28 Famous Painters That Have Ever Lived and Their Works

Art can be found everywhere around us. However, it takes someone with an exceptional level of perception and creativity to bring it to life. For centuries, painters have been able to amaze art enthusiasts with their work. These artists use colors on a canvas to express their point of view, showcasing everything from the weird to the violent and the calm.

Talented individuals from all over the world share this passion for art, and it is something that unites them. They aren’t afraid to express themselves. This post will look at some famous painters dead or alive whose impact can not be waved away.

Table of Contents

Here are 28 Famous Painters and Their Works

1. Aina Onabolu (1881-1963)

Aina Onabolu's work — A painting of Aina Onabolu

Chief Aina Onabolu is regarded as the pioneer of Nigerian Modern Art. Since there were no art schools in Nigeria at that time, he developed his drawing and painting skills by observing European textbooks and magazines available to him. He worked hard to disprove the erroneous European belief that African artists couldn’t produce naturalistic art. While his efforts were noble, he was criticized by his colleagues for adopting imperialism into his works.

Nigeria was under colonial rule when Aina left the country to study art. On his return, he tried introducing art into the school curriculum but was rebuffed by the colonial government. Too stubborn to back down, he fought until his request was granted. A few of Aina’s renowned paintings are listed below.

Portrait of a man (1955)
Adam and Eve (1954)
Portrait of Sisi Nurse (1922)

2. Bruce Onabrakpeya (1932-)

Bruce Obomeyoma Onabrakpeya is a widely celebrated Nigerian painter and printmaker and among the most successful artists to come out of West Africa in the 20th century. Many of his works have found their resting place in different parts of the world including Kenya, England, the USA, Iraq, Morrocco, etc.

Bruce was taught the Western way of doing art. He joined the ranks of Nigerian artists who wanted to decolonize from the European style of representational art. Today, his works are inspired by traditional African folklore, myths, and legends. Onabrakpeya’s paintings include:

Four Bird Mask I (2003)
Four Bird Mask II (2003)
Hunting Rabbits and Birds (1977)
Negritude (1960)
Leopard in Cornfield (1965)
Four Photographs (1984)

3. Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Born in Paris, Claude Monet trained as a painter and was influenced by Eugene Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind. He is an Impressionist painter whose career spanned seven decades. and was as prolific as he was talented. Critics labeled him as a limited artist because he stuck to a particular style for most of his career. In his later years, he delved into a mix of avant-garde and abstract art. Monet left much of his work to the French government. Some of his works include:

Self Portrait with a Beret (1886)
Le dejeuner sure l’herbe (1865-1866)
La terrace de Sainte-Adresse
La Pie (1869)
Impression, soleil levant (1872)
Haystacks (1890-1891)
Rouen Cathedral (1892-1894)

4. Diego Velazquez (1599-1660)

Diego Velazquez had an illustrious career as a painter in the court of Spanish King Philip IV. On two occasions, he exported his talent to Italy and was treated with royalty. His works didn’t get recognition in Europe until the mid-nineteenth century. Some of his works include:

Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan (1630)
The Surrender of Breda aka The Lances (1634-35)
Las Meninas (1656-57)
The Fable of Arachne (1657)

5. Edvard Munch (1863-1944)

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian expressionist painter whose works had a strong psychological theme. He was influenced by the Impressionist artists of his time. He focused more on creating the internal view of an object rather than dwelling on what the eyes can see. This style is known as Symbolism. Some of the important paintings he made are:

The Sick Child (1885-86)
Night in St. Cloud (1890)
The Scream (1893)
Madonna (1894-95)

6. Ernest Mancoba (1904-2002)

Ernest Mancoba was a South African artist who worked to merge his knowledge of African culture with Western art. He is regarded as his country’s first black modern artist. He dropped out of the university to pursue an art career. A decision he never regretted.

Untitled 1965
Drawing V2 (1993)

7. Fernand Leger (1881-1973)

Fernand Leger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. Inspired by Picasso’s cubism, he created his own known as tubism. He painted the following:

Nudes in the Forest (1910)
Contrast of Forms (1913)
Soldier with a pipe (1016)
Soldiers Playing Cards (1917)
The City (1919)

8. Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

Irish artist Francis Bacon rebelled against all the established rules of painting. The self-taught artist had a graphic style of depicting whatever he wanted to express on his canvas. His brilliant paintings include the following:

Study for a Portrait
Painting 1946 (1946)
Seated Figure
Crucifixion
Figure with Meat (1954)
Lying Figure
Study for a Bullfight (1969)

9. Georges Braque (1882-1963)

French painter Georges Braque is one of the founding of cubism. He alongside Picasso developed this new form of painting. His paintings include:

Landscape near Antwerp (1906)
Houses at Estaque (1908)
Bottle and Fishes (1910-12)
Violin and Pipe, ‘Le Quotidien’ (1913)
The Weeding Machine (1961)

10. Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986)

Georgia O’Keefe is seen as the man who redefined 20th-century American art. For seven decades, she created paintings that challenged perceptions.

