Famous Artists

Historically, artists became famous for the unique style and attitude that they bring to the art world. Starting with the Renaissance Era, art took on an evolution which elevated the value of art and the respect it gained from society. Art masters became known everywhere and were studied from for centuries beyond their passing away. Following the Renaissance, other evolutions took place and art continually distinguished itself from every era before it.

Below are lists of the most famous artists of all time and their works starting with the Renaissance Movement:

Italian Renaissance Artists


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Donatello (1386-1466)
Donatello was a Renaissance artist born in Florence, Italy. He was famous for his artwork in bas relief, a type of shadow relief sculpture. 

  • St. Mark
  • St. George Tabernacle
  • Prophet Habacuc
  • The Feast of Herod
  • David
  • Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata
  • Magdalene Penitent
  • Judith and Holofernes
  • Virgin and Child with Four Angels
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)
Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He hailed from Florence, Italy. 

  • Madonna and Child with an Angel
  • Madonna della Loggia
  • The Birth of Venus
  • Venus and Mars
  • Adoration of the Magi
  • Portrait of a Young Man
  • Madonna in Glory with Seraphim
  • Madonna and Child and Two Angels
  • Portrait of Esmeralda Brandini
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Da Vinci was someone who was skilled and knowledgeable in many, many subjects, including science, mathematics, music, and most importantly, art. He was the epitome of a Renaissance man if there never was one. 

  • The Last Supper
  • Mona Lisa
  • Vitruvian Man
  • The Baptism of Christ
  • Annunciation
  • Ginevra de’ Benci
  • Benois Madonna
  • Madonna of the Carnation
  • St. Jerome in the Wilderness
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
Also known as Michelangelo, he was an Italian Renaissance artist. He is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, alongside Leonardo da Vinci. 

  • Sistine Chapel ceiling
  • The Creation of Adam
  • Madonna of the stairs
  • Battle of the Centaurs
  • Crucifix
  • The Ark of St Dominic
  • Bacchus
  • Pietà
  • David
Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)
Better known as just Raphael, an Italian architect and painter of the High Renaissance. He was best known for the perfection and grace in his artwork. Raphael was considered a master, among Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo.. 

  • Resurrection of Christ
  • Angel
  • Madonna and Child
  • Madonna of the Grand Duke
  • La Donna Gravida
  • La belle jardinière
  • Madonna with the Blue Diadem
  • Portrait of Pope Julius II
  • The Ecstasy of St. Cecilia
Titian (1488-1576)
Titian was known as an Italian painter, one of the most versatile. He was equally adept with landscape paintings, portraits, and mystical subjects.

  • Christ Carrying the Cross
  • Pastoral Concert
  • St. Mark Enthroned
  • The Jealous Husband
  • Sacred and Profane Love
  • Assumption of the Virgin
  • The Worship of Venus
  • Malchiostro Annunciation
  • Gozzi Altarpiece

 

Northern Renaissance Artists


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Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)
Durer was an important Northern Renaissance man from Germany. He was prominent in painting, printmaking, mathematics, engraving, and theory.. 

  • Rhinoceros
  • Young Hare
  • Adam and Eve
  • Apocalypse
  • The Four Apostles
  • Knight, Death and the Devil
  • Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand
  • Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I
  • Saint Jerome in His Study
El Greco (1541-1614)
El Greco was a Spanish Renaissance artist of Greek descent. He became a master in Post-Byzantine art before moving to Rome. In Italy, his style was embellished with components of Venetian Renaissance and Mannerism.. 

  • Dormition of the Virgin
  • Modena Triptych
  • The Entombment of Christ
  • Christ Healing the Blind
  • The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio)
  • The Ecstasy of St Francis
  • The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
  • View of Toledo
  • Saint Martin and the Beggar

 

Baroque Artists


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Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Caravaggio was an artist of the Baroque style, which emerged out of Mannerism. With the threat of Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church sought for new art. Caravaggio’s radical naturalism and dramatic style offered them what they thought they needed.. 

  • Adoration of the Shepherds
  • Basket of Fruit
  • The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew
  • David with the Head of Goliath
  • Ecce Homo
  • The Flagellation of Christ
  • John the Baptist
  • The Lute Player
  • Madonna and Child with St. Anne
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Peter Paul Rubens was a Baroque painter who specialized in painting color, sensuality, and movement. He was famous for many Counter-Reformation artworks. 

