Famous painters · A gallery of the great originals

The 100 Most Famous Painters of All Time, Seen by a Gallery

In the eye of our gallery, Leonardo da Vinci stands first among the most famous artists of all time: the hand behind Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Vincent van Gogh follow. Here are the 100 greatest painters ever ranked, each one unique, with dates, movement and the original works that keep the name alive.

Selected by the OriginalUniqueArt.com gallery Updated 25 October 2026 100 painters · the original works behind each name · a 9-minute read

How the gallery chose them: the OriginalUniqueArt.com team built this ranking by hand and reviewed it entry by entry in October 2026. Three things set the order: how famous each painter remains today, how far their influence reached into the art that followed, and how strongly their original works are held in the great museums. Like the history of museums, the 100 names lean toward Europe and North America.

Famous painters, from 1 to 10

1. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

Italian · High Renaissance · born in Anchiano

Signature works: Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Lady with an Ermine

The archetype of the Renaissance genius: painter, engineer and anatomist whose notebooks run to some 7,000 surviving pages. Fewer than twenty paintings are firmly his, yet the Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre in 1911, became the most visited painting on earth, and his Last Supper fixed how the West pictures that scene.

Mona Lisa, 1519 — *Mona Lisa*, 1519 · The Louvre

The Last Supper, 1495 — *The Last Supper*, 1495 · Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Lady with an Ermine, 1490 — *Lady with an Ermine*, 1490 · Czartoryski Museum

The Leonardo da Vinci gallery: 577 works

2. Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

Spanish · Cubism · from Málaga

Celebrated for: Guernica, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, The Old Guitarist

Over a career of almost 80 years Picasso co-invented Cubism with Georges Braque, broke the single viewpoint of painting with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and turned the bombing of a Basque town into Guernica, the 20th century's best-known protest image. He left an estimated 50,000 works across painting, sculpture, ceramics and print.

Guernica, 1937 — *Guernica*, 1937 · Reina Sofía, Madrid

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 — *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon*, 1907 · MoMA, New York

*The Old Guitarist* · Art Institute of Chicago

View the 2,365 works of Pablo Picasso

3. Rembrandt (1606–1669)

Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · born in Leiden

Signature works: The Night Watch, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, The Return of the Prodigal Son

The greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age and of the human face. Rembrandt's light and shadow, used to show thought rather than drama, run from The Night Watch (1642), his huge group portrait of an Amsterdam militia, to about 80 self-portraits that record forty years of his own ageing with unflinching honesty.

The Night Watch, 1642 — *The Night Watch*, 1642 · Rijksmuseum

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, 1632 — *The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp*, 1632 · Mauritshuis

The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1662 — *The Return of the Prodigal Son*, 1662 · Hermitage Museum

The Rembrandt gallery: 1,554 works

4. Michelangelo (1475–1564)

Italian · High Renaissance · born in Caprese Michelangelo

Remembered for: The Creation of Adam, The Last Judgment, The Libyan Sibyl

A sculptor who called himself one, Michelangelo still painted the most famous ceiling in the world: 500 square metres of the Sistine Chapel, finished in 1512, including The Creation of Adam. Thirty years later he covered its altar wall with The Last Judgment. His muscular, twisting bodies set the course for Mannerism and the Baroque.

The Creation of Adam, 1512 — *The Creation of Adam*, 1512 · Sistine Chapel

The Last Judgment, 1537 — *The Last Judgment*, 1537 · Sistine Chapel

The Libyan Sibyl, 1511 — *The Libyan Sibyl*, 1511 · Sistine Chapel

Browse Michelangelo: 696 works

5. Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)

Dutch · Post-Impressionism · born in Zundert

Remembered for: The Starry Night, Sunflowers, Café Terrace at Night

Van Gogh painted for barely ten years and sold almost nothing while he lived, yet his roughly 860 oil paintings, many made in his last two years in Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers, are now among the most reproduced images ever. The Starry Night and the Sunflowers made his thick, swirling brushwork and pure colour instantly recognisable.

The Starry Night, 1889 — *The Starry Night*, 1889 · MoMA, New York

Sunflowers, 1888 — *Sunflowers*, 1888 · Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Café Terrace at Night, 1888 — *Café Terrace at Night*, 1888 · Kröller-Müller Museum

Browse Vincent van Gogh: 2,857 works

6. Claude Monet (1840–1926)

French · Impressionism · from Paris

Celebrated for: Impression, Sunrise, Water Lilies, Woman with a Parasol

The founder of Impressionism: the movement takes its name from his Impression, Sunrise (1872). Monet painted the same haystack, cathedral or pond at different hours to catch changing light, and spent his last thirty years painting the water lilies of his garden at Giverny, a series that points straight to abstract art.

Water Lilies, 1916 — *Water Lilies*, 1916 · National Museum of Western Art

Woman with a Parasol, 1875 — *Woman with a Parasol*, 1875 · National Gallery of Art

View the 2,448 works of Claude Monet

7. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)

German · Northern Renaissance · from Nuremberg

Celebrated for: Young Hare, Melencolia I, Self-portrait at 22

Germany's great Renaissance master brought Italian ideas north and made the print an art of its own. Dürer's engravings and woodcuts, such as Melencolia I and the Rhinoceros, travelled across Europe; in his 1500 Self-Portrait he painted himself frontally, in a pose that recalls images of Christ. His Young Hare is still a model of observation.

Young Hare, 1502 — *Young Hare*, 1502 · Albertina

Self-portrait at 22, 1493 — *Self-portrait at 22*, 1493 · The Louvre

View the 1,220 works of Albrecht Dürer

8. Caravaggio (1571–1610)

Italian · Baroque · from Milan

Celebrated for: The Calling of Saint Matthew, Judith Beheading Holofernes, The Supper at Emmaus

Caravaggio painted saints as street people, lit from one side against black backgrounds. That stark light, called tenebrism, made The Calling of Saint Matthew a sensation in Rome in 1600 and spread across Europe through his followers. His violent life, a death sentence for killing a man in a brawl, and his death at 38 added to a legend that has never faded.

The Calling of Saint Matthew, 1599 — *The Calling of Saint Matthew*, 1599 · San Luigi dei Francesi

Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1598 — *Judith Beheading Holofernes*, 1598 · Galleria Nazional d Art Antica

View the 264 works of Caravaggio

9. Raphael (1483–1520)

Italian · High Renaissance · from Urbino

Celebrated for: School of Athens, The Sistine Madonna, The Transfiguration

Raphael gave the High Renaissance its ideal of harmony and grace. In his twenties he painted The School of Athens in the Vatican, gathering Plato, Aristotle and the thinkers of antiquity in one perfect space, and his gentle Madonnas became the model for religious painting for four centuries. He died at 37, already the most admired painter in Rome.

School of Athens, 1511 — *School of Athens*, 1511 · Apostolic Palace

The Sistine Madonna, 1513 — *The Sistine Madonna*, 1513 · Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

The Transfiguration, 1520 — *The Transfiguration*, 1520 · Vatican Museums

View the 608 works of Raphael

10. Diego Velázquez (1599–1660)

Spanish · Baroque · born in Seville

Remembered for: Las Meninas, The Rokeby Venus, The Surrender of Breda

Court painter to Philip IV of Spain, Velázquez painted kings, dwarfs and servants with the same loose, exact brushwork. Las Meninas (1656), in which the painter looks out at us while painting the royal couple, is one of the most analysed pictures in history. Manet called him 'the painter of painters'.

The Rokeby Venus, 1648 — *The Rokeby Venus*, 1648 · National Gallery, London

The Surrender of Breda, 1634 — *The Surrender of Breda*, 1634 · Museo del Prado

Browse Diego Velázquez: 468 works

Famous painters, from 11 to 20

11. Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)

French · Post-Impressionism · from Aix-en-Provence

Celebrated for: The Card Players, Mont Sainte-Victoire, The Large Bathers

Cézanne rebuilt painting from cylinders, spheres and cones. His dozens of views of the Mont Sainte-Victoire, his apples and his Card Players look solid and slightly unstable at once, and that shift opened the way to Cubism. Matisse and Picasso both called him 'the father of us all'.

The Card Players, 1893 — *The Card Players*, 1893 · Musée d'Orsay

Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1897 — *Mont Sainte-Victoire*, 1897 · Baltimore Museum of Art

The Large Bathers, 1900 — *The Large Bathers*, 1900 · National Gallery, London

View the 1,227 works of Paul Cézanne

12. Francisco Goya (1746–1828)

Spanish · Romanticism · from Fuendetodos

Celebrated for: The Third of May 1808, Saturn Devouring His Son, The Nude Maja

Goya painted the Spanish court, then the horrors of war and his own nightmares. The Third of May 1808 turned an execution of civilians into the first modern war painting, and the Black Paintings he made on the walls of his house, including Saturn Devouring His Son, are among the darkest images in art.

