History is full of famous painters who have left behind their artistic legacies. From the master painters from before the 19th century to the influential artists of the modern era, today we will look at some of the best artists of all time. These famous artists have all contributed masterpieces to their various movements and styles. Our list will include famous painters from around the world, such as famous French painters, famous Spanish painters, famous American artists, and other international trendsetters.
Table of Contents
- 1 The Most Famous Painters of All Time
- 1.1 Giotto Di Bondone (1267 – 1337)
- 1.2 Jan van Eyck (1390 – 1441)
- 1.3 Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
- 1.4 Raphael (1483 – 1520)
- 1.5 El Greco (1541 – 1614)
- 1.6 Caravaggio (1571 – 1610)
- 1.7 Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1656)
- 1.8 Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665)
- 1.9 Diego Velázquez (1599 – 1660)
- 1.10 Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 – 1669)
- 1.11 Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675)
- 1.12 Elisabetta Sirani (1638 – 1665)
- 1.13 Francisco Goya (1746 -1828)
- 1.14 J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851)
- 1.15 Eugène Delacroix (1798 – 1863)
- 1.16 Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
- 1.17 Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906)
- 1.18 Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
- 1.19 Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
- 1.20 Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
- 1.21 Wassily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944)
- 1.22 Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954)
- 1.23 Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
- 1.24 Georges Braque (1882 – 1963)
- 1.25 Salvador Dalí (1904 – 1989)
- 1.26 Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954)
- 1.27 Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987)
- 2 Frequently Asked Questions
The Most Famous Painters of All Time
In this list, we will attempt to cover the best artists of all time, from famous portrait artists, to landscape painters, and many other famous artists from various artistic schools. These influential artists are still respected and copied by other artists around the globe. Many of them did not follow styles, but created them, while others perfected them. So let’s dive right in!
Giotto Di Bondone (1267 – 1337)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Florence, Italy |
| Mediums Known For | Architecture, Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Proto-Renaissance |
Giotto di Bondone was born near Florence in 1267 and worked as an architect and painter during the Late Middle Ages, within the Proto-Renaissance period of art. Giovanni Villani once described him as one of the master painters of his era, saying that all of his figure’s postures were naturalistically painted. He was known for being one of the influential artists that turned away from the dominant Byzantine style, thereby helping to initiate a new era of painting realistically that had been lacking for a couple of hundred years.
The ornamentation of the Scrovegni Chapel, often called the Arena Chapel, in Padua, which was finished about 1305, is Giotto’s opus. The Virgin’s life and Christ’s life are depicted in the fresco cycle. It is considered one of the principal works of the Early Renaissance period. One of the few things known for certain about Giotto’s life is that he created the beautiful Arena Chapel and was picked by the Commune of Florence to construct the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral in 1334.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Kiss of Judas (1306)
- Lamentation (1396)
Jan van Eyck (1390 – 1441)
| Nationality of Artist | Belgian |
| Lived In | Bruges, Belgium |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Renaissance, Flemish Renaissance |
Jan van Eyck was born in Maaseik in 1390 but was most active as a painter in the city of Bruges. His innovations within the art world led to him becoming one of the early influential artists of Early Netherlandish and Northern Renaissance art. He began working in The Hague in the year 1422. At that time he had multiple apprentices and was already considered one of the master painters.
He was then made the court-appointed painter of the ruler of Holland, John III the Pitiless. After he died in the year 1425, he was once again appointed by another royal, the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. Around twenty pieces of artwork have been attributed to him, and they all come from the period between 1432 and 1439. Half of these contain his name which was usually painted with Greek characters.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)
- Ghent Altarpiece (1432)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Italy and France |
| Mediums Known For | Engineer, Painter, Draughtsman |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Italian Renaissance, High Renaissance |
Leonardo da Vinci was not only one of the master painters of all time, but also an extremely influential person who was involved in many endeavors such as science, engineering, architecture, and art. Despite being known at first for his artwork, it was his journals that brought fame and recognition from the public at large. These journals contained notes and sketches on a multitude of subjects such as botany, paleontology, and anatomy.
He is regularly cited as being the father of the High Renaissance period. His paintings are considered priceless, and those that have been sold cost the buyers hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire. He is not only one of the most influential artists of all time but is still widely revered for his innovative concepts and designs that were way ahead of their time.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Mona Lisa (1503 – 1516)
- Salvator Mundi (1499 – 1510)
Raphael (1483 – 1520)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Urbino, Duchy of Urbino |
| Mediums Known For | Painting, Architecture |
| Movements Associated with Artist | High Renaissance |
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was a Renaissance-era painter and architect from Italy. On April 6th, 1520, he was born in Rome. Historians have frequently praised his work for its clarity of form and skill of composition. Along with Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he is regarded as a member of the “Trinity of Masters.” When he died at the age of 37, he left behind a huge body of work.