  • The Massacre of the Innocents
  • Venus at the Mirror
  • Hippopotamus Hunt
  • Portrait of Władysław IV
  • Portrait of Hélène Fourment
  • The Château de Steen with Hunter
  • The Exchange of Princesses
  • Prometheus Bound
  • The Fall of Man
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who was skilled in sculpting, architecture, playwriting, stage-setting, and painting. His abilities as a sculptor set him apart from other artists of his age.. 

  • The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun
  • The Rape of Proserpina
  • Ecstasy of St. Theresa
  • Sant’Andrea al Quirinale
  • Fontana del Moro
  • Fontana del Tritone
  • Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
  • Angel with Crown of Thorns
  • Blessed Ludovica Albertoni
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669)
Rembrandt’s artworks gave way to what historians refer to as the Dutch Golden Age. Rembrandt was an excellent painter and etcher, one of the greatest in European art history.. 

  • The Stoning of Saint Stephen
  • Jacob de Gheyn III
  • Andromeda Chained to the Rocks
  • Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
  • Artemisia
  • Belshazzar’s Feast
  • The Prodigal Son in the Tavern
  • Danaë
  • Old Man with a Gold Chain

 

18th Century Artists


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Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
Francisco de Goya was a Spanish romantic artist known for his dark prints, and paintings, and for being cruelly realistic in each one of them. He never tried to beautify a personal portrait, and he portrayed things as he saw them, not how people wanted them. 

  • Saturn Devouring His Son
  • Yard with Lunatics
  • The Clothed Maja
  • The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
  • The Milkmaid of Bordeaux
  • The Third of May 1808
  • Charles IV of Spain and His Family
  • La cometa
  • Witches’ Sabbath

 

19th Century Artists


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Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist painter. He was an important contributor to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism during his time. 

  • Two Women Chatting By The Sea
  • Le chemin
  • Jallais Hill, Pontoise
  • Old Chelsea Bridge, London
  • The garden of Pontoise
  • The Côte des Bœufs at L’Hermitage
  • Washerwoman, Study
  • Conversation
  • The Harvest
Edouard Manet (1832)
Edouard Manet was an important artist in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. He was one of the first nineteenth century artists to approach modern-life subjects. 

  • The Spanish Singer
  • The Old Musician
  • Victorine in the Costume of a Matador
  • Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama
  • The Philosopher, (Beggar with Oysters)
  • The Tragic Actor
  • Execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico
  • Portrait of Emile Zola, Musée d’Orsay
  • House in Rueil
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Edgar Degas was a famous French artist regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, though he rejected the term and regarded himself a realist. 

  • A Cotton Office in New Orleans
  • The Dance Class
  • L’Absinthe
  • Place de la Concorde
  • Musicians in the Orchestra
  • At the Races
  • La Toilette
  • Little Dancer of Fourteen Years
  • Young Spartans Exercising
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker. He was a freelance illustrator who was very prominent in American art during his time. 

  • The Bathers
  • The War for the Union
  • The Bridle Path
  • A Rainy Day in Camp
  • Gloucester Harbor
  • Song of the Lark
  • Camp Fire
  • After the Hurricane, Bahamas
  • The Red Canoe
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Cezanne was a French Post-Impressionist painter who contributed to the transition from the 19th century’s Impressionism to the 20th century’s new line of artistic enquiry: Cubism. 

  • Femme au Chapeau Vert
  • The Card Players
  • Les Grandes Baigneuses
  • Still Life with a Curtain
  • Pyramid of Skulls
  • The Black Marble Clock
  • A Modern Olympia
  • Road Before the Mountains, Sainte-Victoire
  • River with the Bridge of the Three Sources
Oscar Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Oscar Claude Monet was a founder of French Impressionist painting. Monet lived by the philosophy of Impressionism that emphasizes the expression of one’s perceptions before nature.

  • Women in a Garden
  • The Magpie
  • Seine Basin with Argenteuil
  • Train in the Snow
  • Lavacourt: Sunshine and Snow
  • Oat and Poppy Field, Giverny
  • The Garden in Flower
  • Palace From Mula, Venice
  • The Rose-Way in Giverny
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who contributed to the development of the Impressionist style. He emphasized beauty in his artwork, especially of feminine sensuality. 

  • The Theater Box
  • The Swing (La Balançoire)
  • Girls at the Piano
  • Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
  • On the Terrace
  • Lise Sewing
  • La Grenouillère
  • Jeanne Durand-Ruel
  • By the Water
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)
Henri Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter who specialized in Naïve or Primitive manner. His best paintings depict jungle scenes despite the fact that he never left France or saw a jungle. 

  • Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)
  • The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope
  • The Dream
  • A Carnival Evening
  • The Sleeping Gypsy
  • La tour Eiffel peinte par Henri Rousseau
  • Exotic Landscape
  • The Flamingoes
  • Muse Inspiring the Poet
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. Most of her adult life was spent in France, where she met Edgar Degas and later became one of the Impressionists. Her paintings emphasized intimate and private lives of women, especially of those pertaining to the relationship between mothers and children. 

  • The Boating Party
  • Tea
  • Summertime
  • The Child’s Bath
  • Under the Horse Chestnut Tree
  • Children on the Beach
  • Jules Being Dried by His Mother
  • Mother and Child
  • Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin was a prominent French Post-Impressionist painter, print-maker, writer, sculptor, and ceramist. 

  • I Raro te Oviri
  • Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
  • The Yellow Christ
  • Te aa no areois (The Seed of the Areoi)
  • Spirit of the Dead Watching
  • Les Alyscamps
  • Tahitian Women on the Beach
  • Watermill in Pont-Aven
  • Landscape on La Dominique
Edvard Munch (1853-1944)
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter and printmaker. He was an important figure in expressionist art.
Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939): Alphonse Mucha was a Czech Art Nouveau artist known for his unique techniques.
 

  • The Scream
  • The Sick Child
  • Death in the Sickroom
  • The Dance of Life
  • Madonna
  • Vampire
  • Lady From the Sea
  • Ashes
  • August Strindberg
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Gustav Klimpt was known as one of the most important Austrian Symbolist artist of the Vienna Secession movement. 

  • The Kiss
  • Adele Bloch-Bauer I
  • Judith and the Head of Holofernes
  • The Three Ages of Woman
  • Hope
  • Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park
  • Mulher sentada
  • The Friends
  • Mäda Primavesi
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French artist who was regarded as one of the best painters from the Post-Impressionist era, alongside Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Cezanne. 

  • La Toilette
  • Vincent van Gogh
  • At the Circus Fernando
  • Moulin Rouge – La Goulue
  • Portrait of Gabrielle
  • Aristide Bruant in his cabaret
  • Ambassadeurs – Aristide Bruant
  • At the Moulin Rouge: Two Women Waltzing
  • Quadrille at the Moulin Rouge

 

20th Century Artists


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Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Henri Matisse was a French painter, draughtsman, sculptor, and printmaker. He is known alongside Picasso and Marcel Duchamp as the three artists who contributed to the revolutionary developments of plastic arts in the early twentieth century. 

  • Woman Reading
  • Luxembourg Gardens
  • A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in the Late Afternoon
  • Woman with a Hat
  • Les toits de Collioure
  • The Dessert: Harmony in Red
  • Luxe, Calme et Volupté
  • Bathers with a Turtle
  • The Conversation
Paul Klee (1879-1940)
Paul Klee was a Swiss and German painter who found inspiration in expressionism, surrealism, cubism, and orientalism. 

  • My Room
  • Flower Myth
  • Miraculous Landing, or the “112!”
  • Tale à la Hoffmann
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish draughtsman, sculptor, and painter who spent most of his life in France. Picasso was particularly skilled from childhood and into adolescence, and in his twenties he experimented with different ideas and techniques. His accomplishments in art brought him much fame. 

  • Dora Maar au Chat
  • Les quatre saisons
  • Massacre in Korea
  • La Vie
  • Femme aux Bras Croisés
  • Garçon à la pipe
  • Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
  • Three Musicians
  • The Old Guitarist
Edward Hopper (1882-1967)
Edward Hopper was an American printmaker and realist painter. He was most skilled with oil painting and proficient in water-coloring and printmaking. 

  • Summer Interior
  • Road in Maine
  • Girl at Sewing Machine
  • Nighthawks
  • New York Restaurant
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian art theorist and painter. He was one of the first artists to experiment with abstract art. 

  • Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula
  • Der Blaue Reiter
  • Composition VII
  • On White II
  • Composition X
  • Composition VI
Diego Rivera (1886-1957)
Diego Rivera was a famous Mexican painter and husband of the artist Frida Kahlo. He was an active communist during his time. 

  • Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Diego Rivera
  • En el Arsenal
  • Detroit Industry, North Wall
  • Man, Controller of the Universe
  • Detroit Industry, South Wall
  • Murales Rivera – Markt in Tlatelolco 3
  • Murales Rivera – Markt in Tlatelolco 1
  • National Palace
  • Mural Palacio Nacional Mexico
Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
Marc Chagall was a Russian-French Jewish artist with many art styles. He was an early modernist and was one of the most successful artists of the twentieth century. 

