Tate Modern Highlights: 10 Must-See Masterpieces

Painted in 1925, this violent and ecstatic work marks Picasso's turn toward Surrealism and psychological intensity. Three dancers contort in a frenzy of distorted bodies and clashing colors against a window overlooking the Mediterranean. The painting was triggered by the death of Picasso's friend Ramón Pichot, transforming a dance into a dance of death. The central figure's skull-like profile and the crucified body on the right reveal Picasso's darker vision. This explosive work bridges his classical period and his later explorations of violence and sexuality, influencing generations of artists.

Created in 1938, this bizarre sculpture epitomizes Surrealism's challenge to rational thought. Dalí placed a plaster lobster on a working telephone, creating an object that is both functional and absurd. The combination references Freudian symbolism – Dalí associated lobsters with sexuality and telephones with communication. He made several versions for his patron Edward James, who actually used one on his desk. The work exemplifies Surrealism's goal of disrupting everyday life with dreamlike juxtapositions. It remains one of modern art's most recognizable objects and a perfect embodiment of Dalí's provocative humor.

Created in 1953 when Matisse was 83 and bedridden, this radiant work shows his late-career mastery of cut-out paper. Brightly colored rectangles spiral outward like a snail's shell against a white background. Unable to paint, Matisse cut shapes from pre-painted paper with scissors, calling it "drawing with scissors." The seemingly simple composition required weeks of adjustment to achieve perfect balance. The work radiates joy and proves that limitation can fuel creativity. Made near the end of his life, it represents Matisse's final triumph – reducing form to its essence while maximizing color's emotional power.

Painted in 1958 as part of the Seagram Murals commission, this brooding work exemplifies Rothko's mature style of floating rectangular forms. Dark maroon and black fields create a chapel-like atmosphere of contemplation. Rothko originally painted these for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York's Seagram Building but withdrew them, feeling the setting was too commercial for such serious work. He donated them to the Tate where they're displayed in the dim lighting he preferred. Standing before these paintings, viewers experience what Rothko called "a communion, a silent sharing" – art as spiritual experience rather than decoration.

Created in 1959, this monochrome canvas glows with Klein's signature International Klein Blue – an ultramarine he developed and patented. Klein believed this specific blue had spiritual and cosmic properties, calling it "the most perfect expression of blue." He created nearly 200 blue monochromes, insisting each was unique despite appearing identical. Klein rejected traditional composition, seeking to capture pure color as an immaterial, infinite experience. The painting invites meditation on a single color's emotional and spiritual power. It represents 1960s conceptual art's radical questioning of what painting could be and challenged viewers to find meaning beyond representation.

Created in 1962 weeks after Marilyn Monroe's death, this iconic work repeats her image fifty times across two panels. The left side shows vibrant, colorful Marilyns while the right side fades to ghostly black and white – life and death, fame and oblivion. Warhol used silkscreen printing, a commercial technique that let him mass-produce images like a factory. The repeated faces both celebrate and critique celebrity culture, questioning authenticity in an age of mechanical reproduction. The work established Warhol as Pop Art's leading voice and remains one of the most recognizable images in contemporary art.

Created in 1963, this explosive diptych appropriates imagery from a DC Comics war story. A fighter jet fires a rocket at an enemy plane that explodes in a dramatic "WHAAM!" Lichtenstein meticulously hand-painted Ben-Day dots to mimic cheap comic book printing. The work challenges distinctions between high and low culture, making mass-produced imagery into monumental art. At 4 meters wide, it's both a celebration and critique of American militarism and pop culture. The painting exemplifies Pop Art's strategy of elevating commercial art to fine art status while questioning what deserves to hang in museums.

Painted in 1973, this large-scale abstract work showcases Mitchell's gestural, emotionally charged painting style. Bold strokes of blue, yellow, and green sweep across the canvas in an explosion of color and movement. Mitchell, one of the few prominent female Abstract Expressionists, painted landscapes of feeling rather than literal scenes. She worked in France, maintaining Abstract Expressionism's vitality when it had fallen from fashion. The title references a person, but the painting captures emotional states through color relationships and energetic brushwork. Mitchell's work bridges Abstract Expressionism and later painting, proving the movement's continuing relevance and power.

Created between 1958-1985, this mysterious installation features a cast bronze sculpture with clay, a metal rod, and simple materials arranged in a room. The work references Beuys's personal mythology – he claimed to have been rescued by Tartars after a plane crash in WWII. The stag represents spiritual transformation while lightning suggests sudden enlightenment. Beuys used humble materials to challenge art's preciousness and expand its definition to include teaching, performance, and social activism. His concept of "social sculpture" argued everyone is an artist shaping society. This installation exemplifies his belief that art should heal and transform rather than merely decorate.

Created in 2001, this towering installation consists of hundreds of radios tuned to different stations, stacked to form a tower of Babel. The cacophony of overlapping voices, music, and static creates an overwhelming sensory experience about communication and information overload. The biblical reference suggests the confusion of languages and the impossibility of universal understanding. Meireles, a Brazilian artist, addresses globalization, media saturation, and cultural fragmentation. The work is both visually striking and conceptually profound – a monument to the chaos of the information age. It invites viewers to consider how we process and make meaning from endless streams of data.