Early American art was mostly inspired by English painting. Even while a number of American artists achieved fame in the 19th century, it wasn’t until the 20th century that the country really started to have an impact on the global art scene. Realism, which portrayed modern social realities and everyday life, was the first significant art trend in the US. The first distinctly American movement to have an impact abroad was abstract expressionism. It placed emphasis on using abstraction to communicate powerfully expressive or emotional material. The Pop Art movement, which was the one that came after it, was distinguished by the use of recognised images from popular culture, such as ads, celebrities, and comic book characters. American modernism, neo-expressionism, and graffiti art all have significant American influences. American painters like the Realist Edward Hopper, the Modernist Georgia O’Keeffe, the Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock, the Pop Artist Andy Warhol, and the Graffiti Artist Keith Haring are among the most well-known of the contemporary generation. Learn more about American visual art through the works of the top ten most well-known painters.
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American art is still very young when compared to nations like France and Italy. But throughout the course of a few hundred years, there have been quite a few significant artists who were born in the United States or who later immigrated there.
Do you know many American artists? Many of us are familiar with famous names like Georgia O’Keeffe and Andy Warhol, but other individuals have not gained the same level of notoriety. For instance, early American artists Thomas Cole and James Whistler painted scenes and people from real life with exquisite precision and elegance. In the same way, Augusta Savage and Jacob Lawrence were significant figures in the Harlem Renaissance’s early 20th-century cultural “golden era.”
List of the Most Famous American Artists
ALEXANDER CALDER
Lifespan: July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976
The mobile, an abstract sculpture that responds to touch or air currents by taking advantage of the principle of equilibrium, was created by Alexander Calder, one of the most significant and respected American sculptors of the twentieth century. In addition to mobiles, Calder also created stabiles, a type of static sculpture, wire sculptures, toys, theatrical sets, oil and gouache paintings, as well as jewellery and numerous household items. In addition, Calder produced large-scale sculptures, such as.125 for the JFK Airport in New York City in 1957, Spirale for the UNESCO in Paris the following year, and his greatest piece, El Sol Rojo, for the 1968 Summer Olympics in New Mexico outside the Aztec Stadium. Alexander Calder received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, two months after his passing in November 1976.
NORMAN ROCKWELL
Lifespan: February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978
Over 4,000 original works were created by the prolific Norman Rockwell during his career. The Saturday Evening Post and later Look magazines used most of his creations as cover drawings. Rockwell is best known for his representations of daily life, his ability to capture the character of small-town America, and his patriotic artwork produced during World War II. In 1943, he produced four works of art that represented the four freedoms outlined by American President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his well-known address from 1941. Among his most well-known works are the paintings Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Rockwell did not receive favourable reviews since he was not regarded as a “serious painter” by art critics. Even so, he was the most well-known and well-liked commercial artist in America in the middle of the 20th century.
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Lifespan: December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988
Jean-Michel Basquiat started his career as a graffiti artist while he was unemployed and homeless. The late 1970s and early 1980s were the height of the graffiti art movement in the United States. In 1976, Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz began spray painting graffiti on walls in Lower Manhattan. They went by the alias SAMO, which stands for “Same Old Shit.” Although SAMO quickly attracted media interest, the project was abandoned in 1979 after the couple split. Early in the 1980s, Basquiat rapidly advanced to rank among the most well-known painters in the country. Wealth against poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outside experience were just a few examples of the “suggestive dichotomies” that he exploited in his artwork. The most well-known American artist of the Neo-expressionist movement, which is distinguished by deep subjectivity and harsh material manipulation, is Jean-Michel Basquiat. At just 27 years old, he overdosed on heroin and passed away.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Lifespan: October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997
Before transitioning to Pop Art, the genre in which Roy Lichtenstein made his name, he first worked in Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. Many art experts referred to him as a copycat because of how much his works resembled the originals when they were originally displayed. Is He the Worst Artist in the U.S.? was the title of an article that Life magazine published. The artist replied, “The more scary and critical the topic, the closer my work is to the original.” Roy Lichtenstein eventually rose to prominence within the Pop Art movement, which dominated the American art scene. His most famous creations, which frequently drew inspiration from ads and comic strips, have become symbols of the movement.