Raphael studied at Perugia, the capital of Umbria, under the Italian Renaissance painter Perugino before traveling to Florence. He was not only one of the best artists of all time, but also a highly respected architect. He was the main architect for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica for a time, collaborating with Antonio Sangallo.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Sistine Madonna (1513)
- Transfiguration (1523)
El Greco (1541 – 1614)
| Nationality of Artist | Spanish |
| Lived In | Greece and Spain |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Spanish Renaissance |
On October 1, 1541, Doménikos Theotokópoulos was born in Crete. El Greco was his nickname, which referred to the artist’s birthplace of Crete. Despite his Greek ancestry, he was regarded as an important figure in the Spanish Renaissance. El Greco studied and mastered post-Byzantine art before embarking on a typical tour of Venice for young Greek painters at the period, at the age of 26.
In 1570, he relocated to Rome and established a workshop. During this period, he began to include contemporary painters’ styles, such as Mannerism, as well as aspects of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577, he relocated to the city of Toledo in Spain, where he would stay until he died in 1614. During this time, he received commissions for many of his most highly renowned works. Although his expressionistic and dramatic approach perplexed his contemporaries, it was later praised by historians and critics of the twentieth century.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Dormition of the Virgin (1567)
- The Adoration of the Magi (1565)
Caravaggio (1571 – 1610)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Rome, Naples, Sicily |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque, Caravaggisti |
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born on September 29, 1571, in Milan. He spent the last few years of his life bouncing between Malte, Naples, and Sicily, having spent the majority of his life in Rome pursuing a career as an artist. The famous Italian’s work had the most impactful influence on other painters of his time in the early days of the formation of the Baroque period, out of all the Italian Baroque painters.
Scholars and other artists praised him for his dramatic and magnificent use of lighting, as well as his realistic depictions of the human condition in terms of mental and physical ailments and sufferings. Caravaggio’s fame grew as a result of his innovative interpretations of classical themes, as well as his technical skill.
The use of an art technique known as Chiaroscuro, which pertains to the dramatic interplay between the light and dark parts of a composition, generally set in extreme contrasting conditions, is a prominent feature of Baroque art.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Supper at Emmaus (1601)
- David with the head of Goliath (c. 1600)
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1656)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Rome and Naples, Italy |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque Art, Feminist |
Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the few female Baroque artists among other Italian Baroque painters. Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome, Italy on the 8th of July, 1593. Historians consider her to be one of the most highly respected artists of the seventeenth century. She was a talented artist who started her work in the profession at the very early age of fifteen.
She paved the path for a generation of female artists that would follow. Her powerful representations of women as mythological, biblical, and historical figures were frequent references to the feminine component of her art. This persistent and driven young lady was the first woman to be admitted to the Accademia di Arte del Disegno. She had a large number of patrons and clients from other countries. She was known for her expertise in employing color to communicate layers of drama and complexity in her compositions, as well as her ability to represent the female body in a genuine and realistic manner.
Some exceptional examples of her work include:
- Jael and Sisera (1620)
- Venus and Cupid (1630)
Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | France and Italy |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque, Classicism |
Nicolas Poussin was one of the famous French painters. He was a classical Baroque artist who was born in 1594 at Les Andelys in Normandy. Despite the fact that he was born in France, he spent the majority of his life in Rome, Italy, where he lived and worked.
Before returning to Rome, he painted for Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIII in Paris for a short time. Poussin’s art is characterized by the use of order, rationality, and clarity in his compositions, as well as a preference for line over color in his painted landscapes. Poussin is often regarded by academics as the originator of the notion of perfect landscapes, in which the fundamental relationship between humans and their surroundings is artistically explored.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Death of Germanicus (1628)
- Venus and Adonis (1628)
Diego Velázquez (1599 – 1660)
| Nationality of Artist | Spanish |
| Lived In | Seville, Spain |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque |
Diego Velázquez was a renowned artist during the Spanish Golden Age and at King Philip IV’s court. He was born in the Spanish city of Seville on the 6th of June, 1599. He was recognized for his various depictions of historically significant events, as well as his portraits of Spanish nobles and commoners, and his work was highly distinctive for the time.