Blue (1916)
My Shanty, Lake George (1922)
Black Iris (1926)
Oriental Poppies (1928)
Jimson Weed(1936)

11. Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978)

Seen as the father of metaphysical painting, Giorgio de Chirico had a major influence on the Surrealist movement. Some of his works include:

The Nostalgia of the Infinite (1911-13)
Piazza d’Italia (1913)
Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914)
The Child’s Brain (1917)
The Disquieting Muses (1916-18)

12. Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Henri Matisse was a French visual artist who belonged to the Fauvism art movement. His paintings include:

The Green Stripe (1905)
Woman with a Hat (1905)
Music (1910)
L’Atelier Rouge (1911)
Blue Nudes (1952)

13. Hilma Af Klint (1862-1944)

Hilma Af Klint was a Swedish artist known for her abstract paintings. Below, a few of her works are listed:

They Tens Mainstay IV (1907)
What a Human Being Is (1910)
The Swan (1915)
The Dove, Nr. 12 (1915)
Wheat and Wormwood (1922)

14. Ibrahim El-Salahi (1930)

Ibrahim El-Salahi is a Sudanese painter based in England. His contribution to the development of African Modernism in art can not be overlooked. Some of his paintings include:

Self-Portrait of Suffering (1961)
The Chalice No.7 (1964)
Vision of the Tomb (1965)
The Tree (2001)
The Tree (2003)

15. Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441)

Jan Van Eyck pioneered oil painting and changed art history. The Belgian’s paintings include:

The Ghent Altarpiece (1432)
Portrait of a Man (1433)
The Arnolfini Wedding (1434)
The Annunciation (1434-36)
The Crucifixion; The Last Judgement (1440-41)

16. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)

Jean-Michel Basquiat lived a short life but his impact on art was radical. He grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, New York where he created graffiti in subway stations. At the age of 19 years, got media recognition when he participated in the Times Square Show. By age 20, the African-American artist’s fame skyrocketed.

He couldn’t handle his sudden rise and began to abuse drugs. His newfound passion cost his life as he was found dead in his apartment of an overdose. It was just a few months before his 28th birthday. In 2017, one of the deceased artist’s works sold for $110 million. Some of Jean Basquiat’s renowned paintings are:

God, Law (1981)
Warrior (1982)
Cabeza (1982)
Hollywood Africa (1983)
In Italian (1983)
El Gran Espectaculo (1983)
Eroica I (1988)
Eroica II (1988)

17. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in Tuscany, Italy, and is among the most famous Renaissance painters. He was also a sculptor, architect, and scientist. Various stories about his sexuality and membership in secret cults persist today. Dwelling on conspiracy theories would take one’s mind away from the brilliance of the talented artist.

As a teenager, his parents moved with him to Florence an influential city in its day. He worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio one of the most respected artists of his time. While there, he perfected his craft and became well sought after by the high and mighty. At the age of 67, Leonardo died in France leaving behind an artistic legacy. The paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci include:

Adoration of the Magi
The Annunciation
Madonna and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist
The Last Supper
Madonna on the Rocks
Monalisa

18. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)

Michelangelo painting — A painting of Michelangelo

No list of the greatest artists is complete without mentioning Michelangelo Buonarroti. He was a painter and a sculptor. He was so good at his craft that even the Pope couldn’t resist and invited him over to Rome to work. Below are some of his world-famous paintings:

The Torment of Saint Anthony (1487-88)
Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1510)
The Last Judgement (1536-41)
Battle of Cascina
The Creation of Adam
Doni Tondo

19. Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

Nicolas Poussin was a great French painter who is famous for:

The Inspiration of the Poet (1630)
The Crossing of the Red Sea (1634)
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1638)
Et in Arcadia ego (1638)
Holy Family (1649)
The Annunciation (1657)

20. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman — Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso

Born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain, Pablo Ruiz Picasso impacted art whose ripples are still felt today. His works continue to inspire the younger generation of artists. His curiosity did not allow him to stick to a particular style of expression. He was a painter, sculptor, engraver, and ceramist. The Spaniard began painting early and created masterpieces throughout his life. His works remain celebrated to date.

