Famous Painters a to z

John James Audubon was an American ornithologist, artist and naturalist known for his studies, drawings and paintings of North American birds.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s. He is best known for his primitive style and his collaboration with pop artist Andy Warhol.

Frédéric Bazille was a French painter who helped found the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century, before dying in combat in the Franco-Prussian War.

Thomas Hart Benton was an esteemed 20th century painter and muralist renowned for works like “America Today” and “Persephone.”

Hieronymus Bosch was a European painter of the late Middle Ages. His two most famous works are "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and "The Temptation of St. Anthony."

Fernando Botero is a Colombian artist known for creating bloated, oversized depictions of people, animals and elements of the natural world.

Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance-era. He contributed to the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and painted the immortal The Birth of Venus.

Georges Braque, the French painter who invented Cubism, with Pablo Picasso, and became the first living artist to be exhibited at The Louvre in 1961.

Director, producer and screenwriter Tim Burton is known for such films as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, which blend themes of fantasy and horror.

Painter John Butler Yeats was the father of poet William Butler Yeats and artist Jack Butler Yeats. His portrait of John O'Leary is considered his best work.

Caravaggio, or Michelangelo Merisi, was an Italian painter who is considered one of the fathers of modern painting.

Marc Chagall was a French artist whose work was generally based on emotional association rather than traditional pictorial fundamentals.

Chuck Close is noted for his highly inventive techniques used to paint the human face. He rose to fame in the late 1960s for his large-scale, photo-realist portraits.

Post-Impressionist French painter Paul Cézanne is best known for his incredibly varied painting style which greatly affected 20th century abstract art.

Salvador Dali is best known for his long surrealist painting career.

Jacques-Louis David was a 19th century painter who is considered to be the principal proponent of the Neoclassical style, which moved art briskly away from the previous Rococo period. His most famous works include "The Death of Marat" and "Napoleon Crossing the Alps."

Sometimes called the father of modern art, Spanish artist Francisco de Goya painted royal portraits as well as more subversive works in late 1700s and early 1800s.

French painter Georges La Tour is considered a major influence on Caravaggio for his use of simple lighting, like candles, in a realistic manner.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a 19th century French artist known for works like “The Streetwalker” and “At the Moulin Rouge.”

Painter and sculptor Edgar Degas was a highly celebrated 19th-century French Impressionist whose work helped shape the fine art landscape for years to come.

Eugène Delacroix, considered one of the greatest French Romantic painters, was influential in the development of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting.

André Derain was a French painter of the Fauvist school and a book illustrator. He was friends with Henri Matisse.

Aaron Douglas was an African-American painter and graphic artist who played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Thomas Eakins was a naturalist figure painter, portraitist and sculptor. He is considered one of the most influential artists in U.S. history.

El Greco was a Greek artist whose painting and sculpture helped define the Spanish Renaissance and influence various movements to come.

Thomas Gainsborough was an 18th century English painter known for his suggestive portraiture and landscapes.

French artist Paul Gauguin's bold colors, exaggerated body proportions and stark contrasts helped him achieve broad success in the late 19th century.

Artemisia Gentileschi, daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, was a Baroque-period painter known for such works as "Madonna and Child, "Susanna and the Elders" and "Judith Slaying Holofernes."

Jean-Leon Gerome was a French painter, sculptor, and teacher. His best-known works are scenes inspired by his travels in Egypt.

Leon Golub was an American painter who was both horrified and inspired by the Vietnam War.

During his all-too-brief life, artist Keith Haring became a sensation in the art world with his bold, cartoon and graffiti influenced works during the 1980s.

Known for his self-portraits and biblical scenes, Dutch artist Rembrandt is considered to be one of the greatest painters in European history.

Painter, Al Held was know for his painting complex cube-like structures in the 1960s, and his precise and brightly colored geometric forms in the 1980s.

British artist Damien Hirst has shocked and surprised the art world with his unusual works, including glass displays of dead animals and medicine cabinet sculptures.

Known for his photo collages and paintings of Los Angeles swimming pools, David Hockney is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.

German painter Hans Hofmann was an influential 20th century art teacher whose work paved the way for Abstract Expressionism.

Artist Edward Hopper is the painter behind the iconic late-night diner scene Nighthawks (1942).

Lois Mailou Jones was a painter whose works reflect a command of widely varied styles, from traditional landscape to African-themed abstraction.

Painter Frida Kahlo was a Mexican self-portrait artist who was married to Diego Rivera and is still admired as a feminist icon.

Russian-born painter Wassily Kandinsky is credited as a leader in avant-garde art as one of the founders of pure abstraction in painting in the early 20th century.

Anselm Kiefer is an internationally acclaimed German painter and sculptor whose work looks at his country’s political past.

Paul Klee was a prolific Swiss and German artist best known for his large body of work, influenced by cubism, expressionism and surrealism.

Painter Simmie Knox is the first African-American artist to create an official U.S. presidential portrait. He debuted his portrait of President Bill Clinton in 2004.

Jeff Koons is a famous contemporary artist whose work is influenced by an eclectic array of sensibilities.

Modernist abstract painter and collage artist Lee Krasner, wife of Jackson Pollock, created the Little Image painting series and the multimedia collage "Milkweed."

Jacob Lawrence was an American painter, and the most widely acclaimed African-American artist of the 20th century. He is best known for his Migration Series.

Painter Ernest Lawson is known for his impressionistic urban landscapes using thick, intense color. His major work includes Spring Night, Harlem River.

American artist Jack Levine is best remembered for his American Social Realist paintings, including "Gangster Funeral," which satirized corruption in the modern world.

Sol Lewitt was an American artist best known for helping to launch Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the Post-War era.

Roy Lichtenstein was an American pop artist best known for his boldly-colored parodies of comic strips and advertisements.

Aristide Maillol was a French artist, mostly known as a sculptor of monumental statues of female nudes.

Edouard Manet was a French painter who depicted everyday scenes of people and city life. He was a leading artist in the transition from realism to impressionism.

Robert Mapplethorpe, recognized as a giant of late 20th century photography, is best known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits.

American Mary Cassatt was one of the leading artists in the Impressionist movement of the later part of the 1800s.

Henri Matisse was a revolutionary and influential artist of the early 20th century, best known for the expressive color and form of his Fauvist style.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a U.S.-born British painter who was highly influential in the late 19th century. His best-known work is "Whistler's Mother."

Michelangelo is widely regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance. Among his works are the David and Pieta statues and the Sistine Chapel frescoes. 

John Everett Millais was a 19th century English painter who co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Jean-Francois Millet was a French painter who is well known for his paintings of peasants and the labors of rural life.

Catalan painter Joan Miró combined abstract art with Surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces.

László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter, photographer and art teacher who took charge of the metal workshop of the Bauhaus.

Claude Monet was a famous French painter whose work gave a name to the art movement Impressionism which was concerned with capturing light and natural forms.