Saturn Devouring His Son, 1823 — *Saturn Devouring His Son*, 1823 · Museo del Prado

The Nude Maja, 1797 — *The Nude Maja*, 1797

View the 1,429 works of Francisco Goya

13. Giotto (1267–1337)

Italian · Proto-Renaissance · from Vicchio

Celebrated for: Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ), The Kiss of Judas, Ognissanti Madonna

Giotto broke with flat Byzantine icons and painted people with weight, emotion and space around them. His fresco cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, finished around 1305, is often called the starting point of Western painting. He also designed the bell tower of Florence cathedral, which still bears his name.

Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ), 1306 — *Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ)*, 1306

The Kiss of Judas, 1304 — *The Kiss of Judas*, 1304 · Cappella Scrovegni

Ognissanti Madonna, 1310 — *Ognissanti Madonna*, 1310

View the 485 works of Giotto

14. Andy Warhol (1928–1987)

American · Pop Art · born in Pittsburgh

Remembered for: Campbell's Soup Cans, Marilyn Diptych, Triple Elvis

Warhol made consumer goods and celebrities into art: Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), the Marilyn silkscreens, the Brillo boxes. His studio, the Factory, produced images like a production line, and his line that everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes predicted the age of television and social media. He is the face of Pop Art.

Marilyn Diptych, 1962 — *Marilyn Diptych*, 1962

Triple Elvis, 1963 — *Triple Elvis*, 1963

Browse Andy Warhol: 428 works

15. Henri Matisse (1869–1954)

French · Fauvism · born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis

Remembered for: The Dance, Harmony in Red, Woman with a Hat

Matisse led the Fauves, the 'wild beasts' who used colour for feeling rather than description, and remained Picasso's great rival for fifty years. From The Dance and The Red Studio to the paper cut-outs of his last decade, such as The Snail, his work is a lesson in how far pure colour can carry a picture.

The Dance, 1909 — *The Dance*, 1909 · Hermitage Museum

Harmony in Red, 1908 — *Harmony in Red*, 1908 · Hermitage Museum

Woman with a Hat, 1905 — *Woman with a Hat*, 1905

Browse Henri Matisse: 1,214 works

16. Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)

Russian · Abstract art · from Moscow

Celebrated for: Composition VIII, Yellow-Red-Blue, Poplars

Kandinsky is usually credited with some of the first purely abstract paintings, around 1910-1913. He co-founded the Blue Rider group in Munich, taught at the Bauhaus and argued, in Concerning the Spiritual in Art, that colour and form act on the soul like music. Composition VII is his densest statement of that idea.

Composition VIII, 1923 — *Composition VIII*, 1923 · Guggenheim, New York

Yellow-Red-Blue, 1925 — *Yellow-Red-Blue*, 1925 · Centre Pompidou

Poplars, 1902 — *Poplars*, 1902 · Centre Pompidou

View the 729 works of Wassily Kandinsky

17. Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)

Flemish · Baroque · born in Siegen

Remembered for: Descent from the Cross, The Raising of the Cross, The Judgement of Paris

The great painter of the Flemish Baroque ran Europe's busiest workshop in Antwerp and worked as a diplomat between courts. Rubens' energetic compositions, warm flesh and swirling movement fill altarpieces such as The Descent from the Cross and the 24 canvases of the Marie de' Medici cycle in the Louvre. 'Rubenesque' entered the language from his figures.

Descent from the Cross, 1618 — *Descent from the Cross*, 1618 · Hermitage Museum

The Raising of the Cross, 1620 — *The Raising of the Cross*, 1620

The Judgement of Paris, 1606 — *The Judgement of Paris*, 1606 · Museo del Prado

Browse Peter Paul Rubens: 1,641 works

18. Edvard Munch (1863–1944)

Norwegian · Expressionism · from Ådalsbruk

Celebrated for: The Scream, Madonna, The Sick Child

The Scream (1893) made Munch the painter of modern anxiety: a figure on a bridge under a blood-red sky, painted in several versions, one of which sold for $119.9 million in 2012. His Frieze of Life on love, jealousy and death made him a founder of Expressionism.

Madonna, 1894 — *Madonna*, 1894 · Munch Museum

View the 2,121 works of Edvard Munch

19. Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675)

Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · born in Delft

Signature works: Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid, The Art of painting

Only about 35 paintings are attributed to Vermeer, almost all quiet interiors in Delft lit from a window on the left. Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid and The Art of Painting show a control of daylight and colour that no one has matched. Forgotten for two centuries, he was rediscovered in the 1860s.

Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665 — *Girl with a Pearl Earring*, 1665 · Mauritshuis

The Milkmaid, 1658 — *The Milkmaid*, 1658 · Rijksmuseum

The Art of painting, 1668 — *The Art of painting*, 1668 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Johannes Vermeer gallery: 226 works

20. Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)

French · Post-Impressionism · from Paris

Celebrated for: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, Vision after the Sermon, Yellow Christ

Gauguin left a Paris stockbroking career for painting, then left Europe for Tahiti and the Marquesas. His flat areas of bold colour and symbolic scenes, such as Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, freed colour from realism and deeply influenced Matisse and the Fauves.

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, 1897 — *Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?*, 1897 · Museum of Fine Arts

Vision after the Sermon, 1888 — *Vision after the Sermon*, 1888

Yellow Christ, 1889 — *Yellow Christ*, 1889 · Buffalo AKG Art Museum

View the 928 works of Paul Gauguin

Famous painters, from 21 to 30

21. Édouard Manet (1832–1883)

French · Realism and Impressionism · born in former 10th arrondissement of Paris

Signature works: Olympia, The Luncheon on the Grass, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

Manet painted modern Paris and shocked it: the nude picnic of Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863) and the direct gaze of Olympia caused scandals at the Salon. His flat, frank brushwork made him the bridge from Realism to Impressionism, and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is his last masterpiece.

Olympia, 1863 — *Olympia*, 1863 · Musée d'Orsay

The Luncheon on the Grass, 1863 — *The Luncheon on the Grass*, 1863 · Musée d'Orsay

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882 — *A Bar at the Folies-Bergère*, 1882 · Courtauld Gallery

The Édouard Manet gallery: 587 works

22. El Greco (1541–1614)

Greek-born Spanish · Mannerism · born in Heraklion

Remembered for: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, View of Toledo, The Disrobing of Christ

Born in Crete, trained in Venice, settled in Toledo, El Greco painted stretched figures, flickering light and acid colour that baffled his contemporaries. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz and the View of Toledo were rediscovered by the Expressionists and Picasso, who saw in him a modern before his time.

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, 1586 — *The Burial of the Count of Orgaz*, 1586 · Santo Tomé

View of Toledo, 1599 — *View of Toledo*, 1599 · The Met, New York

The Disrobing of Christ, 1583 — *The Disrobing of Christ*, 1583 · Alte Pinakothek

Browse El Greco: 750 works

23. Frida Kahlo (1907–1954)

Mexican · Surrealism and Mexican folk art · born in Coyoacán

Signature works: The Two Fridas, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, The Broken Column

Frida Kahlo painted about 55 self-portraits, many from her bed after a bus accident at 18 left her in lifelong pain. The Two Fridas and Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird mix Mexican folk art, pain and politics. In 1939 the Louvre bought one of her works, a first for a 20th-century Mexican artist.

The Two Fridas, 1939 — *The Two Fridas*, 1939

*Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird*

The Broken Column, 1944 — *The Broken Column*, 1944 · Museo Dolores Olmedo

The Frida Kahlo gallery: 218 works

24. Jan van Eyck (1390–1441)

Flemish · Early Netherlandish · born in Maaseik

Remembered for: The Arnolfini Portrait, The Ghent Altarpiece, The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin

Jan van Eyck perfected oil painting in Bruges and with it a new realism: reflections, fabric, fur and light rendered with microscopic precision. The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), with its convex mirror, and the Ghent Altarpiece, the most stolen artwork in history, are founding works of Northern Renaissance painting.

The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 — *The Arnolfini Portrait*, 1434 · National Gallery, London

The Ghent Altarpiece, 1425 — *The Ghent Altarpiece*, 1425 · Cathedral of St Bavo

The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, 1435 — *The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin*, 1435 · The Louvre

Browse Jan van Eyck: 228 works

25. Titian (1490–1576)

Italian · Venetian Renaissance · from Pieve di Cadore

Celebrated for: The Venus of Urbino, Assumption of the Virgin, Bacchus and Ariadne

Titian dominated Venetian painting for some sixty years and painted for popes, emperors and kings. He built pictures from colour rather than drawing, from the radiant Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari to the Venus of Urbino, the model for centuries of reclining nudes, and his loose late brushwork anticipates Impressionism.

The Venus of Urbino, 1538 — *The Venus of Urbino*, 1538 · Uffizi, Florence

Assumption of the Virgin, 1516 — *Assumption of the Virgin*, 1516 · Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

Bacchus and Ariadne, 1523 — *Bacchus and Ariadne*, 1523 · National Gallery, London

View the 953 works of Titian

26. Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510)

Italian · Early Renaissance · from Florence

Celebrated for: The Birth of Venus, Primavera, Adoration of the Magi

The painter of Medici Florence. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, both in the Uffizi, revived the gods of antiquity with flowing lines and delicate grace. Forgotten for three centuries, he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites, and his Venus is now one of the most reproduced images of the Renaissance.

The Birth of Venus, 1485 — *The Birth of Venus*, 1485 · Uffizi, Florence

View the 733 works of Sandro Botticelli

27. Salvador Dalí (1904–1989)

Spanish · Surrealism · born in Figueres

Remembered for: The Persistence of Memory, Swans Reflecting Elephants, The Elephants

The best-known Surrealist turned dreams into precise, hallucinatory images: the melting watches of The Persistence of Memory (1931) at MoMA are among the most recognised pictures of the 20th century. Dalí's moustache, provocations and showmanship made him one of the first artists to be a media celebrity.

The Persistence of Memory, 1980 — *The Persistence of Memory*, 1980

Browse Salvador Dalí: 1,791 works

28. Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)

Austrian · Vienna Secession · born in Baumgarten

Remembered for: The Kiss, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, The Tree of Life

Klimt led the Vienna Secession and painted its golden age. The Kiss (1908) and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, covered in real gold leaf, combine Byzantine mosaic and Art Nouveau ornament. The Adele portrait, looted by the Nazis and returned to its heirs, sold in 2006 for $135 million.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907 — *Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I*, 1907 · Museum for German and Austrian Art and Private Collection

The Tree of Life, 1909 — *The Tree of Life*, 1909 · Museum of Applied Arts

Browse Gustav Klimt: 744 works

29. Piet Mondrian (1872–1944)

Dutch · De Stijl · from Amersfoort

Celebrated for: Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, Broadway Boogie Woogie, Victory Boogie Woogie

Mondrian reduced painting to black lines, white grounds and the three primary colours. His grid compositions of the 1920s, part of the De Stijl movement, influenced architecture, fashion and graphic design as much as painting. Broadway Boogie Woogie, painted in New York, swaps the black lines for jazz-like yellow blocks.

Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930 — *Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow*, 1930

Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1943 — *Broadway Boogie Woogie*, 1943 · MoMA, New York

Victory Boogie Woogie, 1944 — *Victory Boogie Woogie*, 1944 · Kunstmuseum Den Haag

View the 692 works of Piet Mondrian

30. Joan Miró (1893–1983)

Spanish (Catalan) · Surrealism · born in Barcelona

Remembered for: Harlequin's Carnival, The Farm, The Tilled Field

The Catalan painter invented a language of floating signs, stars, eyes and biomorphic shapes in bright primary colours. Associated with Surrealism, Miró remained independent; The Harlequin's Carnival and the Constellations series of 1940-41 are his best-known works, and he also produced ceramics, murals and the Spanish tourism logo.

Harlequin's Carnival, 1925 — *Harlequin's Carnival*, 1925 · Buffalo AKG Art Museum

The Tilled Field, 1924 — *The Tilled Field*, 1924 · Guggenheim, New York

Browse Joan Miró: 428 works

Famous painters, from 31 to 40

31. Jean Michel Basquiat (1960–1988)

American · Neo-Expressionism · born in Park Slope

Signature works: Untitled (Skull), Hollywood Africans, Melting Point of Ice

Basquiat rose from the SAMO graffiti tag on New York walls to international fame in less than five years, working closely with Andy Warhol. His crowded canvases of crowns, skulls and words confront race, power and history. In 2017 his untitled skull of 1982 sold for $110.5 million, a record for an American artist at the time.

Untitled (Skull), 1981 — *Untitled (Skull)*, 1981

Hollywood Africans, 1983 — *Hollywood Africans*, 1983

Melting Point of Ice, 1984 — *Melting Point of Ice*, 1984 · The Broad

The Jean Michel Basquiat gallery: 135 works

32. Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)

French · Romanticism · born in Saint-Maurice

Signature works: Liberty Leading the People, The Death of Sardanapalus, Women of Algiers in Their Apartment

The leader of French Romanticism painted passion, colour and movement against the cool line of Ingres. Liberty Leading the People (1830), with its bare-breasted Marianne on the barricades, became the symbol of the French Republic. His travels in Morocco in 1832 fed his use of colour, later studied by the Impressionists.

Liberty Leading the People, 1831 — *Liberty Leading the People*, 1831 · The Louvre

The Death of Sardanapalus, 1827 — *The Death of Sardanapalus*, 1827 · The Louvre

Women of Algiers in Their Apartment, 1849 — *Women of Algiers in Their Apartment*, 1849 · Musée Fabre

The Eugène Delacroix gallery: 604 works

33. Masaccio (1401–1428)

Italian · Early Renaissance · from San Giovanni Valdarno

Celebrated for: The Holy Trinity, The Tribute Money, The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

Masaccio died at 26 yet changed painting. His frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence and the Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella (around 1427) are among the first paintings built on mathematical one-point perspective, with figures that stand and cast shadows. Every Florentine artist after him, Michelangelo included, studied them.

The Holy Trinity, 1425 — *The Holy Trinity*, 1425 · Santa Maria Novella

The Tribute Money, 1425 — *The Tribute Money*, 1425

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1426 — *The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden*, 1426

View the 97 works of Masaccio

34. Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)

French · Realism · born in Ornans

Signature works: A Burial at Ornans, The Stone Breakers, The Painter's Studio

Courbet declared that he would paint only what he could see, and founded Realism. A Burial at Ornans gave a village funeral the size of a history painting; The Stone Breakers showed manual labour without idealisation. His provocations, from The Origin of the World to his role in the Paris Commune, made him the model of the rebel artist.

A Burial at Ornans, 1849 — *A Burial at Ornans*, 1849 · Musée d'Orsay

The Stone Breakers, 1849 — *The Stone Breakers*, 1849 · Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

The Painter's Studio, 1855 — *The Painter's Studio*, 1855 · Musée d'Orsay

The Gustave Courbet gallery: 788 works

35. J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851)

British · Romanticism · from Maiden Lane

Celebrated for: The Fighting Temeraire, Rain, Steam and Speed, The Slave Ship

Turner painted light, weather and speed until his canvases dissolved into colour. The Fighting Temeraire and Rain, Steam and Speed are among Britain's favourite paintings, and he left some 30,000 works to the nation. Britain's leading contemporary art award, the Turner Prize, bears his name, and his face appears on the £20 note.

The Fighting Temeraire, 1838 — *The Fighting Temeraire*, 1838 · National Gallery, London

View the 870 works of J. M. W. Turner

36. Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)

French · French Classicism · from Le Havre

Celebrated for: Et in Arcadia Ego, The Death of Germanicus, Spring (The Earthly Paradise)

Poussin, a Frenchman who worked mostly in Rome, became the model of classical order in painting. His carefully composed scenes from the Bible and myth, such as Et in Arcadia ego and The Four Seasons, turned reason and balance into a doctrine for the French Academy, and Cézanne wanted to 'redo Poussin after nature'.

Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637 — *Et in Arcadia Ego*, 1637 · The Louvre

The Death of Germanicus, 1627 — *The Death of Germanicus*, 1627 · Minneapolis Institute of Art

Spring (The Earthly Paradise), 1664 — *Spring (The Earthly Paradise)*, 1664

View the 412 works of Nicolas Poussin

37. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653)

Italian · Baroque · born in Rome

Remembered for: Judith Slaying Holofernes, Susanna and the Elders, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting

Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman admitted to Florence's Academy of the Arts of Drawing, in 1616. A follower of Caravaggio, she painted strong women from the Bible with unusual force: her Judith Slaying Holofernes is one of the most violent pictures of the Baroque. Rediscovered in the 1970s, she is now the most famous woman painter of the Old Masters.

Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1613 — *Judith Slaying Holofernes*, 1613 · Museo di Capodimonte

Susanna and the Elders, 1610 — *Susanna and the Elders*, 1610 · Schloss Weissenstein

Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, 1639 — *Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting*, 1639 · Royal Collection

Browse Artemisia Gentileschi: 104 works

38. Marc Chagall (1887–1985)

Russian-French · Modernism · born in Liozna

Remembered for: I and the Village, The Birthday, Over the Town

Born in a Jewish village near Vitebsk, Chagall painted it all his life: floating lovers, fiddlers on roofs, goats and violins. Between Cubism, Surrealism and folk tale, I and the Village and The Birthday are poetry in colour. He also designed the ceiling of the Paris Opéra and stained glass from Jerusalem to Reims.

I and the Village, 1911 — *I and the Village*, 1911 · MoMA, New York

The Birthday, 1915 — *The Birthday*, 1915

Over the Town, 1918 — *Over the Town*, 1918

Browse Marc Chagall: 936 works

39. Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840)

German · Romanticism · born in Greifswald

Remembered for: Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, The Sea of Ice, Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon

The great painter of German Romanticism showed lone figures facing immense nature, often seen from behind. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog has become the image of Romanticism itself, and The Sea of Ice and Monk by the Sea pushed landscape toward the sublime and the spiritual.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818 — *Wanderer above the Sea of Fog*, 1818 · Hamburger Kunsthalle

The Sea of Ice, 1824 — *The Sea of Ice*, 1824 · Hamburger Kunsthalle

Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon, 1824 — *Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon*, 1824 · Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Browse Caspar David Friedrich: 297 works

40. Edgar Degas (1834–1917)

French · Impressionism · from Paris

Celebrated for: The Dance Class, The Absinthe Drinker, Dancers in Pink

Degas exhibited with the Impressionists but called himself a realist. He painted dancers at the Paris Opéra in about 1,500 works, racecourses, laundresses and café life, with odd angles and cut-off figures taken from photography and Japanese prints. His sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen shocked the public in 1881.

The Dance Class, 1874 — *The Dance Class*, 1874 · The Met, New York

The Absinthe Drinker, 1876 — *The Absinthe Drinker*, 1876 · Musée d'Orsay

Dancers in Pink, 1885 — *Dancers in Pink*, 1885 · Hill-Stead Museum

View the 1,074 works of Edgar Degas

Famous painters, from 41 to 50

41. Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968)

French-American · Dada · born in Blainville-Crevon

Signature works: Fountain, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, L.H.O.O.Q.

In 1917 Duchamp signed a urinal 'R. Mutt', titled it Fountain and changed what art could be: the 'readymade' made the idea more important than the hand. His Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 had already scandalised New York in 1913. Conceptual art and much of today's contemporary art descend from him.

Fountain, 1917 — *Fountain*, 1917 · Tate Modern

Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912 — *Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2*, 1912 · Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Marcel Duchamp gallery: 162 works

42. Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516)

Netherlandish · Early Netherlandish painting · from 's-Hertogenbosch

Celebrated for: The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Haywain Triptych, The Temptation of St Anthony

Bosch filled his panels with monsters, hybrid creatures and strange punishments that still defy full explanation. The Garden of Earthly Delights in the Prado, a triptych of paradise, pleasure and hell painted around 1500, is one of the most enigmatic paintings ever made. The Surrealists claimed him as an ancestor.

The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1504 — *The Garden of Earthly Delights*, 1504 · Museo del Prado

The Haywain Triptych, 1504 — *The Haywain Triptych*, 1504 · Museo del Prado

The Temptation of St Anthony, 1506 — *The Temptation of St Anthony*, 1506 · Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga

View the 371 works of Hieronymus Bosch

43. Piero della Francesca (1415–1492)

Italian · Early Renaissance · born in Sansepolcro

Remembered for: The Baptism of Christ, The Flagellation, The Montefeltro Altarpiece

Piero della Francesca was also a mathematician who wrote treatises on perspective and geometry. His serene, light-filled figures and clear spaces, in The Baptism of Christ, The Flagellation and the fresco cycle The Legend of the True Cross at Arezzo, make him the calmest and most geometric painter of the Early Renaissance.

The Baptism of Christ, 1450 — *The Baptism of Christ*, 1450

The Flagellation, 1455 — *The Flagellation*, 1455 · Galleria Nazionale delle Marche

The Montefeltro Altarpiece, 1474 — *The Montefeltro Altarpiece*, 1474 · Pinacoteca di Brera

Browse Piero della Francesca: 287 works

44. Jacopo Tintoretto (1519–1594)

Italian · Venetian Mannerism · from Venice

Celebrated for: The Last Supper, The Miracle of the Slave, Paradise

Tintoretto, the 'little dyer', painted Venice with fierce speed, dramatic perspective and flickering light. He covered the Scuola Grande di San Rocco with more than 50 canvases, and his Paradise in the Doge's Palace, about 22 metres wide, is among the largest canvas paintings in the world.

The Last Supper, 1594 — *The Last Supper*, 1594 · San Giorgio Maggiore

The Miracle of the Slave, 1548 — *The Miracle of the Slave*, 1548 · Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia

Paradise, 1579 — *Paradise*, 1579 · The Louvre

View the 707 works of Jacopo Tintoretto

45. Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525–1569)

Flemish · Northern Renaissance · born in Breda

Remembered for: The Hunters in the Snow, The Tower of Babel, The Peasant Wedding

Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted Flemish peasants, proverbs and seasons with humour and a bird's-eye view. The Hunters in the Snow, The Peasant Wedding and The Tower of Babel turned everyday life and landscape into great subjects. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna holds about a third of his surviving paintings.

The Hunters in the Snow, 1565 — *The Hunters in the Snow*, 1565 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Tower of Babel, 1563 — *The Tower of Babel*, 1563 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Peasant Wedding, 1568 — *The Peasant Wedding*, 1568 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

Browse Pieter Brueghel the Elder: 254 works

46. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)

French · Impressionism · from Limoges

Celebrated for: Bal du moulin de la Galette, Luncheon of the Boating Party, Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

Renoir painted the pleasures of modern Paris: dances, boating parties and sunlit faces. Bal du moulin de la Galette (1876) and Luncheon of the Boating Party are Impressionism at its most joyful. In old age, with hands crippled by arthritis, he kept painting with the brush strapped to his fingers.

Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881 — *Luncheon of the Boating Party*, 1881 · The Phillips Collection

Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881 — *Two Sisters (On the Terrace)*, 1881 · Art Institute of Chicago

View the 2,287 works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir

47. Paul Klee (1879–1940)

German-Swiss · Expressionism · born in Münchenbuchsee

Signature works: Twittering Machine, Senecio, Castle and Sun

Klee taught at the Bauhaus and wrote that 'colour and I are one' after a trip to Tunisia in 1914. His thousands of small works, such as Twittering Machine and Senecio, mix childlike signs, music and colour theory. The Nazis labelled his art 'degenerate'; the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern holds about 4,000 of his works.

Senecio, 1922 — *Senecio*, 1922 · Kunstmuseum Basel

Castle and Sun, 1928 — *Castle and Sun*, 1928

The Paul Klee gallery: 669 works

48. Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)

American · Abstract Expressionism · born in Cody

Remembered for: Number 1A, 1948, One: Number 31, 1950, Convergence

Pollock laid his canvases on the floor and dripped and poured paint from above, a method that made him the face of Abstract Expressionism and moved the centre of the art world from Paris to New York. A 1949 Life magazine article asked whether he was the greatest living painter in the United States. Number 1A, 1948 and Blue Poles are signature drip paintings.

Browse Jackson Pollock: 186 works

49. William Blake (1757–1827)

British · Romanticism · born in London

Remembered for: The Ancient of Days, Newton, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun

Poet, painter and engraver, Blake invented his own printing technique and his own mythology. His visionary images, such as The Ancient of Days, The Great Red Dragon paintings and the illustrations to Dante, were ignored in his lifetime and later revered by the Pre-Raphaelites, the Surrealists and the 1960s counterculture.

The Ancient of Days, 1794 — *The Ancient of Days*, 1794

*The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun* · National Gallery of Art

Browse William Blake: 324 works

50. Fra Angelico (1395–1455)

Italian · Early Renaissance · born in Vicchio

Remembered for: The Annunciation, Madonna of Humility, San Domenico Altarpiece

A Dominican friar, Fra Angelico painted with pure colour and gold for prayer. His frescoes in the cells of the San Marco convent in Florence and his Annunciation panels combine medieval devotion with the new Renaissance space. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1982, and he is the patron of artists.

The Annunciation, 1430 — *The Annunciation*, 1430 · Museo del Prado

Madonna of Humility, 1418 — *Madonna of Humility*, 1418 · Hermitage Museum

San Domenico Altarpiece, 1423 — *San Domenico Altarpiece*, 1423 · Convento di San Domenico

Browse Fra Angelico: 541 works

Famous painters, from 51 to 60

51. Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)

French · Neoclassicism · born in Paris

Signature works: The Oath of the Horatii, The Death of Marat, The Coronation of Napoleon I

David painted the French Revolution and then Napoleon. The Oath of the Horatii (1784) launched Neoclassicism; The Death of Marat made a murdered revolutionary a martyr; Napoleon Crossing the Alps and The Coronation of Napoleon built an emperor's image. His studio trained a generation, Ingres and Gros among them.

The Coronation of Napoleon I, 1805 — *The Coronation of Napoleon I*, 1805

The Jacques-Louis David gallery: 277 works

52. Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935)

Ukraine · Suprematism · born in Kyiv

Signature works: Black Square, White on White, Suprematist Composition

Malevich showed a black square on a white ground in 1915 and declared the start of Suprematism, a painting of pure feeling with no objects at all. Black Square and White on White (1918) are among the most radical works of the 20th century and influenced Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus and later minimalism.

Black Square, 1930 — *Black Square*, 1930 · Hermitage Museum

White on White, 1918 — *White on White*, 1918

Suprematist Composition, 1916 — *Suprematist Composition*, 1916

The Kazimir Malevich gallery: 564 works

53. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721)

French · Rococo · born in Valenciennes

Remembered for: Pilgrimage to Cythera, Pierrot Content, Pierrot (Gilles)

Watteau invented a new kind of painting, the fête galante: elegant couples in parks, music and melancholy. Pilgrimage to Cythera (1717) was accepted by the French Academy under that new category, and it opened the Rococo age. His Pierrot (also called Gilles) in the Louvre is one of the most haunting figures of the 18th century.

