Ranked

The Most Famous Painters of All Time

Ranked by how celebrated their greatest works are around the world. Click any artist to bring their masterpieces home.

1
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian · High Renaissance · 1452–1519
Painter, engineer and anatomist of the Italian Renaissance. His soft, smoky modelling of light and shadow — sfumato — changed portrait painting for good.
2
Vincent van Gogh
Dutch · Post-Impressionism · 1853–1890
A Dutch painter who turned thick, rhythmic brushwork and blazing colour into a language of feeling. In barely a decade he produced around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life in the south of France.
3
Johannes Vermeer
Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · 1632–1675
Painter of quiet domestic interiors bathed in pearly daylight. Only around 35 of his works survive.
4
Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · 1606–1669
The master of light and shadow of the Dutch Golden Age, whose portraits and group scenes carry extraordinary psychological depth.
5
Eugène Delacroix
French · Romanticism · 1798–1863
Leader of French Romanticism, famous for passionate colour and dramatic history scenes such as Liberty Leading the People.
6
Diego Velázquez
Spanish · Baroque · 1599–1660
Court painter to Philip IV of Spain and author of Las Meninas, admired by later painters as the painter's painter.
7
Sandro Botticelli
Italian · Early Renaissance · c. 1445–1510
Florentine painter of graceful, linear figures and mythological scenes made for the Medici circle.
8
Jacques-Louis David
French · Neoclassicism · 1748–1825
The leading painter of French Neoclassicism and of the Revolution and Napoleonic era.
9
Francisco Goya
Spanish · Romanticism · 1746–1828
Spanish court painter turned fearless witness of war and human folly, from royal portraits to the haunting Black Paintings.
10
Claude Monet
French · Impressionism · 1840–1926
Founder of French Impressionism. Monet painted the same subjects again and again to capture changing light, from Rouen Cathedral to his water garden at Giverny.
11
Édouard Manet
French · Realism · 1832–1883
A pivotal figure between Realism and Impressionism whose bold, modern subjects scandalised the Paris Salon.
12
Gustav Klimt
Austrian · Symbolism / Art Nouveau · 1862–1918
Leader of the Vienna Secession, known for shimmering gold-leaf surfaces, ornament and sensual figures from his celebrated Golden Phase.
13
Ilya Repin
Russian · Realism · 1844–1930
The greatest Russian realist painter, whose dramatic history scenes and portraits capture the soul of his country.
14
Hieronymus Bosch
Dutch · Northern Renaissance · c. 1450–1516
Netherlandish painter of fantastical, moralising visions filled with strange creatures, most famously The Garden of Earthly Delights.
15
Caspar David Friedrich
German · Romanticism · 1774–1840
The great German Romantic landscape painter. His lone figures facing mist, sea and mountains invite the viewer to stand inside the painting.
16
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Flemish · Northern Renaissance · c. 1525–1569
Flemish master of crowded village scenes, seasons and proverbs, painted with humour and sharp observation.
17
Jan van Eyck
Flemish · Northern Renaissance · c. 1390–1441
Pioneer of oil painting whose Arnolfini Portrait and Ghent Altarpiece reach almost miraculous detail.
18
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French · Impressionism · 1841–1919
Impressionist painter of joyful Parisian life — dances, cafés, gardens and portraits glowing with warm, feathery colour.
19
Titian
Italian · Renaissance · c. 1488–1576
The leading painter of 16th-century Venice, admired for rich, glowing colour and loose, expressive handling of paint.
20
Raphael
Italian · High Renaissance · 1483–1520
With Leonardo and Michelangelo one of the three giants of the High Renaissance, celebrated for serene Madonnas and perfectly balanced compositions.
21
Caravaggio
Italian · Baroque · 1571–1610
Revolutionary Baroque painter whose dramatic spotlighting and raw realism — chiaroscuro taken to its limit — influenced a whole generation across Europe.
22
Gustave Courbet
French · Realism · 1819–1877
Founder of the Realist movement, who insisted on painting ordinary life and landscapes exactly as he saw them.
23
Paul Gauguin
French · Post-Impressionism · 1848–1903
Post-Impressionist known for flat, saturated colour and symbolic scenes painted in Brittany and Tahiti.
24
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
French · Neoclassicism · 1780–1867
French Neoclassical painter of flawless line and porcelain-smooth portraits and nudes.
25
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
French · Rococo · 1732–1806
One of the last great painters of the French Rococo, admired for his playful subjects and feathery, fluent brushwork.
26
Georges Seurat
French · Post-Impressionism · 1859–1891
Inventor of Pointillism, building luminous scenes from countless small dots of pure colour.
27
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
French · Academic Art · 1825–1905
Master of French academic painting whose flawless technique gave mythological and pastoral figures an almost living glow.
28
El Greco
Greek-Spanish · Mannerism · 1541–1614
Cretan-born master of Toledo whose elongated, flame-like figures and visionary colour still feel strikingly modern.
29
John Everett Millais
British · Pre-Raphaelite · 1829–1896
Co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and painter of the unforgettable Ophelia.
30
Michelangelo
Italian · High Renaissance · 1475–1564
Sculptor, painter and architect of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, whose muscular, heroic figures defined the High Renaissance.
31
Ivan Aivazovsky
Russian · Romanticism · 1817–1900
Russian master of the sea who painted thousands of storms, shipwrecks and moonlit waves, many from memory.
32
Albrecht Dürer
German · Northern Renaissance · 1471–1528
German painter and printmaker who brought Italian Renaissance ideas north, celebrated for precise detail and striking self-portraits.
33
Edgar Degas
French · Impressionism · 1834–1917
Painter of ballet dancers, racecourses and modern Paris, known for daring viewpoints and masterful drawing.
34
James McNeill Whistler
American · Tonalism · 1834–1903
American-born painter of hushed 'nocturnes' and harmonies, who believed art should exist for its own beauty.
35
Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish · Baroque · 1577–1640
The most celebrated Flemish Baroque painter, known for energetic compositions, rich colour and voluptuous figures.
36
John William Waterhouse
British · Pre-Raphaelite · 1849–1917
British painter of myth and Arthurian legend, celebrated for luminous colour and romantic heroines.
37
J. M. W. Turner
British · Romanticism · 1775–1851
English Romantic painter of storms, sunsets and steam, whose luminous, almost abstract light anticipated Impressionism.
38
John Constable
British · Romanticism · 1776–1837
English landscape painter of the Suffolk countryside, famous for skies, clouds and The Hay Wain.
39
John Singer Sargent
American · Realism · 1856–1925
The leading portrait painter of his generation, admired for dazzling, confident brushwork and elegant sitters.
40
Henri Rousseau
French · Post-Impressionism · 1844–1910
Self-taught 'naïve' painter of dreamlike jungles, tigers and moonlit deserts, admired by Picasso and the Surrealists.
41
Jean-Léon Gérôme
French · Academic Art · 1824–1904
French academic painter of meticulously detailed history scenes and Orientalist subjects.
42
Artemisia Gentileschi
Italian · Baroque · 1593–c. 1656
The most celebrated woman painter of the Baroque, known for powerful heroines such as Judith and Susanna.
43
Jean-François Millet
French · Realism · 1814–1875
Painter of peasant life whose quiet, dignified field workers — The Gleaners, The Angelus — moved generations.
44
Ivan Shishkin
Russian · Realism · 1832–1898
Russian landscape painter of deep pine forests, celebrated for his precise, poetic woodland scenes.
45
Paul Cézanne
French · Post-Impressionism · 1839–1906
Post-Impressionist who rebuilt nature from planes of colour — the bridge between Impressionism and Cubism.
46
Alexandre Cabanel
French · Academic Art · 1823–1889
Celebrated French academic painter of history, myth and portraits, including The Birth of Venus and Fallen Angel.
47
Gustave Caillebotte
French · Impressionism · 1848–1894
Impressionist painter and patron whose bold views of modern Paris — rainy streets, floor scrapers, balconies — feel almost photographic.
48
Frans Hals
Dutch · Dutch Golden Age · c. 1582–1666
Dutch portraitist whose loose, lively brushwork captured laughter and character like no one before him.
49
Amedeo Modigliani
Italian · Expressionism · 1884–1920
Italian painter in Paris known for elegant elongated portraits with almond eyes and swan-like necks.
