There are seemingly innumerable famous artists in history, but who is the most famous artist ever documented? Is it even possible to determine who the most famous artist in history is? While it may be a rather subjective subject, there is a general consensus in the art world regarding who the most famous artists are. Below, we will reveal our top 20 most famous artists that helped shape the course of art through the centuries!
Exploring the Top 20 Most Famous Artists in History
One does not need to be an art aficionado to appreciate the significant contributions that the world’s most famous artists have bestowed upon the world. Famous painters and sculptors throughout history have produced works that were not only very influential in the era in which they were created but are still around for us to enjoy today. Let’s learn more about 20 such individuals who are generally regarded as the most famous artists in history.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
| Artist Full Name | Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Date of Birth | 15 April 1452 |
| Date of Death | 2 May 1519 |
| Place of Birth | Anchiano, Italy |
| Famous Artworks | The Last Supper (1498)Salvator Mundi (1500)Mona Lisa (1503) |
Leonardo da Vinci was an exceptionally talented individual who showed a keen interest in many spheres of life outside of art. Yet, he often used his art to share these ideas and left behind a treasure trove of journals and artworks that provide us with considerable insight into the workings of one of the world’s most fascinating minds. Not only did he produce some of the world’s most famous artworks, but also envisioned contraptions centuries before they were created, such as his flying machine that functioned similarly to a modern-day helicopter. His artworks also reveal an individual who was interested in human anatomy and the sciences, depicting the human form in great detail after studying various cadavers. In fact, it is believed that he examined over 30 dead bodies in his lifetime.
Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)
| Artist Full Name | Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Date of Birth | 6 March 1475 |
| Date of Death | 18 February 1564 |
| Place of Birth | Caprese Michelangelo, Italy |
| Famous Artworks | Pietà (1499)David (1504)Sistine Chapel (1512) |
Michelangelo was another Renaissance-era individual whose talents encompassed many art forms, such as paintings, sculpting, and architecture. He was even known to have written a few noteworthy poems! While he grew to become one of the world’s most famous painters and sculptors, his initial forays into the art world were not regarded as so admirable. In fact, he initially produced forgeries of pre-existing artworks and tried to pass them off as the original works! Yet, it was hard for others to deny his talents if he was capable of recreating such masterful works in the first place. While he was particularly lauded as an exceptional sculptor, producing such Iconic works as David (1504), he was equally adept at painting, as can be seen on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1653)
| Artist Full Name | Artemisia Gentileschi |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Date of Birth | 8 July 1593 |
| Date of Death | c. 1653 |
| Place of Birth | Rome, Papal States, Italy |
| Famous Artworks | Susanna and the Elders (1610)Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620)Judith and Her Maidservant (1625) |
Artemisia Gentileschi was arguably the most outstanding female painter of the Baroque period and one of Caravaggio’s most talented disciples. She used words and visuals to combat the masculine aggression that was dominant at the time. She managed to accomplish something very unlikely for her day and age. Not only did she become a highly accomplished painter during a time when academies and guilds refused women membership, but she also accomplished what no other women from the Renaissance and Baroque eras had managed to do: she expressed a profound personal vision. Artemisia Gentileschi painted for the highest strata of European society in Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, and London. She moved to Naples in 1630 and opened a studio there which thrived until her passing in 1653.
Rembrandt (1606 – 1669)
| Artist Full Name | Rembrant Harmenszoon van Rijn |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Date of Birth | 15 July 1606 |
| Date of Death | 4 October 1669 |
| Place of Birth | Leiden, Netherlands |
| Famous Artworks | Danaë (1636)The Night Watch (1642)The Return of the Prodigal Son (1669) |
There was a period in the history of Holland when the country’s developments in science and art were highly regarded throughout the world. This period was known as the Dutch Golden Age and the famous painter Rembrandt was perhaps its most notable member.
While the artist embraced multiple styles and subjects, it is his portraits that he is most renowned for. These were not just portraits of other people, though, and his self-portraits are regarded as visual documentation of his life through the decades. He was celebrated for his study and distinct application of the effects of light and shadow and was regarded as a master of the chiaroscuro technique, which had risen in popularity due to the works of artists such as Caravaggio. Along with chiaroscuro, he also embraced another Baroque-era quality in his works regarding how human movement was depicted in art in that period.