Pierrot Content, 1712 — *Pierrot Content*, 1712 · Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Pierrot (Gilles), 1719 — *Pierrot (Gilles)*, 1719 · The Louvre

Browse Jean-Antoine Watteau: 271 works

54. Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920)

Italian · School of Paris · born in Livorno

Remembered for: Reclining Nude, Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne, Nude Bust

Modigliani's long necks, almond eyes without pupils and simplified faces are recognisable at a glance. Working in Montparnasse, he combined Italian Renaissance line, African sculpture and Cézanne. He died at 35 in poverty; his Reclining Nude (1917-18) sold for $170.4 million in 2015.

Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne, 1918 — *Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne*, 1918 · The Met, New York

Browse Amedeo Modigliani: 663 works

55. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867)

French · Neoclassicism · from Montauban

Celebrated for: The Grande Odalisque, The Turkish Bath, Monsieur Bertin

Ingres defended line and classical drawing against Delacroix's colour in the great French debate of the 19th century. His impossibly long-backed Grande Odalisque, The Turkish Bath and his precise portraits of the bourgeoisie, such as Monsieur Bertin, influenced Degas, Picasso and Matisse. 'Ingres's violin', his amateur hobby, is a French idiom.

The Grande Odalisque, 1814 — *The Grande Odalisque*, 1814 · The Louvre

The Turkish Bath, 1863 — *The Turkish Bath*, 1863 · The Louvre

Monsieur Bertin, 1832 — *Monsieur Bertin*, 1832 · The Louvre

View the 610 works of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

56. Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506)

Italian · Early Renaissance · born in Isola Mantegna

Signature works: The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, The Parnassus: Mars and Venus, The Triumphs of Caesar: Trumpeters and Standard-Bearer

Mantegna brought archaeology and sculpture into painting in Padua and at the court of the Gonzaga in Mantua. His Lamentation over the Dead Christ, with its startling foreshortening, and the illusionistic Camera degli Sposi ceiling, where figures lean over a painted opening to the sky, showed how far perspective could go.

The Parnassus: Mars and Venus, 1497 — *The Parnassus: Mars and Venus*, 1497 · The Louvre

*The Triumphs of Caesar: Trumpeters and Standard-Bearer* · Royal Collection

The Andrea Mantegna gallery: 285 works

57. Giorgione (1478–1510)

Italian · Venetian School · born in Castelfranco Veneto

Signature works: The Tempest, The Sleeping Venus, The Three Philosophers

Giorgione died young, around 33, and only a handful of works are surely his, yet he changed Venetian painting by making mood and landscape the subject. The Tempest, whose meaning is still debated, and the Sleeping Venus, finished by Titian, opened the way to poetic landscape and to Titian's own art.

The Sleeping Venus, 1510 — *The Sleeping Venus*, 1510 · Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister

The Three Philosophers, 1508 — *The Three Philosophers*, 1508 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Giorgione gallery: 92 works

58. Georges Braque (1882–1963)

French · Cubism · from Argenteuil

Celebrated for: Houses at L'Estaque, Violin and Palette, Man with a Guitar

Braque invented Cubism with Picasso between 1908 and 1914, working so closely that their paintings are hard to tell apart. He introduced letters, imitation wood and, in 1912, the first papier collé. His later still lifes and Birds series made him one of the most respected French painters of the century.

Violin and Palette, 1910 — *Violin and Palette*, 1910 · Guggenheim, New York

Man with a Guitar, 1914 — *Man with a Guitar*, 1914

View the 700 works of Georges Braque

59. René Magritte (1898–1967)

Belgian · Surrealism · from Lessines

Celebrated for: The Treachery of Images (This Is Not a Pipe), The Son of Man, Time Transfixed

Magritte painted ordinary things in impossible situations with a deadpan, almost advertising style. The Treachery of Images, a pipe captioned 'This is not a pipe', and The Son of Man, a man in a bowler hat with an apple for a face, made him the most quoted Surrealist in pop culture and advertising.

The Treachery of Images (This Is Not a Pipe), 1948 — *The Treachery of Images (This Is Not a Pipe)*, 1948 · Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Son of Man, 1964 — *The Son of Man*, 1964

Time Transfixed, 1938 — *Time Transfixed*, 1938 · Art Institute of Chicago

View the 599 works of René Magritte

60. Paolo Uccello (1397–1475)

Italian · Early Renaissance · born in Pratovecchio

Remembered for: The Battle of San Romano, St George and the Dragon, The Hunt in the Forest

Uccello was obsessed with perspective, according to Vasari, working through the night on it. His three panels of The Battle of San Romano, now split between London, Florence and Paris, line up lances and fallen soldiers in strict geometric order, and his Saint George and the Dragon is a fairy tale in perspective.

The Battle of San Romano, 1456 — *The Battle of San Romano*, 1456 · Uffizi, Florence

*St George and the Dragon* · Musée Jacquemart-André

The Hunt in the Forest, 1460 — *The Hunt in the Forest*, 1460 · Ashmolean Museum

Browse Paolo Uccello: 134 works

Famous painters, from 61 to 70

61. Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543)

German · Northern Renaissance · born in Augsburg

Remembered for: The Ambassadors, Portrait of Henry VIII, Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam

Holbein became court painter to Henry VIII and fixed the faces of Tudor England. The Ambassadors (1533), with its distorted skull that appears only from the side, is one of the most famous puzzles in art; his portraits of Henry VIII, Thomas More and Erasmus are the images through which we know them.

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1523 — *Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam*, 1523 · National Gallery, London

Browse Hans Holbein the Younger: 398 works

62. David Hockney (1937–2026)

British · Pop Art · from Bradford

Celebrated for: A Bigger Splash, Pool 2 figures, Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy

The most famous living British painter. Hockney's swimming pools of 1960s California, such as A Bigger Splash, his double portraits, Yorkshire landscapes and later iPad drawings span six decades. In 2018 his Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90.3 million, then a record for a living artist.

A Bigger Splash, 1967 — *A Bigger Splash*, 1967

View the 331 works of David Hockney

63. Georges Seurat (1859–1891)

French · Neo-Impressionism · born in former 5th arrondissement of Paris

Remembered for: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Bañistas en Asnieres, 1889, The Circus

Seurat applied colour theory with a scientist's method: tiny dots of pure colour that the eye mixes from a distance, called pointillism. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-86) took him two years and launched Neo-Impressionism. He died at 31, leaving only seven monumental paintings.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886 — *A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte*, 1886 · Art Institute of Chicago

*Bañistas en Asnieres, 1889* · National Gallery, London

The Circus, 1891 — *The Circus*, 1891 · Musée d'Orsay

Browse Georges Seurat: 438 works

64. Rogier van der Weyden (1400–1464)

Belgian · Early Netherlandish art · born in Tournai

Signature works: The Descent from the Cross, Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, The Annunciation

Rogier van der Weyden added intense emotion to the realism of Van Eyck. His Descent from the Cross in the Prado, with life-size figures weeping in a shallow golden box, was copied all over Europe. He was the most influential painter in Northern Europe in the mid-15th century.

The Descent from the Cross, 1449 — *The Descent from the Cross*, 1449 · Detroit Institute of Arts

Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, 1435 — *Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin*, 1435 · Museum of Fine Arts

The Annunciation, 1440 — *The Annunciation*, 1440 · The Louvre

The Rogier van der Weyden gallery: 314 works

65. Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)

French · Romanticism · born in Rouen

Signature works: The Raft of the Medusa, A Madwoman and Compulsive Gambler, The Wounded Cuirassier

Géricault died at 32 after a riding accident, but one painting made him immortal: The Raft of the Medusa (1818-19), based on the survivors of a real shipwreck, which he researched by visiting hospitals and morgues. Its scale and raw drama opened French Romanticism. His portraits of the insane are early studies of psychology in art.

A Madwoman and Compulsive Gambler, 1822 — *A Madwoman and Compulsive Gambler*, 1822 · The Louvre

The Wounded Cuirassier, 1814 — *The Wounded Cuirassier*, 1814 · Brooklyn Museum

The Théodore Géricault gallery: 183 works

66. Jean-François Millet (1814–1875)

French · Realism, Barbizon school · born in Gréville-Hague

Signature works: The Gleaners, The Angelus, The Sower

Millet painted French peasants with dignity and near-religious gravity. The Gleaners (1857) and The Angelus, which became one of the most reproduced images of the 19th century, made him the leading painter of the Barbizon school. Van Gogh copied his works many times.