EDWARD HOPPER
Lifespan: July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967
Edward Hopper’s work is distinguished by a lack of movement and almost little trace of life, as well as by the use of dramatic techniques to imply his subjects’ psychological states. Hopper’s characters, who are frequently seen to be separated from and alienated from their surroundings, portrayed the solitary of modern existence. Additionally, he made his audience participate actively in finishing the story in his artworks. This had a significant impact on the art world because it gave rise to movements in which the viewer played a key part in comprehending the artwork. Edward Hopper, the most well-known American realist painter, is credited with creating the most accurate depiction of America in the twentieth century. One of the most famous paintings in American art history is his masterwork Nighthawks.
MARK ROTHKO
Lifespan: September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970
Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz, also known as Mark Rothko, was born in a Russian Jewish family that emigrated to the United States when he was a little boy. Throughout his artistic career, he experimented with a variety of genres, including surrealism, before settling on his own distinctive look. Colour Field painting, a branch of Abstract Expressionism in which colour serves as the primary focus, is credited to Rothko as its founder. Rothko stated that he was not an abstractionist despite being one of the most prominent abstract painters since his main interest was in learning about the mysticism and esotericism of colours and their combinations. For Rothko, painting was a means of expressing his spirituality; many admirers have sobbed in front of his artwork. One of the most significant abstract artists in western art history, Mark Rothko made a significant contribution to the field.
KEITH HARING
Lifespan: May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990
Keith Haring’s father, a hobbyist cartoonist, exposed him to art when he was a young child. When Haring moved to New York in 1978, he learned about the city’s booming underground graffiti art culture. He became one of the most well-known graffiti painters and produced thousands of works for the general public. He has been detained several times for graffiti. In 1981, Haring held his first solo exhibition as interest in his work among the general public expanded. He created a large number of murals and other public works during the 1980s in countries all over the world, including Europe, South America, and Australia. Even the world of fine art eventually had to recognise his talent. Keith Haring introduced “low art” elements into the hitherto exclusive “high art” environments of museums and galleries. His work is renowned for being superficially straightforward yet incorporating more complex subjects like birth, death, love, sexuality, conflict, and social harmony.
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE
Lifespan: November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986
Between the two World Wars, the aesthetic and cultural movement known as American Modernism reached its height. It was distinguished by a purposeful break from tradition and the use of avant-garde artistic mediums. By pushing the boundaries of creative style with her paintings that mixed abstraction and representation, Georgia O’Keeffe rose to the top of American Modernism. She is most known for her dramatic, sensual close-ups of flowers that effectively transformed them into abstract paintings. The gender balance in the arts was significantly influenced by Georgia O’Keeffe. She is not just the most well-known female artist in the United States but also one of the most significant characters in 20th-century art, earning the moniker “Mother of American Modernism.” In 1977, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
JACKSON POLLOCK
Lifespan: January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956
In drip painting, paint is put to the canvas by pouring or dripping it there rather than applying it meticulously. The most well-known drip painter is Jackson Pollock, who was given the nickname “Jack the Dripper” by TIME magazine. Action painting is a process in which the actual physical act of painting is a crucial component of the finished piece. Pollock popularised this method by pouring and dripping paint in his works. His most well-known pieces include No. 5, 1948, which set a new record for the highest price ever paid for a painting when it was sold for a price of $140 million, and Blue Poles, which the National Gallery of Australia acquired in 1973 for A$1.3 million, a then-world record for a contemporary American painting. The leading representative of the Abstract Expressionism movement was Jackson Pollock. He is the most well-known American abstract painter and a notable figure in 20th-century art.
ANDY WARHOL
Lifespan: August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987
Andy Warhol, real name Andrew Warhola, is the most well-known and important member of the Pop Art movement and is referred to as the “Pope of Pop.” His paintings’ non-painterly style and commercial elements at first offended people since they went against abstract expressionism, the then-dominant style in the United States, and its methods and philosophies. His creations caused a stir in the American art scene, and the ensuing controversy made Warhol well-known. He experimented with a wide range of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Warhol was a prolific artist. Some of the most expensive paintings ever sold are his. The most expensive Warhol painting, when adjusted for inflation, is Eight Elvises, which sells for US$111.2 million. The highest price paid for a Warhol painting is US$105 million for a 1963 canvas named Silver Car Crash. Andy Warhol is without a doubt the most well-known American artist, even if many people still question the quality of his work.
