Famous Painters
Biographies, Paintings.
MAIN A-Z INDEX

Portrait of Isaac Levitan (1893)
By Valentin Serov. Russia's greatest
Impressionist painter.

Cafe Terrace at Night (1888)
By Vincent Van Gogh. The leading
pioneer of European expressionism.

Famous Painters (1700-1900)
For Painters BEFORE 1700, see: Old Masters
For Painters AFTER 1900, see: 20th Century Painters
For a complete index, see: A-Z of Artists

CONTENTS

• Introduction
• LIST OF FAMOUS PAINTERS (1700-1900)
- English Figurative Painters (18th and 19th Century)
- English Landscape Painters (18th and 19th Century)
- American Figurative Painters (18th and 19th Century)
- American Landscape Painters (19th Century)
- Japanese Ukiyo-e Artists (19th Century)
- Romantic Painters
- Pre-Raphaelite Painters
- Realist Painters
- Barbizon Plein Air Painters
- Symbolists
- Impressionist Painters
- Neo-Impressionists
- Nabis
- Post-Impressionists
- Russian Figurative Painters (19th Century)
- Russian Landscape Painters (19th Century)
- Australian School (19th Century)
- Art Nouveau/Poster Designers

WORLDS GREATEST PAINTINGS
For the meaning of the world's
best paintings, see:
Famous Paintings Analyzed.

WORLDS FINEST ARTISTS
For a list of the Top 10 of the
finest painters & sculptors, see:
Best Artists of All Time: Top 10.

Introduction

The 18th century witnessed the beginning of the Industrial Revolution along with a number of associated social and political changes. In fine art, it saw the emergence of a new genre of topological landscape painting, although portrait art remained the dominant medium. Animal paintings became popular, as did subject paintings on social issues. With the 19th century came the glorious Golden Age of English landscape art, Continental plein air painting at Barbizon, and wilderness painting across the western United States via the Hudson Valley School and Luminism. In the final third of the century, Paris established itself as the world centre of art with an explosion of creativity. First came the revolutionary Impressionism movement, then Pointillism, Synthetism, Cloisonnism, Les Nabis, Post-Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Meanwhile, in Russia, immensely talented portraitists, historical and landscape painters created a mass of pictorial treasures to dazzle later generations.

List of Famous Painters (1700-1900)

English Figurative Painters (18th and 19th Century)

William Hogarth (1697-1764)
English painter, engraver, founder of English Figurative Painting.
Allan Ramsay (1713-84)
Official portraitist to King George III.
Joshua Reynolds (1723-92)
Eminent portraitist, President of London Royal Academy.
George Stubbs (1724-1806)
Equestrian artist, horse painter, animalier.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88)
Portrait artist, landscapes.
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797)
Midlands portrait painter, noted for his chiaroscuro & candlight scenes.
Henry Fuseli (1741-1825)
Romantic expressionist artist, symbolist painter.
Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)
Scottish portrait artist, active in Edinburgh, famous for The Skating Minister.
William Blake (1757-1827)
The outstanding English engraver, etcher, watercolourist and illustrator.
Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830)
Regency society portraitist, painter to King George III; See Best Miniaturists.
David Wilkie (1785-1841)
Genre painter from Scotland; one of the youngest Royal Academicians (RA).
Edwin Landseer (1802-73)
Royal portraitist and animal painter best known for his paintings of dogs.
Alfred Stevens (1817-75)
Outstanding Victorian painter and sculptor.
George Frederick Watts (1817-1904)
The most revered English artist (portraitist, sculptor) of the late 19th century.
William Powell Frith (1819-1909)
Victorian genre painter noted for Derby Day and The Railway Station.
Frederic Leighton (1830-1896)
Victorian neoclassicist, noted for Greek subject paintings, and portraiture.
William Morris (1834-96)
Painter, designer, decorative artist; leader of Arts & Crafts Movement.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912)
Classical subject painter, noted for female nudes such as The Tepidarium.

English Landscape Painters (18th and 19th Century)

Richard Wilson (1714-82)
Founder of modern school of English Landscape Painting.
John Crome (1768-1821)
Norfolk landscape artist, President of Norwich School; influenced by Hobbema.
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Pioneer watercolourist admired by Turner.
JMW Turner (1775-1851)
Greatest watercolourist landscape painter; one of the best English painters.
John Constable (1776-1837)
One of England's best landscape artists. Noted for "The Hay Wain."
John Sell Cotman (1782-1842)
Watercolourist of the Norwich School of landscape painters.
John Martin (1789-1854)
History painter of Biblical scenes; exponent of Romanticism; printmaker.
Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28)
Pioneer naturalist landscape painter, helped launch plein-air painting in France.

American Figurative Painters (18th and 19th Century)

Benjamin West (1738-1820)
Innovative history painter, portraitist, "Father of American Painting."
John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
American portraitist, history painter - Boston and London.
Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
Greatest American portrait painter of late-18th/ early-19th century.
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (1816-68)
Best known for his history painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
American pioneer-style seascapes, Civil War paintings, scenic views.
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)
Greatest American exponent of figurative realism. Noted for The Gross Clinic.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
One of the best portrait artists, noted for society portraits.
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
Painter, illustrator & sculptor of American cowboy 'Wild West'.

American Landscape Painters (19th Century)

Thomas Cole (1801-48)
Founder of Hudson River school of American wilderness landscape painting.
George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879)
Missouri genre-painter, frontier luminist landscape artist, portraitist.
George Inness (1825-1894)
Brilliant Impressionistic painter, who defined Tonalism.
Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900)
Pupil of Cole, and America's greatest ever landscape painter.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902)
German-born landscape artist of Hudson River School, Luminism style.
Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847-1917)
American Romantic expressionist landscape painter.

Japanese Ukiyo-e Artists

Hokusai (1760-1849)
Famous for his Ukiyo-e landscape prints, like The Great Wave of Kanagawa.
Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Last of major Ukiyo-e artists; noted for landscapes, nishiki-e colour prints.

Romantic Painters

Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)
German symbolist landscape painter. One of the great Romantic artists.
Theodore Gericault (1791-1824)
Known for his masterpiece "The Raft of the Medusa."
Paul Delaroche (1797-1856)
Romantic French history painter; ranked with Gericault and Delacroix.
Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)
Leader of French Romantic movement; one of the best history painters ever.

Pre-Raphaelite Painters

Ford Madox Brown (1821-93)
Fringe member, socially conscientious painter, muralist, stained glass artist.
William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)
Co-founder of PRB. Famous paintings include The Lady of Shalott.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82)
Co-founder, noted for The Annunciation and other romantic works.
John Everett Millais (1829-96)
Traditional portraitist, best-known for his romantic painting Ophelia.
Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Painter, stained glass/tapestry designer for William Morris & Co.
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)
English Romantic painter of historical/literary works, like The Lady of Shalott.

Realist Painters

Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller (1793-1865)
Austrian painter in Biedermeier style; famous for landscapes and portraiture.
Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885)
Famous for his Biedermeier style of genre painting in the tradition of Hogarth.
Honore Daumier (1808-79)
Renowned French Caricaturist, graphic artist and realist painter.
Ernest Meissonier (1815-91)
Outstanding miniaturist history painter noted for military subjects.
Gustave Courbet (1819-77)
Founder of French Realism art movement, leader of Realist Artists.
Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904)
Best known for his Orientalist painting.
Franz von Lenbach (1836-1904)
Highly successful German portraitist best known for his portraits of Bismarck.
Wilhelm Leibl (1844-1900)
German realist portraitist also famous for his peasant genre paintings.
Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-84)
French naturalist painter noted for his realist idiom.

Barbizon Plein Air Painters

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Romantic/Realist French landscape painter.
Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867)
Leader of Barbizon School of Landscape Painting.
Jean-Francois Millet (1814-75)
Realist painter, founding member of Barbizon School.
Charles-Francois Daubigny (1817-1878)
Barbizon painter whose brushwork anticipated Impressionism.

Symbolists

Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)
Noted for his history painting. Huge influence on Andre Breton & Surrealism.
Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901)
Symbolist painter from Switzerland, best known for Island of the Dead.
Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Painter, printmaker, noted for The Cyclops; anticipated Surrealism.
Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918)
With Arnold Bocklin, one of the founders of modern art in Switzerland.
Max Klinger (1857-1920)
Individualistic and influential German symbolist painter, etcher, sculptor.
James Ensor (1860-1949)
Belgian exponent of Symbolism, famous for Christ's Entry Into Brussels.

Impressionist Painters

PIONEERS
Adolph Menzel (1815-1905)
History painter but best known for pioneering works of Impressionist interiors.
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891)
Early Impressionist Dutch landscape painter, had major influence on Monet.
Eugene Boudin (1824-98)
Influential forerunner of Impressionism; taught Monet plein air painting.
MOST FAMOUS
Edouard Manet (1832-83)
Classical artist, acknowledged leader of Impressionist Painters.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Founder of Impressionistic plein-air painting.
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
Outstanding cityscape and landscape painter.
Frederic Bazille (1841-1870)
Short-lived, Impressionist-style painter; friend of Renoir and Monet.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Finest exponent of 'dappled light' in Impressionist movement.
Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)
Like Monet, a pure Impressionist specializing in landscapes.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
The greatest figure painter of French Impressionism.
Berthe Morisot (1841-95)
Leading female Impressionist; sister-in-law of Manet.
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-94)
Rich Impressionist, best known for Paris: A Rainy Day and his art collection.
OUTSIDE FRANCE
Mary Cassatt (1845-1926)
American Impressionist artist, noted for 'mother and child' paintings.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
American Impressionist painter, noted for street scenes and "flag paintings".
Max Liebermann (1847-1935)
German Impressionist, major figure in German Art of 19th century.
William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)
American Impressionist painter, art teacher.
Theodore Robinson (1852-96)
American Impressionist landscape and genre painter; friend of Claude Monet.
J. Alden Weir (1852-1919)
American landscape and still life painter; Impressionist and more realist styles.
John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902)
American landscape artist noted for Whistlerian landscapes and winter scenes.
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)
Leading artist in both German Impressionism and the Expressionist movement.
Anders Zorn (1860-1920)
Famous Impressionist portrait painter from Sweden, best known for his nudes.
Joaquin Sorolla Y Bastida (1863-1923)
Spanish painter, illustrator, muralist, famous for his sunlit beach scenes.
Max Slevogt (1868-1932)
Ranks with Lieberman and Corinth as one of the top German Impressionists.