At the age of 14, Pablo Picasso painted La Primera Communion (First Communion). In the early 1900s, he faced challenges and his friend Carlos Casagemas committed suicide. This inspired the paintings La Vie (The Life) and Le Vieux Guitariste (The Old Guitarist) which are characterized by a sad and depressing background.

The great Picasso ushered in the Cubist era when he released his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Women of Avignon) in 1907. In the later part of his life, he focused more on ceramics. His works of 1904-1937 captured the interest of art enthusiasts. Even in death, Pablo’s paintings break price records. Garcon a la pipe sold for $104 million in 2004 and the last version of Les femmes d’Alger was auctioned for $179.4 million in 2015. Some of his famous works are listed below:

Self-Portrait (1901)
La Vie (1903)
The Tragedy (1903)
Le Vieux Guitariste (1904)
Girl on the Ball (1904)
Garcon a la Pipe (1905)
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)
The Kiss (1925)
Le Reve (1932)
Girl Before a Mirror (1932)
Guernica (1937)
Dove (1949)

21. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Paul Gauguin is among the prominent figures of the Impressionist movement. His works are one of the most sought-after in the art market. In 2015, Qatar bought his work Nafea Faa Ipoipo for over $200 million. See some of his famous works below:

The Yellow Christ (1889)
Hail Mary (1891)
When Will You Marry? (1892)
Arearea (1892)
Day of the God (1894)

22. Raffaelo Sanzio (1483-1520)

Raffaello Sanzio belongs to the Renaissance era of great artists. He was a painter and architect. Pope Julius II made him his chief architect. He spent the bulk of his career in Rome where he also died. Some of his beautiful works include:

The School of Athens
The Marriage of the Virgin
Self-portrait (1506)
The Sistine Madonna (1512)
Transfiguration (1520)
La Fornarina

23. Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669)

A painting of Rembrandt — Rembrandt’s painting

Rembrandt is termed as the greatest Dutch painter. He brought a form of realism to his art that was never seen before. He made more than fifty self-portraits of himself. The following are some of his celebrated paintings:

Judas Returning the Thirty Silver Pieces (1629)
The Artist in his Studio (1626-28)
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (1632)
The Blinding of Samson (1636)
Belshazzar’s Feast (1635-38)
The Night Watch (1641-42)
Susanna and the Elders (1647)
Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654)

24. Savaldor Dali (1904-1989)

Salvador Dali was a Surrealist painter and his works are the most famous of the movement. The Spaniard’s painters include the following:

The Great Masturbator (1929)
The Persistence of Memory (1931)
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (1936)
Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937)
Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951)

25. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

Dutch painter Van Gogh achieved fame after his death. His life was one of tragedy because he suffered from mental illness and often mutilated his body. To add to his woes, critics despised his works. He moved from one misfortune to another. Art was his way of escaping from the chaotic life he lived. His paintings speak of his artistic brilliance something they couldn’t see when he was on earth. Vincent’s renowned paintings include:

Rooftops, View from the Atelier The Hague (1882)
La Guinguette in Montmarte (1886)
Portrait of Pere Tanguy (1887)
The Starry Night (1889)
Portrait of Doctor Gachet (1890)
Self Portrait (1889)

26. Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian artist whose impact on abstract art can not be ignored. Raised in an upper-class home, he abandoned law and economics to focus more on becoming a painter. Admirers and critics have continued to acknowledge his brilliance.

Der Blaue Reiter (1903)
Landscape with Factory Chimney (1910)
Composition I-VII (1910-1913)
Yellow-Red-Red-Blue (1925)

27. William Blake (1757-1827)

William Blake was an English poet and painter whose works were focused on themes people referred to as abnormal. Even though he was heavily criticized when he was alive, 21st-century artists have come to accept him as a force to reckon with. Some say he is the greatest artist Britain has ever produced. Some of his works are:

The Ancient of Days
Pity (1795)
Newton (1795)
Albion Rose (1796)
Job and his Daughters (1800)
Nebuchadnezzar (1805)
The Great Red Dragon (1810)
The Ghost of a Flea (1820)
The Sun in His Wrath (1820)

28. Yusuf Grillo (1934-2021)

Yusuf Grillo was a foremost Nigerian artist whose works are spoken about to date. He was among the group of artists who fought to entrench a more African way of doing art rather than depending solely on the Eurocentric method. His works are a fusion of Nigerian and European techniques. He is best known for his portrayal of human figures. Here are some of his famous paintings: