Harvesters"(1565), at the Met.
My favorite painting of all. It's unlikely that the unseen paintings at the Frick, et al, would challenge. The scope, the detail, the almost Chinese character of this painting floor me; a must-see on every visit to the Met.
"Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples" (1877), by Paul Cézanne, at the Met
This is an arbitrary choice - it could be any Cézanne still life, in any museum. When I first saw how he characterized apples, I laughed with joy.
Vermeer's "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher" (1662), Met again.
I want to be original, I want to be controversial, but as Gob Bluth would say, "C'mon!". I simply cannot pick against this Vermeer; it's perfect.
Picasso's "Three Musicians" (1921), The Museum of Modern Art.
My first year in New York, my first visit to MoMA, I can't believe how much they jam into the first two rooms (this is the old MoMA layout) - "Starry Night", Matisse's "Dance", Rousseau, "Demoiselles". I turn into the third room and this one hits me; again, I laugh out loud. I don't fancy myself an art critic, but if something makes me laugh (joy; surprise?), I guess I think it's good.
"Madame X" (1884), John Singer Sargent, the Met.
Honestly, this one makes the list for reasons other than art...
Upon review, my list seems a little pedestrian; a little unadventurous. I guess that should spur me on to see more, to broaden my experience. So then, off to the museums!