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755 – 1842)
| Artist Full Name | Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun |
| Nationality | French |
| Date of Birth | 16 April 1755 |
| Date of Death | 30 March 1842 |
| Place of Birth | Paris, France |
| Famous Artworks | Self-portrait in a Straw Hat (1782)Marie Antoinette with a Rose (1783)Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie (1789) |
Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was a very well-known female painter of her time, most known for her depictions of women. She was initially taught painting by her father, the pastel portraitist, Louis Vigée. The artist’s big break arrived in 1779 when she was commissioned to portray Queen Marie-Antoinette. This led to a friendship between the Queen and the artist, resulting in her producing 20 more paintings of the Queen in various costumes and poses. Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun also produced many self-portraits. These were often rendered in the styles of the various artists that she looked up to. Her connection to the Queen turned out to be very beneficial for her career as she was eventually accepted into the male-dominated Royal Academy in 1783.
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)
| Artist Full Name | Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix |
| Nationality | French |
| Date of Birth | 26 April 1798 |
| Date of Death | 13 August 1863 |
| Place of Birth | Charenton-Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France |
| Famous Artworks | Massacre at Chios (1824)Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826)Liberty Leading the People (1830) |
Next on our list of the most famous artists in history is yet another French artist, Eugène Delacroix. This famous painter, however, did not belong to the Rococo movement like Watteau but was instead an important figure in the Romanticism movement. While he did have a style of painting that was distinctly his, Delacroix’s work also often displayed the influences of other artists whose works he had studied in places such as the Louvre Museum, including artists such as Rubens. He appreciated English painting immensely and visited the country in 1825. This was not his only traveling experience, though, and was known to have also visited Algiers, Morocco, and Spain.
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
| Artist Full Name | Oscar-Claude Monet |
| Nationality | French |
| Date of Birth | 14 November 1840 |
| Date of Death | 5 December 1926 |
| Place of Birth | Rue Laffitte, Paris, France |
| Famous Artworks | Garden at Sainte-Adresse (1862)Impression, Sunrise (1872)The Water Lily Pond (1899) |
Monet’s influence on French art and art in general, cannot be overstated. His pioneering work in the Impressionism movement is viewed as initiating Modernist art. He loved painting outdoors and was known for his depiction of nature as he saw it and not how it was traditionally portrayed in that era. As with many other famous painters, Monet exhibited an early interest in art, which was encouraged by his mother, yet his father strongly disapproved of this, preferring that his son pursue a business career. However, Monet would ultimately follow his passion and became very successful in his own lifetime, producing paintings often portraying his own beautiful garden. Monet met Eugéne Boudin around 1856 on a beach in Normandy, who would often show the young artist how to use oil paints.
Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926)
| Artist Full Name | Mary Stevenson Cassatt |
| Nationality | American |
| Date of Birth | 22 May 1844 |
| Date of Death | 14 June 1926 |
| Place of Birth | Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Famous Artworks | Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878)The Child’s Bath (1893)The Boating Party (1894) |
Mary Cassatt, known for her observant representations of children and women, was one of the few painters from the United States involved in the 19th-century French avant-garde movement. From a young age, the young Cassatt traveled extensively across Europe with her family. She then moved to Europe at the age of 22, visiting various European museums and carefully studying the works of the old masters. After returning to America for a short period, she then returned to Europe, further studying masterworks in the museums of Spain, Italy, and Belgium, before permanently moving to Paris in 1874. She was then invited to join the Impressionist movement by the famed artist Edgar Degas three years later. While staying in France, she sent some of her works back to America, heralding the introduction of the style to those living in the States.
Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
| Artist Full Name | Vincent Willem van Gogh |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Date of Birth | 30 March 1853 |
| Date of Death | 29 July 1890 |
| Place of Birth | Zundert, Netherlands |
| Famous Artworks | Café Terrace at Night (1888)The Starry Night (1889)Van Gogh Self-Portrait (1889) |
While Vincent van Gogh’s parents were not too pleased about his choice in career, it was his uncle who initially taught the young artist how to draw and paint. In 1881, he moved back in with his parents and was financially assisted by his brother, Theo, who he would often write letters to, keeping Theo up to date with his artistic endeavors. When it comes to the idea of the “struggling artist”, it is often Van Gogh who comes to many people’s minds. Not only did he struggle with making a living from his art, but also struggled with bouts of depression and mental illness his entire life. Yet, despite these challenges, or perhaps because of them, van Gogh left behind a collection of works that remain highly significant up to the present day.
Gustav Klimt (1862 – 1918)
| Artist Full Name | Gustav Klimt |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Date of Birth | 14 July 1862 |
| Date of Death | 6 February 1918 |
| Place of Birth | Baumgarten, Vienna, Austria |
| Famous Artworks | The Three Ages of Woman (1905)Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907)The Kiss (1908) |
While Klimt’s paintings were refined and elegant masterpieces, the artist himself was a rather disheveled-looking character known for his eccentric behavior and lifestyle. In fact, he spent much of his time walking around in a smock and was known to be crazy about cats, even using their urine as a fixative for his pigments. He was also known to have many muses and many of the women who feature in his artworks were likewise his lovers. Yet, despite all of these eccentricities, Klimt’s works would grow to become widely recognized and his paintings, such as The Kiss (1908) has been copied and reproduced on countless products and prints. His use of symbolism was regarded as masterful and he was considered a pioneer in the Vienna Secession movement in Austria.
Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954)
| Artist Full Name | Henri Émile Benoît Matisse |
| Nationality | French |
| Date of Birth | 31 December 1869 |
| Date of Death | 3 November 1954 |
| Place of Birth | Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France |
| Famous Artworks | The Green Stripe (1905)Le Bonheur de Vivre (1906)Blue Nude (1907) |
Henri Matisse started his artistic career without any formal instruction, driven by intuition toward the same type of visual creativity that had been embraced by his modernist contemporaries. However, his works differed from other Modernist movements such as the Cubists. Where their works were all about turning the human figure into sharp edges and angles, Matisse’s work embraced flowing curves. The De Stijl artists sought geometry in their works, whereas his works were all about bursts of color pigment over the canvas. His works were so untamed in nature, that the famous painter was referred to as one of the “Wild Beasts” along with other famous artists who were part of the Fauvism movement. This movement only thrived for a few short years before most of its artists moved on to work in the Cubist style.
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
| Artist Full Name | Pablo Ruiz Picasso |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Date of Birth | 25 October 1881 |
| Date of Death | 8 April 1973 |
| Place of Birth | Málaga, Spain |
| Famous Artworks | The Old Guitarist (1904)Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)Guernica (1937) |
Picasso was an extremely prolific artist who is believed to have produced more than 20,000 pieces of art during the course of his long career. This has led to him being considered by many to be among the most important artists of the previous century. Unlike many other artists that were only celebrated years after their death, Picasso was already a very well-known figure before he even turned 50 and it is said that no other artist amassed such a huge following as he did in his lifetime. Along with Georges Braque, Picasso was responsible for pioneering the Cubist style which forever changed the face of the art world. He was also partly responsible for the development and popularization of the collage technique. Picasso is also considered to be one of three 20th-century painters who are acknowledged as helping to define the key elements of plastic arts.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887 – 1986)
| Artist Full Name | Georgia Totto O’Keeffe |
| Nationality | American |
| Date of Birth | 15 November 1887 |
| Date of Death | 6 March 1986 |
| Place of Birth | Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United States |
| Famous Artworks | Red Canna (1923)Jimson Weed (1936)Sky Above Clouds IV (1965) |
The famous painter Georgia O’Keeffe was regarded as a key influence in American art for around 70 years. Throughout that entire time, she was committed to her own artistic vision, which was centered on identifying the fundamental forms in nature in an abstract manner, despite the ever-shifting art trends occurring around her. Her works focused on a few themes that were prevalent throughout her career, most notably her flowers, as well as her landscapes and paintings of bones. After marrying Alfred Stieglitz, she became a member of an exclusive group of American modernist artists who exhibited at his gallery on a regular basis. She achieved unparalleled critical praise as a female artist throughout her lifetime, from both critics and the general public. When she attempted to override her instincts in order to do commissioned work, she always eventually grew frustrated and always reverted to what seemed natural to her, the world-famous flower paintings.
