Why the Mona Lisa Wins Instagram: Lessons in Light and Engagement for Today's Photographer
You might be surprised to learn that an oil painting from the early 16th century is one of the most hashtagged subjects on Instagram. While the raw data of social media popularity is fascinating—with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa absolutely dominating with over 3 million hashtags—the real value for photographers lies in why these masterworks continue to drive such incredible engagement.
These are more than just old paintings; they are timeless lessons in visual storytelling, composition, and the psychological use of light.
For photographers, studying the principles that make these images irresistible is the key to creating work that truly stops the scroll. We can dissect the work of Gustav Klimt, Van Gogh, and Picasso to extract actionable strategies for our own compositions. How did they use framing, negative space, and color palettes to create emotional permanence? And how can you apply these "art history cheatsheets" to your next portrait, landscape, or product shot to achieve that same timeless, viral impact?
Mona Lisa is the most popular artwork on Instagram with over 3M hashtags, making it nearly 10 times more shared than any other painting.
Half of Instagram users' favorite art pieces come from the 20th century, with Klimt's The Kiss being the most popular among modern works.
Da Vinci and Van Gogh are Instagram's most represented artists, each with two paintings in the top 10 most shared masterpieces.
Museum attendance has increased 27% globally in the last decade, with institutions reporting that photography permissions have become the most frequently asked question by visitors.
A new study by influencer platform Heepsy analyzed Instagram hashtag data across famous artworks to identify the most Instagrammable art masterpieces in the world. The research compiled a list of globally recognized paintings from major museums and tracked Instagram (IG) hashtag usage for each artwork. The study counted total posts for standardized hashtags of each artwork name (like #MonaLisa) to create a ranking of the most photographed and shared paintings on the platform. Here's a look at the 10 most Instagrammable art masterpieces in the world:
You can access the complete research findings here.
Mona Lisa ranks first as the world's most Instagrammable artwork with over 3M hashtag mentions on Instagram. Created by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503-1506, this Renaissance masterpiece, housed in Paris’s Louvre, creates nearly ten times more social media activity than its nearest competitor.
The Kiss by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt takes second place in IG rankings. This Art Nouveau painting has a total of 363K Instagram mentions from platform users. Completed during 1907-1908, the painting is now placed in Vienna's Belvedere Gallery.
Irises by Vincent van Gogh comes in third position with 277K Instagram tags. Painted in 1889 during the artist's stay at the Saint-Rémy asylum, this work can now be seen in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, making it the highest-ranking American-held painting on the list.
Next up is Guernica with 252K Instagram hashtags. Guernica is Pablo Picasso’s most famous painting, created in 1937 in response to the bombing of a Basque town during the Spanish Civil War. This anti-war sentiment art piece is currently kept at Madrid's Reina Sofía Museum.
The Scream by Edvard Munch is Instagram's fifth favorite painting. With 195K Instagram hashtags, this Norwegian painting has nowadays become a universal symbol for human anxiety and distress. The 1910 version of the art piece is part of the MUNCH Museum collection in Oslo.
The Last Supper ranks sixth in IG popularity as a second masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci. The fresco featured in Milan's Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie has around 188K Instagram hashtags, remaining as one of the most significant religious artworks.
American Gothic is in seventh place with 180K Instagram mentions. The painting represents Grant Wood's portrayal of rural American life and was created in 1930. The piece is on display in Chicago's Art Institute.
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh follows next, posting 95K Instagram hashtags. Created in 1889, this vibrant work makes Van Gogh the second artist to appear twice in the rankings. The Starry Night can be seen in New York at the Museum of Modern Art.
With 91K Instagram posts, Nighthawks takes ninth place among the world’s favorite masterpieces. The painting was created by Edward Hopper in 1942, and it is currently displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer completes the top ten with 86K hashtag mentions. Dating to 1665, this Dutch Golden Age masterpiece from The Hague's Mauritshuis is one of the oldest artworks in the rankings.
“A few years ago, museums thought photography would keep people away, but it’s having the opposite effect,” says Tabi Vicuña, Founder of Heepsy. “Now you’ll see institutions relaxing photography rules and creating dedicated photo spots. Social media has become such a big part of the museum experience that some curators are even thinking about ‘Instagrammability’ when planning contemporary exhibitions.”
This information was provided to me kindly by Heepsy to whom I give full credit for the content.