50
Frederic Leighton
British · Academic Art · 1830–1896
Victorian painter and sculptor of classical beauty, best known for the glowing Flaming June.
51
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
British · Pre-Raphaelite · 1828–1882
Poet, painter and co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, known for his jewel-coloured portraits of women.
52
Edvard Munch
Norwegian · Expressionism · 1863–1944
Norwegian painter whose raw, psychological images of anxiety, love and loss laid the groundwork for Expressionism.
53
Jean-Antoine Watteau
French · Rococo · 1684–1721
Creator of the fête galante — dreamy scenes of elegant figures in parkland that launched the Rococo style.
54
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
British · Academic Art · 1836–1912
Victorian painter of sunlit marble terraces and luxurious scenes of ancient Rome and Greece.
55
Mary Cassatt
American · Impressionism · 1844–1926
American Impressionist in Paris, beloved for tender, honest images of mothers and children.
56
François Boucher
French · Rococo · 1703–1770
Favourite painter of Madame de Pompadour and the very image of Rococo — pastel skies, cupids and graceful goddesses.
57
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French · Post-Impressionism · 1864–1901
Chronicler of Montmartre nightlife — cabarets, dancers and the Moulin Rouge — in bold line and colour.
58
Edward Burne-Jones
British · Pre-Raphaelite · 1833–1898
Late Pre-Raphaelite painter of dreamlike legends, knights and melancholy beauties.
59
Thomas Cole
American · Romanticism · 1801–1848
Founder of the Hudson River School, painter of sublime American wilderness and grand allegorical series.
60
Joaquín Sorolla
Spanish · Impressionism · 1863–1923
Spanish 'master of light', famous for dazzling Mediterranean beaches, children at play and sun on white linen.
61
Wassily Kandinsky
Russian · Abstract Art · 1866–1944
Pioneer of abstract painting who believed colour and form could move the soul like music.
62
Egon Schiele
Austrian · Expressionism · 1890–1918
Austrian Expressionist whose raw, angular figures and self-portraits pushed the human body to its emotional limits.
63
Camille Pissarro
Danish-French · Impressionism · 1830–1903
The 'father of Impressionism', a generous mentor to younger painters and a tireless painter of rural life and Paris boulevards.
64
Arnold Böcklin
Swiss · Symbolism · 1827–1901
Swiss Symbolist whose haunting Isle of the Dead became one of the most reproduced images of its age.
65
Edwin Landseer
British · Romanticism · 1802–1873
Queen Victoria's favourite animal painter, famous for noble stags, loyal dogs and the lions of Trafalgar Square.
66
Alfred Sisley
British · Impressionism · 1839–1899
The most devoted landscape painter of Impressionism, capturing rivers, skies and snow around Paris.
67
Camille Corot
French · Realism · 1796–1875
Landscape painter of silvery, poetic light whose work paved the way for Impressionism.
68
Berthe Morisot
French · Impressionism · 1841–1895
A founding member of the Impressionists, painting intimate scenes of women and family life with airy, rapid brushwork.
69
Albert Bierstadt
American · Romanticism · 1830–1902
Painter of the American West's vast mountains and golden light, a leading figure of the Hudson River School.
70
Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese · Ukiyo-e · 1760–1849
Edo-period master whose woodblock series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji inspired generations of European painters.
71
Winslow Homer
American · Realism · 1836–1910
American realist of the sea and the outdoors — fishermen, storms and sunlit coasts painted with great force.
72
Franz von Stuck
German · Symbolism · 1863–1928
Munich Secession founder whose dark, sensual Symbolist paintings include the famous Sin.
73
Vilhelm Hammershøi
Danish · Symbolism · 1864–1916
Danish painter of silent grey interiors, closed doors and soft light — the poet of stillness.
74
Alphonse Mucha
Czech · Art Nouveau · 1860–1939
The defining artist of Art Nouveau, famous for graceful women framed by flowing hair, flowers and ornament.
75
Odilon Redon
French · Symbolism · 1840–1916
French Symbolist of dreams and luminous flowers, moving from dark charcoal visions to radiant colour.