Neo-Impressionists

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)
Founder of Neo-Impressionist art: colour theories of Pointillism & Divisionism.
Paul Signac (1863-1935)
Leader of Neo-Impressionism after Seurat; developed Chromoluminarism.
Henri-Edmond Cross (1856-1910)
Third major Pointillist. Close to Van Rysselberghe, worked with Matisse.

Nabis and Other Decorative Painters

Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898)
Foremost French mural painter of the second half of the 19th century.
Paul Serusier (1864-1927)
Gauguin follower, founder of Nabis, noted for The Talisman & his religious art.
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947)
Post-Impressionist painter, famous for his colourism and intimate interiors.
Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940)
Co-founder of Intimism: noted for genre-paintings of intimate interiors.

Post-Impressionists

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Member of the Aesthetic Movement: noted for his "Nocturnes" and etchings.
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Arguably the greatest of all Post-Impressionist painters, precursor of Cubism.
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Outstanding colourist, influenced Synthetism, Cloisonism and Primitivism.
P.S. Kroyer (1851-1909)
Norwegian-born post-Impressionist landscape painter.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Founder of modern Expressionism; famous for autobiographical works.
Walter Sickert (1860-1942)
Greatest British Post-Impressionist painter. Founded Camden Town Group.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
Genre painter, printmaker, draftsman and illustrator.
Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916)
Danish Intimist genre-painter of muted interiors in blues and greys.
Emile Bernard (1868-1941)
Inventor of Cloisonnism, co-founder with Gauguin of synthetism.
Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955)
French painter, noted for picture postcard views of Parisian streets.
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) (Le Douanier)
Naive painter, noted for The Sleeping Gypsy and exotic landscapes.

Russian Figurative Painters (19th Century)

Vasily Perov (1833-82)
Critical realism-style genre painter.
Ivan Kramskoy (1837-1887)
Foremost portraitist of 19th century Russia. Noted for Leo Tolstoy (1873).
Konstantin Savitsky (1844-1905)
Critical realist genre painter.
Ilya Repin (1844-1930)
Major figure in Russian art. One of the best genre-painters in history.
Vasily Surikov (1848-1916)
Russia's greatest history painter of the 19th century.
Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910)
Symbolist painter, noted for his Demon paintings and mosaic-like brushwork.
Abram Arkhipov (1862-1930)
Socially aware genre painter, in the critical realist style.
Valentin Serov (1865-1911)
Greatest Russian Impressionist portrait painter.

Russian Landscape Painters (19th Century)

Ivan Shishkin (1832-98)
Forest/woodland landscape artist. See also: Russian Artists (1300-present).
Vasily Polenov (1844-1927)
Landscape painter, also noted for biblical paintings.
Isaac Levitan (1860-1900)
Landscape painter: master of light and colour.

Australian School (19th Century)

Tom Roberts (1856-1931)
Leader of the Heidelberg School of Australian Impressionism.
Arthur Streeton (1867-1943)
The most famous Australian-born painter of the 19th century.
Charles Conder (1868-1909)
Key pioneer in the Australian school of plein-air painting.
Fred McCubbin (1855-1917)
Professor of Drawing, noted for his subject paintings and 'bush' landscapes.

Art Nouveau/Poster Designers

Jules Cheret (1836-1932)
Inventor of "3-stone chromolithographs"; pioneer of advertising poster art.
Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)
Spanish building designer, famous for his Art Nouveau structures. Regarded as one of the greatest architects of the modern era.
Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939)
Epitomizes Art Nouveau graphic art - posters, illustrations; painted Slav Epic.
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Leader of Viennese Secessionist movement, noted for his art nouveau style, and paintings using mosaic & gold, like The Kiss, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98)
Art Nouveau illustrator, known for illustrations of Salome and Morte d'Arthur.
Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942)
Caricaturist, lithographer, poster designer noted for his functionalism.

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