The Jean-François Millet gallery: 400 works

67. Egon Schiele (1890–1918)

Austrian · Expressionism · born in Tulln an der Donau

Remembered for: Death and the Maiden, The Embrace, Couple Embracing

Schiele's twisted, angular nudes and raw self-portraits made him, with Kokoschka, the leading Austrian Expressionist. A protégé of Klimt, he produced some 300 paintings and thousands of drawings before dying of Spanish flu at 28, in 1918. Self-Portrait with Physalis and Death and the Maiden are his best-known works.

Death and the Maiden, 1915 — *Death and the Maiden*, 1915 · Belvedere, Vienna

Browse Egon Schiele: 649 works

68. Max Ernst (1891–1976)

German · Surrealism · born in Brühl

Remembered for: The Elephant Celebes, Europe after the Rain II, The Entire City

A leading Dadaist and Surrealist, Ernst invented frottage and grattage, techniques that let chance create the image by rubbing or scraping textures. The Elephant Celebes and Europe after the Rain II turned these methods into eerie, dreamlike worlds. He spent the war years in New York, where he influenced the young Abstract Expressionists.

The Elephant Celebes, 1921 — *The Elephant Celebes*, 1921

Europe after the Rain II, 1942 — *Europe after the Rain II*, 1942 · Wadsworth Atheneum

The Entire City, 1936 — *The Entire City*, 1936 · Kunsthaus

Browse Max Ernst: 573 works

69. Francis Bacon (1909–1992)

Irish-born British · Figurative painting · from Dublin

Celebrated for: Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, Dog

Bacon painted screaming popes, twisted bodies and the meat of the human figure with a violence unique in postwar art. Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944) and the Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X are icons; his triptych Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for $142.4 million in 2013.

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944 — *Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion*, 1944

Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1953 — *Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X*, 1953 · Des Moines Art Center

Dog, 1952 — *Dog*, 1952 · MoMA, New York

View the 435 works of Francis Bacon

70. Gerhard Richter (1932)

German · Contemporary art · born in Dresden

Remembered for: Betty, Candles, Motorboat

Germany's most celebrated living painter moves between blurred paintings made from photographs, such as Betty and the October 18, 1977 cycle, and large abstractions pulled with a squeegee. Richter's range challenges the idea that a painter needs one style, and his works are among the most expensive by any living artist.

Browse Gerhard Richter: 134 works

Famous painters, from 71 to 80

71. Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319)

Italian · Sienese School, Trecento Gothic · born in Siena

Remembered for: Maestà, Rucellai Madonna, Polyptych No. 28 (The Holy Virgin with the Christ Child and Four Saints)

The great master of Siena painted the Maestà (1308-11), a double-sided altarpiece carried in procession from his workshop to the cathedral. Duccio softened Byzantine forms with human feeling and narrative, and founded the Sienese school that influenced Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers.

Rucellai Madonna, 1285 — *Rucellai Madonna*, 1285 · Uffizi, Florence

*Polyptych No. 28 (The Holy Virgin with the Christ Child and Four Saints)*

Browse Duccio di Buoninsegna: 311 works

72. Hilma af Klint (1862–1944)

Swedish · Abstract art · born in Solna

Signature works: The Ten Largest, No. 1, Childhood, The Swan, No. 1, The Swan, No. 17

Hilma af Klint painted large abstract works from 1906, years before Kandinsky, guided by spiritualist ideas. She asked that her Paintings for the Temple, including The Ten Largest, stay hidden for twenty years after her death. Revealed late, her 2018 Guggenheim show became the most visited exhibition in the museum's history.

The Ten Largest, No. 1, Childhood, 1907 — *The Ten Largest, No. 1, Childhood*, 1907

The Swan, No. 1, 1915 — *The Swan, No. 1*, 1915

The Swan, No. 17, 1915 — *The Swan, No. 17*, 1915

The Hilma af Klint gallery: 29 works

73. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875)

French · Realism (Barbizon school) · from Paris

Celebrated for: Souvenir of Mortefontaine, Woman with a Pearl, Waterfall at Terni

Corot linked classical landscape to Impressionism. He painted in the open air in Italy and the forest of Fontainebleau, then softened his landscapes into silvery, misty 'souvenirs', such as Souvenir of Mortefontaine. Monet said there was 'only one master here, Corot'. He is also one of the most forged painters in history.

Woman with a Pearl, 1858 — *Woman with a Pearl*, 1858 · The Louvre

Waterfall at Terni, 1826 — *Waterfall at Terni*, 1826 · The Met, New York

View the 1,374 works of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

74. James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)

American · Tonalism · from Lowell

Celebrated for: Whistler's Mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1), Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl

An American in London and Paris, Whistler argued that painting should be harmony of tone, like music, and titled works Symphonies and Nocturnes. Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, better known as Whistler's Mother, became an American icon; his libel suit against the critic John Ruskin is a landmark of art history.

Whistler's Mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1), 1871 — *Whistler's Mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1)*, 1871 · Musée d'Orsay

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875 — *Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket*, 1875

Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, 1864 — *Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl*, 1864 · Tate, London

View the 567 works of James McNeill Whistler

75. Frans Hals (1580–1666)

Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · from Antwerp

Celebrated for: The Laughing Cavalier, Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, The Gypsy Girl

Frans Hals painted portraits with fast, loose, visible brushstrokes that look modern even today. The Laughing Cavalier and his large militia group portraits in Haarlem capture faces in movement and good humour. Manet and Van Gogh admired his speed; Van Gogh counted 27 different blacks in his paintings.

The Laughing Cavalier, 1624 — *The Laughing Cavalier*, 1624 · Wallace Collection

Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, 1622 — *Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen*, 1622 · Rijksmuseum

View the 428 works of Frans Hals

76. Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)

French · Impressionism · born in Bourges

Signature works: The Cradle, A Summer's Day, A Corner of the Rose Garden

Berthe Morisot was one of the founding members of the Impressionist group and showed in seven of their eight exhibitions. Her rapid, airy brushwork caught women's private lives, children and gardens, as in The Cradle (1872). Manet's sister-in-law and model, she is now recognised as one of the movement's key painters.

The Cradle, 1872 — *The Cradle*, 1872 · Musée d'Orsay

A Summer's Day, 1879 — *A Summer's Day*, 1879 · National Gallery, London

A Corner of the Rose Garden, 1885 — *A Corner of the Rose Garden*, 1885

The Berthe Morisot gallery: 361 works

77. John Constable (1776–1837)

British · Romanticism · from East Bergholt

Celebrated for: The Hay Wain, Salisbury Cathedral, Hadleigh Castle

Constable painted the English countryside of his childhood, the Stour valley, with fresh light and sky studies made in the open air. The Hay Wain (1821) won a gold medal at the 1824 Paris Salon and impressed Delacroix and the French. His cloud studies are early scientific observations of weather.

The Hay Wain, 1821 — *The Hay Wain*, 1821 · National Gallery, London

Hadleigh Castle, 1828 — *Hadleigh Castle*, 1828 · Yale Center for British Art

View the 513 works of John Constable

78. Winslow Homer (1836–1910)

American · American Realism · from Boston

Celebrated for: Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), The Gulf Stream, Snap the Whip

Homer began as an illustrator of the Civil War and became America's great painter of the sea. Breezing Up, The Gulf Stream and his watercolours of the Maine coast, the Adirondacks and the Caribbean show man facing nature with directness and drama. He is often called the greatest American painter of the 19th century.

The Gulf Stream, 1906 — *The Gulf Stream*, 1906 · The Met, New York

Snap the Whip, 1872 — *Snap the Whip*, 1872 · Butler Institute of American Art

View the 716 works of Winslow Homer

79. Banksy (1973)

British · Street art · born in Bristol

Signature works: Girl with Balloon, Show me the Monet, Toxic Mary (double)

The anonymous British street artist turned stencilled graffiti into worldwide fame. Girl with Balloon partly shredded itself in its frame at Sotheby's seconds after selling in 2018, renamed Love Is in the Bin, and resold for £18.6 million in 2021. His satirical murals, from Bristol to the West Bank wall, comment on war, power and consumerism.

Girl with Balloon, 2002 — *Girl with Balloon*, 2002

Toxic Mary (double), 2003 — *Toxic Mary (double)*, 2003

The Banksy gallery: 146 works

80. Willem de Kooning (1904–1997)

Dutch-American · Abstract Expressionism · born in Rotterdam

Remembered for: Woman I, Excavation, The Glazier

Born in Rotterdam, de Kooning became a leader of Abstract Expressionism in New York. His aggressive brushwork in the Woman series (1950-53) blurred abstraction and figure and shocked critics. Interchange (1955) sold privately in 2015 for a reported $300 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a painting.

Excavation, 1950 — *Excavation*, 1950 · Art Institute of Chicago

Browse Willem de Kooning: 117 works

Famous painters, from 81 to 90

81. Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842)

French · Rococo and Neoclassicism · born in Paris

Signature works: Self-Portrait with Her Daughter Julie, Marie Antoinette in Court Dress, Marie-Antoinette Lorrraine Habsburg, Queen of France and her children.

Vigée Le Brun was the official portraitist of Marie Antoinette, whom she painted around thirty times. Fleeing the Revolution, she worked for the courts of Italy, Austria and Russia and painted some 660 portraits. Her warm self-portraits with her daughter brought a new tenderness to portraiture. She was among the very few women admitted to the French Royal Academy.