His style would have a long-lasting impact on the 19th-century Impressionists and Realists. Many of his most famous paintings have been reinterpreted by 20th-century painters such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Francis Bacon. Despite knowing all of the well-known painters of the time, Diego Velázquez was able to preserve and create his own style and set of creative ideas.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Las Meninas (1656)
- Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650)
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 – 1669)
| Nationality of Artist | Dutch |
| Lived In | Leiden and Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Mediums Known For | Painting, Printmaking, Draughtsman |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
Rembrandt van Rijn, the Dutch artist, was born in 1606 in the town of Leiden and is most likely the most famous Dutch artist on our list. Born to a family of millers, Rembrandt came to Amsterdam at the age of eighteen to apprentice for the well-known painter, Piter Lastman. He returned to Leiden after six months of apprenticeship with Lastman to begin his painting workshop. Here, he began taking students such as Gerrit Dou, and news of his work and skill spread.
In 1631, he returned to Amsterdam, where he began to get his first significant commissions, such as the painting he made for the patron Nicolaes Tulp. Three years later, in 1634, he was betrothed to Saskia van Uylenburch. Despite his tremendous brilliance and popularity, his latter years were tarnished by terrible circumstances. Due to increasing debts, he had to sell his assets and house after his wife died. He would lose his son, as well as his lover, Henkdrickje Stoffels, in the space of a few years, and he died in poverty in 1669.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Night Watch (1642)
- The Jewish Bride (1665)
Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675)
| Nationality of Artist | Dutch |
| Lived In | Holland |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
Johannes Vermeer was a Baroque painter from the Netherlands. His paintings of middle-class life, particularly interior home settings, are well-known. He worked on each painting for a lengthy period of time, taking great care to apply details methodically and without rushing.
In his artworks, he is most known for his beautiful and skillful use of light. Vermeer enjoyed minor success throughout his career, receiving considerable reputation in The Hague, but his small paintings were created with especially expensive paint, and he died in debt to his family in December of 1675.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665)
- The Milkmaid (1658)
Elisabetta Sirani (1638 – 1665)
| Nationality of Artist | Italian |
| Lived In | Bologna, Holy Roman Empire |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Baroque Art |
Elisabetta Sirani was a Baroque period artist who was born on January 8, 1638, in Bologna, a town within the Holy Roman Empire. Elisabetta’s very first apprenticeship would be received from her father in his personal studio since the Sirani’s were a creative family. Giovanni, her father, was a Bologna School artist and art trader. Carlo Cesare Malvasia, an Italian academic and art historian, was frequently credited with persuading her father to provide her with painting lessons.
According to some historians, her father was hesitant to educate her in the Bolognese manner, but she was able to catch up on his methods and was quickly regarded as one of the region’s greatest artists. People began to assume she was the reincarnation of the painter from Italy, Guido Reni, and a cult started to surface, based on this belief. Her work has been commended for its professionalism, speed of creation, and uniqueness of its compositions.
Some exceptional examples of her work include:
- Virgin and Child (1663)
- Portia Wounding Her Thigh (1664)
Francisco Goya (1746 -1828)
| Nationality of Artist | Spanish |
| Lived In | Madrid and Bordeaux |
| Mediums Known For | Painting, Drawing |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Romanticism |
Francisco Goya was a painter from Aragon who was born in the town of Fuendetodos. He began studying with José Luzán y Martinez at the age of fourteen and continued his studies in Madrid with Anton Raphael Mengs. For his contributions to the Romanticism movement, he was named court painter to the Spanish Crown in 1786. As a result, much of his early work consists of commissioned portraits of the Spanish monarchy and aristocracy.
Scholars consider Francisco Goya to be one of the most highly renowned and influential Spanish artists of the early 19th century, and he is sometimes cited as the Last Old Master. Goya’s paintings were appreciated for their depictions of historical events and current happenings. When he was diagnosed with a condition that rendered him deaf in 1793, his art became more gloomy and darker.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Nude Maja (1800)
- The Third of May 1808 (1814)
J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851)
| Nationality of Artist | British |
| Lived In | United Kingdom |
| Mediums Known For | Painter, Printmaker |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Romanticism |
J.M.W Turner was an English painter who was born on the 23rd of April, 1775, in the village of Covent Garden in London. He was a Romantic painter and printer most renowned for his vivid and occasionally violent representations of naval boats and sea life. He is renowned for being one of the most influential artists in landscape painting.
He was an extremely private character who kept to himself and was regarded as rather eccentric. He never married but had a couple of daughters with Sarah Danby, his Housemaid. As he grew older, his demeanor grew increasingly sour, particularly after the death of his father. Despite dying in poverty, he is regarded as one of the most famous artists in the landscape genre.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Modern Rome (1839)
- Fishermen at Sea (1796)
Eugène Delacroix (1798 – 1863)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | Paris |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Romanticism, Romanesque |
Eugène Delacroix was the most well-known artist of the Romantic era in France in the nineteenth century, and he is often regarded as the most important French artist of his time. Impressionism was profoundly inspired by his vibrant use of color and extremely expressive brushstrokes. Unlike Ingres and other Neoclassical artists, who focused on form perfection, Delacroix focused on movement and color.