René Magritte (1898 – 1967)
| Artist Full Name | René François Ghislain Magritte |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Date of Birth | 21 November 1898 |
| Date of Death | 15 August 1967 |
| Place of Birth | Lessines, Belgium |
| Famous Artworks | The Lovers (1928)The Treachery of Images (1929)The Son of Man (1964) |
This famous painter was born in Belgium and his works were known to challenge the viewer’s perception of reality by placing everyday objects in strange places, providing them with a new context and imbuing them with deeper meaning. His upbringing was rather modest and the experiences he went through at a young age were rather tragic. His father worked as a tailor and his mother took her own life. He initially worked in a wallpaper company before being commissioned to produce works for a gallery. It was during this period that he became involved with the Surrealist movement. This was largely due to being inspired to join the movement by one of his friends, André Breton. This famous painter’s Surrealist artworks possess a deadpan tone as well as a clearly defined subject matter. A number of subjects reoccur in many of his works, either as a background element or as the artwork’s central point of focus.
Tamara de Lempicka (1898 – 1980)
| Artist Full Name | Tamara de Lempicka |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Date of Birth | 16 May 1898 |
| Date of Death | 18 March 1980 |
| Place of Birth | Warsaw, Poland |
| Famous Artworks | Self-Portrait in the Green Bugatti (1929)Women Bathing (1929)Sleeping Girl (1930) |
Tamara de Lempicka was a well-known Parisian artist during the period between the two world wars known for her beautiful Art Deco paintings. De Lempicka was fascinated by art from a young age and spent six months with her grandmother in Italy, touring various notable museums in Rome, Florence, and Venice. It was in the halls of these museums that she decided that she wanted to become a painter after encountering the works of the Italian Renaissance masters. Throughout the 1920s, the artist built a reputation as a prominent painter of portraits among the wealthy and cultured members of Parisian society. She was a successful businesswoman who claimed to have become a millionaire by the time she turned 28 years old. Along with her well-known portraits, she also produced a number of artworks focusing on the naked female figure.
Salvador Dalí (1904 – 1989)
| Artist Full Name | Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Date of Birth | 11 May 1904 |
| Date of Death | 23 January 1989 |
| Place of Birth | Figueres, Spain |
| Famous Artworks | The Great Masturbator (1929)The Persistence of Memory (1931)Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) |
It was in the late 1920s that Salvador Dalí first emerged in the world of art and remained there for the following 60 years. This famous artist’s most significant conceptual contribution to the Surrealism movement was his paranoiac-critical technique. This method suggested a purposefully disoriented condition that might enable a person to associate seemingly unrelated objects, opening up new potential paths for imagination and creativity. When artists started to flock to the Surrealist movement, Breton asked Dalí to create a symbol that could encompass their diverse styles and philosophies. The artist responded by proposing “surrealist objects” as an uniting concept.
Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954)
| Artist Full Name | Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Date of Birth | 6 July 1907 |
| Date of Death | 13 July 1954 |
| Place of Birth | Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico |
| Famous Artworks | Frieda and Diego Rivera (1931)The Two Fridas (1939)Diego and I (1949) |
Frida Kahlo was not only regarded as a famous painter in her home country of Mexico but also one of the most famous artists in the world. The artist was only six years of age when she was diagnosed with polio. This was, unfortunately, not the end of her afflictions, and she was involved in a car accident when she was 18 years of age. It was when she was recovering from the many surgeries that she had to undergo following the accident, that she began to paint to pass the tedious hours in her bed. Due to the amount of time she spent alone, she became the most prominent subject in her works, even depicting her body in her state of recovery. Since then, she rose to prominence as one of the most famous artists in history.
Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1956)
| Artist Full Name | Paul Jackson Pollock |
| Nationality | American |
| Date of Birth | 28 January 1912 |
| Date of Death | 11 August 1956 |
| Place of Birth | Cody, Wyoming, United States |
| Famous Artworks | Mural (1943)Number One (1950)Convergence (1952) |
In 1939, this famous artist started visiting a Jungian analyst to deal with his reliance on alcohol, and his therapist suggested that he start drawing. These would eventually influence Pollock’s artwork, and they influenced his interpretation of his creations as representations of dread for all mankind who were at that time living under the ever-present threat of nuclear war. Because his work included elements of movements like Surrealism, Cubism, and Impressionism while ultimately surpassing all of them, his effect on subsequent artists was profound. Pollock re-envisioned the canvas as an area in which to act, rather than a place to convey an object, hence his works were known as “action paintings”. His innovative painting techniques catapulted him to the realm of the most famous artists in history, where he has stayed to this day.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928 – 2011)
| Artist Full Name | Helen Frankenthaler |
| Nationality | American |
| Date of Birth | 12 December 1928 |
| Date of Death | 27 December 2011 |
| Place of Birth | Manhattan, New York City, United States |
| Famous Artworks | Mountains and Sea (1952)Round Trip (1957)Small’s Paradise (1964) |
Helen Frankenthaler started conducting experiments that would lead to her stain paintings in 1950. These unique artworks were large-scale abstractions with tiny washes of pigment that soaked into the canvas surface, similar to watercolors. She used this technique to produce fields of transparent color that appear to float in space, with the weaving of the painting accentuating the painting’s flatness. Her arrangement of forms and colors sometimes evokes the natural world. In addition to welded steel sculptures, this versatile artist also produced prints, ceramics, illustrated books, and stage and costume designs. She met prominent artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Motherwell, to whom Frankenthaler was married for a period, after becoming acquainted with critic Clement Greenberg in 1950. A year later she encountered Jackson Pollock’s works, which inspired her to try painting on the floor.
Yayoi Kusama (1929 – Present)
| Artist Full Name | Yayoi Kusama |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Date of Birth | 22 March 1929 |
| Date of Death | Present |
| Place of Birth | Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan |
| Famous Artworks | Flowers (1983)Pumpkin (1990)Dots Obsession (2003) |
Yayoi Kusama is among the most famous artists working today. Her success originates from her Infinity Rooms artworks, which have proven appealing to users of Instagram, yet her oeuvre actually spans around 60 years. As a young girl, Kusama started to experience hallucinations in the form of auras and lights, in addition to flowers and dots that she said would converse with her. These strange experiences influenced the artist’s art, which includes the previously mentioned mirrored rooms as well as various sculptures, paintings, and installations that include vibrant patterns of dots and other elements. Despite her early success as an artist, her psychiatric problems persisted, and in 1977, she admitted herself to a Japanese mental institution, where she has remained ever since. However, she has continued to make art and is now regarded as one of the world’s most famous painters.
During the course of the history of art, there have arisen certain individuals who almost single-handedly changed the course of art from that point onwards. While many of them differed significantly in terms of style, the one thing that connects them all was a singular vision and desire to transcend the limitations of the status quo. Many of them only managed to do so after their passing, being practically ignored in their own lifetime. Others managed to attain success during their careers and thrived in the art world for many decades. Who are your personal favorite most famous artists on this list?
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Is the Most Famous Artist in History?
While it may be regarded as a highly subjective topic of discussion, many people throughout history have pointed to Leonardo da Vinci as being the most renowned artist of all time. However, every generation has seen its fair share of outstanding artists who broke the mold in their time. They prejudiced works that challenged the traditional styles of the day, leading the way for subsequent artists to follow and innovate.
Who Are the Most Famous Artists in History?
It’s impossible to calculate how many artists have produced art throughout our known history, Yet, out of the countless names that have come and gone, there are numerous names that have become widely admired and appreciated throughout the centuries. These include incredibly talented individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and Yayoi Kusama, in addition to innumerable other figures that have contributed to the history of art.