Self-Portrait with Her Daughter Julie, 1789 — *Self-Portrait with Her Daughter Julie*, 1789

*Marie-Antoinette Lorrraine Habsburg, Queen of France and her children.* · Opera House

The Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun gallery: 272 works

82. Cimabue (1240–1302)

Italian · Gothic · from Florence

Celebrated for: Crucifix, The Madonna in Majesty (Maestà), The Mocking of Christ

Cimabue, Giotto's teacher according to tradition, began to free Italian painting from Byzantine stiffness. His large Maestà panels in Florence and the Crucifix of Santa Croce, badly damaged in the 1966 flood and restored, show the first signs of weight and emotion. Dante named him in the Divine Comedy.

Crucifix, 1287 — *Crucifix*, 1287 · Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce

The Madonna in Majesty (Maestà), 1285 — *The Madonna in Majesty (Maestà)*, 1285 · Uffizi, Florence

The Mocking of Christ, 1280 — *The Mocking of Christ*, 1280

View the 52 works of Cimabue

83. Jasper Johns (1930)

American · Neo-Dada · born in Augusta

Remembered for: Flag, Target, Map

Johns painted flags, targets, numbers and maps, familiar signs that viewers 'already know', with thick wax-based encaustic. Flag (1954-55) and Target with Four Faces bridged Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. One of the most expensive living American artists, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Target, 1961 — *Target*, 1961 · Art Institute of Chicago

Browse Jasper Johns: 63 works

84. Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997)

American · Pop Art · born in Manhattan

Signature works: Whaam!, Drowning Girl, Look Mickey

Lichtenstein enlarged comic-strip panels into monumental paintings, imitating the printed Ben-Day dots by hand. Whaam! and Drowning Girl (1963) made the mass-produced image high art and made him, beside Warhol, the defining artist of American Pop Art.

The Roy Lichtenstein gallery: 382 works

85. Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)

American · American modernism · born in Sun Prairie

Remembered for: Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, Red Cannas, Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue

O'Keeffe painted enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers and the bones and red hills of New Mexico. Her close-up Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 sold for $44.4 million in 2014, the highest price for a woman artist at the time. A museum in Santa Fe is dedicated to her, and she is often called the mother of American modernism.

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932 — *Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1*, 1932

Red Cannas, 1927 — *Red Cannas*, 1927 · Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, 1931 — *Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue*, 1931

Browse Georgia O'Keeffe: 501 works

86. Mark Rothko (1903–1970)

American · Color Field · born in Daugavpils

Remembered for: White Center, Violet, Black, Orange, Yellow on White and Red, Earth and Green

Rothko's large rectangles of glowing colour that seem to float and breathe were meant to produce tragedy, ecstasy and doom in the viewer. His Seagram Murals (Tate) and the dark panels of the Rothko Chapel in Houston are places of contemplation. No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) reportedly sold for $186 million in 2014.

White Center, 1950 — *White Center*, 1950

Violet, Black, Orange, Yellow on White and Red, 1949 — *Violet, Black, Orange, Yellow on White and Red*, 1949

Earth and Green, 1955 — *Earth and Green*, 1955

Browse Mark Rothko: 477 works

87. Simone Martini (1284–1344)

Italian · International Gothic · born in Siena

Signature works: The Annunciation and Two Saints, Maestà, Guidoriccio da Fogliano

A follower of Duccio, Simone Martini brought elegance and gold to Sienese painting and worked for the papal court at Avignon, where he met Petrarch. His Annunciation of 1333 in the Uffizi, with its words in gold coming from the angel's mouth, is one of the most graceful works of the International Gothic.

The Annunciation and Two Saints, 1333 — *The Annunciation and Two Saints*, 1333 · Uffizi, Florence

Maestà, 1315 — *Maestà*, 1315 · Palazzo Pubblico

The Simone Martini gallery: 151 works

88. Claude Lorrain (1600–1682)

French · Classical landscape · born in Chamagne

Signature works: Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, Landscape with Aeneas at Delos, View of La Crescenza

Claude Lorrain created the ideal landscape: golden light, classical ruins and a low sun over the sea. His seaports and pastoral scenes, such as Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, shaped how Europeans saw nature; English landowners designed their gardens to look like his paintings, and Turner asked to hang beside him in the National Gallery.

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, 1648 — *Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba*, 1648 · National Gallery, London

Landscape with Aeneas at Delos, 1672 — *Landscape with Aeneas at Delos*, 1672 · National Gallery, London

View of La Crescenza, 1648 — *View of La Crescenza*, 1648 · The Met, New York

The Claude Lorrain gallery: 325 works

89. William Hogarth (1697–1764)

English · Satire and genre painting · born in London

Remembered for: A Rake's Progress, Plate 1, Marriage A-la-Mode: The Inspection, Gin Lane

Hogarth invented the 'modern moral subject', painted series that read like novels and sold as prints. A Rake's Progress, Marriage A-la-Mode and Gin Lane satirised London society; to protect his work from pirates he lobbied for the 1735 Engraving Copyright Act, known as Hogarth's Act.

*Marriage A-la-Mode: The Inspection* · National Gallery, London

Browse William Hogarth: 307 works

90. Edward Hopper (1882–1967)

American · American realism · from Upper Nyack

Celebrated for: Nighthawks, Gas, House by the Railroad

Hopper painted the loneliness of American cities: diners, gas stations, motel rooms and people lost in thought. Nighthawks (1942), with its brightly lit late-night diner seen from an empty street, is one of the most recognised American paintings and endlessly parodied in film and pop culture.

House by the Railroad, 1925 — *House by the Railroad*, 1925 · MoMA, New York

View the 366 works of Edward Hopper

Famous painters, from 91 to 100

91. Georges de la Tour (1593–1652)

French · French Baroque · born in Vic-sur-Seille

Signature works: Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds, The Fortune-Teller

Georges de La Tour painted figures lit by a single candle with geometric simplicity and silence. The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame and The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds are his masterpieces. Famous in his lifetime, he was completely forgotten until his rediscovery in 1915.

Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, 1640 — *Magdalen with the Smoking Flame*, 1640 · Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds, 1635 — *The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds*, 1635 · The Louvre

The Fortune-Teller, 1635 — *The Fortune-Teller*, 1635

The Georges de la Tour gallery: 98 works

92. Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939)

Czech · Art Nouveau · born in Ivančice

Signature works: Gismonda, The Slav Epic, Job

Mucha's 1894 poster for Sarah Bernhardt in Gismonda made him famous overnight in Paris and defined the Art Nouveau look: women with flowing hair framed by halos, flowers and ornament. He then spent eighteen years on The Slav Epic, twenty huge canvases on the history of the Slavic peoples.

The Alphonse Mucha gallery: 338 works

93. Paolo Veronese (1528–1588)

Italian · Mannerism, Naturalism, Venetian school · born in Verona

Signature works: The Wedding at Cana, Feast in the House of Levi, The Choice Between Virtue and Vice

Veronese painted vast, colourful feasts in Venice with architecture, silks and crowds. The Wedding at Cana in the Louvre, almost 10 metres wide, is the largest painting in the museum's collection. His Feast in the House of Levi earned him a summons before the Inquisition, which he answered by changing the title.

The Wedding at Cana, 1563 — *The Wedding at Cana*, 1563 · The Louvre

Feast in the House of Levi, 1573 — *Feast in the House of Levi*, 1573 · Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia

The Choice Between Virtue and Vice, 1565 — *The Choice Between Virtue and Vice*, 1565 · The Frick Collection

The Paolo Veronese gallery: 522 works

94. Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593)

Italian · Mannerism · born in Milan

Remembered for: Vertumnus, Summer, Autumn

Arcimboldo, court painter to the Habsburg emperors in Vienna and Prague, composed portraits from fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish and books. Vertumnus, a portrait of Rudolf II made of produce, and the Four Seasons series were long seen as curiosities; the Surrealists made him one of their ancestors.

Vertumnus, 1590 — *Vertumnus*, 1590 · Skoklosters Slott

Summer, 1563 — *Summer*, 1563 · Kunsthistorisches Museum

Autumn, 1572 — *Autumn*, 1572 · Art Museum

Browse Giuseppe Arcimboldo: 175 works

95. Franz Marc (1880–1916)

German · German Expressionism · born in Kreuzstraße

Signature works: The Large Blue Horses, Fate of the Animals, Fighting Forms

Franz Marc co-founded the Blue Rider group with Kandinsky and painted animals in symbolic colours: blue for the spiritual, yellow for the feminine, red for matter. The Large Blue Horses, Fate of the Animals and Fighting Forms are key German Expressionist works. He was killed at Verdun in 1916, aged 36.