His major influences were Venetian Renaissance painters such as Rubens. His art was marked by romantic but dramatic material as its major themes. He was uninterested in the traditional traditions of Roman and Greek art, preferring instead to explore the unknown by going to locations like North Africa for inspiration.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Liberty Leading the People (1830)
- The Massacre of Chio (1824)
Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | Paris, France |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Realism, Impressionism |
Édouard Manet was a native to Paris, France, and was born on the 23rd of January, 1832. He was regarded as a Modernist painter in the 19th century for his depictions of modern life and was regarded as a leading figure in the transitional movement from the style of Realism to Impressionism. He was born into a political family and was expected to make a career out of politics.
Manet, on the other hand, quickly dismissed the idea of pursuing his childhood goal of becoming an artist. Manet created a distinctive style that was recognized for its creativity and influenced many later painters over the last two decades of his life. His early paintings are recognized as forerunners in the impressionist movement.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Olympia (1863)
- Luncheon on the Grass (1863)
Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | Aix-en-Provence, France |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Post-Impressionism, Modern art, Impressionism |
Paul Cézanne is the most well-known Post-Impressionist painter in France. He is most recognized for bridging the gap between 19th-century Impressionist painters and Cubism, the most popular trend in the early twentieth century. He was also renowned for experimenting with the notion of “geometric simplicity,” in which an apple would be represented by a sphere and a tree’s trunk by a cylinder.
The use of exploratory and repeated brushstrokes is characteristic of Paul Cézanne’s work. He used these brushstrokes to create color planes and complex fields by applying tiny brushstrokes repeatedly. This demonstrates how thoroughly he researched his subjects. Many of his contemporaries, including Picasso and Matisse, regarded him as the “Father of Us All.”
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Card Players series (the 1890s)
- The Baskets of Apples (1890)
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | Paris, France |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Impressionism, Modern Art |
Oscar-Claude Monet, who was born on November 14, 1840, is a well-known French painter who is often regarded as the originator and father of Impressionism. He sought to depict nature as he subjectively saw it, and as a result, he is regarded as a significant forerunner of the Modernist movement.
Throughout Monet’s lengthy career, he was known as the most prolific practitioner of Impressionism, a theory that prioritizes the painter’s subjective impressions above the objective perspective of nature, with a focus on landscapes and other outdoor themes. His impact on the art movement may be seen in the art movement’s adoption of the title of his picture Impression, which led to the name “Impressionism.”
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Water Lilies series (1896 – 1926)
- Rouen Cathedral series (1892 – 1893)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
| Nationality of Artist | French |
| Lived In | Cagnes-sur-Mer, France |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Impressionist |
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was one of the most productive famous French painters of the 19th century and was considered a leader among fellow French Impressionist movement painters. He specialized in painting personal portraits of people in natural settings and postures. Renoir’s work was regarded by historians to be the last depiction of an old tradition that went from Rubens through Watteau, and it highlighted the feminine form and themes of beauty and sensuality.
Upon his death in December of 1919, an incredible legacy of Impressionist artwork that has influenced numerous other painters was left behind. His work not only influenced the Impressionist style, but also the other creative movements that followed. His technique was defined by showing the finer elements of a painted scene by stroking freely with color to blend the surroundings and characters together gently and discreetly.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881)
- The Large Bathers (1887)
Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
| Nationality of Artist | Dutch |
| Lived In | Netherlands, France |
| Mediums Known For | Painting |
| Movements Associated with Artist | Post-Impressionism |
A famous portrait artist and landscape painter, Vincent van Gogh was a post-impressionist Dutch painter who was born in Zundert, Netherlands. He created several portraits, still lifes, and landscape paintings, but it was only after his death in 1890 that he gained popularity and critical acclaim. He produced approximately 2,100 pieces of art, many of which were created in the last ten years of his life.
His style, which is instantly identifiable for its dramatic use of color and expressively spontaneous brush strokes, served to establish the basis for contemporary art. Despite his worldwide fame, he lived in poverty and battled delusions and insanity throughout his life. Due to a disagreement with fellow artist Gauguin, he famously chopped off his ear and spent some time in numerous mental institutions.
Some exceptional examples of his work include:
- The Starry Night (1889)
- The Potato Eaters (1885)