  • Chagall’s Parents
  • The Fiddler
  • Bella with White Collar
  • The Prophet Jeremiah
  • Bestiaire et Musique
  • The Circus
  • Song of David
  • Stained Glass windows in Saint-Stephen Cathedral, Metz, France
  • St. Stephen’s church, Mainz, Germany
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist who distinguished herself as one of America’s most prominent modern artists, which is significant because the American art community was dominated by men during her time. 

  • No. 13 Special
  • Blue and Green Music
  • Ram’s Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills
  • Pineapple Bud
Georges Seurat (1888-1859)
Georges Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist painter. His most famous painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” ushered modern art into Neo-Impressionism. 

  • Le Chahut
  • Circus Sideshow (or Parade de Cirque)
  • Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
  • The Suburbs
  • Fishing in The Seine
  • The Laborers
  • Bathers at Asnières
  • The Eiffel Tower
  • Gray weather, Grande Jatte
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1890-1978)
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist whose works carried lots of influence on 20th century art due to their portrayal of colors and emotions. 

  • Rooftops, View from the Atelier The Hague
  • The Potato Eaters
  • Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
  • Courtesan
  • The Blooming Plumtree
  • Portrait of Père Tanguy
  • Portrait of Vincent van Gogh
  • Bedroom in Arles
  • The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night
Joan Miro (1893-1983)
Joan Miro was a Spanish artist. His works have been interpreted as Surrealism. 

  • The Tilled Field
  • La Leçon de Ski
  • artwork
  • Dona i Ocell
  • The Fundació
  • Pájaro lunar
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Norman Rockwell was an American illustrator and painter. 

  • Scout at Ship’s Wheel
  • The Four Freedoms:Freedom of Speech
  • The Four Freedoms:Freedom from Want
  • The Problem We All Live With
  • Beyond the Easel, 1969
  • The Rookie
René Magritte (1898-1957)
Rene Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist artist. His goal was to challenge viewers’ preconceptions of reality and force them to become hypersensitive to their surroundings. 

  • The Empty Mask
  • The Treachery of Images
  • The Human Condition
  • The Magritte Museum in Brussels
  • The Portrait
  • Golconde
M.C. Escher (1898-1972)
M.C. Escher was a Dutch graphic artist. He was famous for his mathematically inspired lithographs, mezzotints, and woodcuts, featuring constructions such as tessellations, architecture, and infinity. 

  • Drawing Hands
  • Relativity
  • Circle Limit III
  • Waterfall
Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
Ansel Adams was an American photographer best known for his photographs of the American West, particularly in Yosemite. 

  • In Glacier National Park
  • Church, Taos Pueblo
  • Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park
  • The Tetons and the Snake River
Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
Mark Rothko was a Russian-born American painter who was interpreted as an abstract expressionist. 

  • In the Tower: Mark Rothko
  • White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)
  • Four Darks in Red
  • No. 14
  • Untitled (Black on Grey)
  • No. 3/No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Salvador Dali was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter. Dali was very imaginative and had an affinity for unusual and grandiose behavior. 

  • The Persistence of Memory
  • Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres
  • The Dali Atomicus
  • Landscape Near Figueras
  • Vilabertin
  • Cabaret Scene
  • The Basket of Bread
  • Un Chien Andalou
  • L’Age d’Or
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter. She was best known for her self-portraits. Her art has been celebrated in Mexico as representative of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for their forthright depiction of the female form. 

  • The Suicide of Dorothy Hale
  • Roots
  • Portrait Of Miguel N Lira
  • The Bus
  • Portrait Of Eve Frederick
  • Portrait Of Virginia
  • Portrait Of Luther Burbank
  • The Deceased Dimas Rosas Aged Three
  • Frieda Kahlo And Diego Rivera
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Jackson Pollock was an American painter who spearheaded the abstract expressionist movement. 

  • No. 5, 1948
  • Number 1, 1950
  • Male and Female
  • Stenographic Figure
  • Mural
  • Moon-Woman Cuts the Circle[
  • The She-Wolf
  • Blue (Moby Dick)
  • Troubled Queen
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Andy Warhol made Pop Art. His use of immediate culture in all his work is what brought him fame and glory. 

  • Campbell’s Soup I
  • The Last Supper
  • Dollar Sign
  • Poinsettias
  • Shadow
  • Head II
  • Dollar Bill
Jack Vettriano (Born November 17, 1951)
Jack Vettriano is a Scottish painter. He did not take up painting until the 70s, when his girlfriend bought him a set of watercolors for his 21st birthday. 

  • The Singing Butler
  • The Ballroom Sppy