The Large Blue Horses, 1911 — *The Large Blue Horses*, 1911 · Walker Art Center

Fate of the Animals, 1913 — *Fate of the Animals*, 1913

Fighting Forms, 1914 — *Fighting Forms*, 1914 · Neue Pinakothek, Munich

The Franz Marc gallery: 493 works

96. Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)

French · Post-Impressionism · born in Albi

Signature works: At the Moulin Rouge, La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge with Two Women, Jane Avril Dancing

Toulouse-Lautrec painted the nightlife of Montmartre: the Moulin Rouge, cabarets, dancers and brothels. His posters for the Moulin Rouge and for Aristide Bruant, with flat colours and bold outlines borrowed from Japanese prints, turned the poster into an art form. He made 737 canvases before dying at 36.

At the Moulin Rouge, 1892 — *At the Moulin Rouge*, 1892 · Art Institute of Chicago

La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge with Two Women, 1892 — *La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge with Two Women*, 1892 · MoMA, New York

Jane Avril Dancing, 1892 — *Jane Avril Dancing*, 1892 · The Louvre

The Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec gallery: 810 works

97. William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905)

French · Academic art · from La Rochelle

Celebrated for: The Birth of Venus, Nymphs and Satyr, Faneuse

The most celebrated academic painter of his time, Bouguereau won every official honour in France. His mythological nudes and peasant children, such as The Birth of Venus (1879) and Nymphs and Satyr, show flawless technique. Dismissed by modernists for a century, he has returned to favour with collectors and museums.

Faneuse, 1869 — *Faneuse*, 1869 · Carnegie Museum of Art

View the 518 works of William-Adolphe Bouguereau

98. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)

English · Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood · born in London

Signature works: Beata Beatrix, Proserpine, Ecce Ancilla Domini!

Poet and painter, Rossetti co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, which rejected academic art and looked back to early Italian painting. His later portraits of women with heavy hair and dreamy eyes, such as Beata Beatrix and Proserpine, defined the Victorian ideal of beauty and influenced Symbolism.

Beata Beatrix, 1880 — *Beata Beatrix*, 1880 · Scottish National Gallery

Proserpine, 1874 — *Proserpine*, 1874 · Tate, London

Ecce Ancilla Domini!, 1850 — *Ecce Ancilla Domini!*, 1850 · Tate, London

The Dante Gabriel Rossetti gallery: 345 works

99. Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)

Flemish · Baroque · from Antwerp

Celebrated for: Charles I in Three Positions, Self-Portrait, The Capture of Christ

Rubens' brilliant assistant became the court painter of Charles I of England. Van Dyck's elegant full-length portraits, such as Charles I at the Hunt, set the style of aristocratic portraiture in Britain for 150 years; a pointed beard is still called a 'Van Dyke'.

Charles I in Three Positions, 1636 — *Charles I in Three Positions*, 1636 · Royal Collection

Self-Portrait, 1622 — *Self-Portrait*, 1622 · Hermitage Museum

The Capture of Christ, 1618 — *The Capture of Christ*, 1618 · Museo del Prado

View the 1,620 works of Anthony van Dyck

100

100. Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)

Danish-French · Impressionism · from Charlotte Amalie

Celebrated for: The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, Red Roofs, Corner of a Village, Winter, The Jallais Hills, Pontoise

Pissarro was the only painter to show in all eight Impressionist exhibitions and the group's father figure, mentor to Cézanne and Gauguin. His views of villages, fields and markets and, later, his series of Paris boulevards seen from hotel windows, such as Boulevard Montmartre at Night, made modern life a subject for landscape.

The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, 1897 — *The Boulevard Montmartre at Night*, 1897 · National Gallery, London

Red Roofs, Corner of a Village, Winter, 1877 — *Red Roofs, Corner of a Village, Winter*, 1877 · Musée d'Orsay

The Jallais Hills, Pontoise, 1867 — *The Jallais Hills, Pontoise*, 1867 · The Met, New York

View the 1,559 works of Camille Pissarro

The 100 through a gallery's eye

Where these painters came from, when they lived, and the movements their original works defined.

Country of birth

France25
Italy21
United States8
Netherlands7
Germany7
United Kingdom7
Spain5
Belgium5

Century of birth

Born in the 13th century4
Born in the 14th century3
Born in the 15th century13
Born in the 16th century13
Born in the 17th century5
Born in the 18th century11
Born in the 19th century38
Born in the 20th century13

Main movement

Renaissance14
Baroque11
Realism & Academic art8
Romanticism7
Impressionism6
Surrealism & Dada6
Post-Impressionism5
Pop & Street art5
Expressionism5

One movement per painter: the one that shaped the work most.

The museums that hold the originals

The Louvre21
National Gallery, London15
Musée d'Orsay14
MoMA, New York9
Art Institute of Chicago8
Museo del Prado8

Counted over the masterpieces shown on this page.

Women painters in the selection (6): Frida Kahlo (23), Artemisia Gentileschi (37), Hilma af Klint (72), Berthe Morisot (76), Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (81), Georgia O'Keeffe (85).

Living painters in the selection (3): Gerhard Richter (70), Banksy (79), Jasper Johns (83).

Famous artists by movement

Famous Baroque artistsNight Watch · Rembrandt

Famous Contemporary Realist artistsThe Gleaners · Jean-François Millet

Starry Night (New York, MoMA) by Vincent van Gogh

Famous Impressionist artistsStarry Night (New York, MoMA) · Vincent van Gogh

Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya

Famous Romanticist artistsSaturn Devouring His Son · Francisco Goya

The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David

Famous Neoclassicist artistsThe Death of Marat · Jacques-Louis David

The origin of the world by Gustave Courbet

Famous Realist artistsThe origin of the world · Gustave Courbet

The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

Famous Dutch Golden Age artistsThe Girl with a Pearl Earring · Johannes Vermeer

Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) by Leonardo da Vinci

Famous Renaissance artistsMona Lisa (La Gioconda) · Leonardo da Vinci

Famous Expressionist artistsComposition VII · Wassily Kandinsky

The Embarkation for Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau

Famous Rococo artistsThe Embarkation for Cythera · Jean-Antoine Watteau

Famous Pop Art artistsCampbell's soup cans · Andy Warhol

Famous Post-impressionist artistsThe Card Players · Paul Cézanne

Famous artists by period

Famous Early Medieval artistsSnowy River · Wang Wei

Madonna in Maest (Ognissanti Madonna) by Giotto

Famous High Medieval artistsMadonna in Maest (Ognissanti Madonna) · Giotto

The Annunciation and Two Saints by Simone Martini

Famous Late Medieval artistsThe Annunciation and Two Saints · Simone Martini

Famous Renaissance artistsThe Creation of Adam · Michelangelo

The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio

Famous Early Modern artistsThe Calling of Saint Matthew · Caravaggio

Water Lilies (or Nympheas) by Claude Monet

Famous 19th Century artistsWater Lilies (or Nympheas) · Claude Monet

Famous Modern artistsGuernica · Pablo Picasso

Wind Sculpture III (one in a series of nine) by Yinka Shonibare

Famous Contemporary artistsWind Sculpture III (one in a series of nine) · Yinka Shonibare

The most famous painters: what collectors ask our gallery

Open a question to see its answer.

Who is the most famous painter of all time?

Leonardo da Vinci, whose original works include Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, heads the gallery's ranking, ahead of Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Vincent van Gogh.

Which five famous artists should every art lover know?

Leonardo da Vinci (Mona Lisa), Pablo Picasso (Guernica), Rembrandt (The Night Watch), Michelangelo (The Creation of Adam) and Vincent van Gogh (The Starry Night): the top five of the selection, each beside the original work that made the name.

What are some famous artist names?

The first 20 names of the selection: Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Albrecht Dürer, Caravaggio, Raphael, Diego Velázquez, Paul Cézanne, Francisco Goya, Giotto, Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Peter Paul Rubens, Edvard Munch, Johannes Vermeer and Paul Gauguin. The full 100 appear above, in rank order.

Which living painter is the most famous?

Gerhard Richter ranks highest among the living painters of the selection, ahead of Banksy and Jasper Johns.

Who are the most famous women painters?

Frida Kahlo, Artemisia Gentileschi, Hilma af Klint, Berthe Morisot, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Georgia O'Keeffe: 6 women stand among the 100 most famous painters of the selection.

Which country gave the world the most famous painters?

France, the birthplace of 25 of the 100 painters, ahead of Italy with 21.

In which century were the most great painters born?

the 19th century, with 38 of the 100 painters of the selection born in it.

Which movement counts the most famous painters?

Renaissance: 14 painters of the selection, with Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Albrecht Dürer at the front.

Which paintings made these artists famous?

Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci), Guernica (Pablo Picasso), The Night Watch (Rembrandt), The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo) and The Starry Night (Vincent van Gogh). Every entry above presents three signature works and the museum that keeps the original.

Which museum keeps the most originals by these painters?

The Louvre, which holds 21 of the masterpieces presented on this page.

Can I own a painting by one of these famous artists?

The originals belong to museums and collections, but OriginalUniqueArt.com can have any work in this ranking painted by hand as a reproduction, made to order one at a time, at the size you choose.