Here is a list of ten of the most famous painters in history, with brief summaries of their lives and contributions to art.
1. Leonardo da Vinci
Born in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci is often called “the Renaissance man” for his extraordinary range of talents. A painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, anatomist, geologist, musician, and engineer, Leonardo combined art and science in ways that transformed both disciplines. His paintings—including The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper—are among the most recognized works in the world. He also produced influential anatomical studies and conceptual designs for flying machines and other inventions. For a detailed biography, see Britannica’s entry on Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci — Britannica
2. Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is one of the most influential painters of the 19th century. Born in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, he developed a distinctive, highly expressive style characterized by bold color, dramatic brushstrokes, and intense emotion. Van Gogh struggled with mental health and financial instability throughout his life, producing many of his best-known works in a short but prolific period. His impact on modern art is immense; the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam preserves many of his masterpieces.
Van Gogh Museum — Official site
3. Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), born in Málaga, Spain, is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. A prodigious talent from an early age, Picasso studied in Spain and later moved to Paris, where he helped pioneer styles such as Cubism and experimented with collage and assemblage. His career spanned many periods and media, from Blue and Rose periods to neoclassical and Surrealist phases—making him one of modern art’s most versatile and innovative figures.
4. Claude Monet
Claude Monet (1840–1926) was a French painter and one of the founders of Impressionism. Born near Paris, Monet devoted his art to capturing the effects of light and atmosphere, often painting the same scene at different times of day to record changing conditions. His work frequently features water, reflections, and landscapes; his painting Impression, Sunrise gave the Impressionist movement its name. Monet’s series paintings, such as the Water Lilies, remain central to modern understandings of color and perception.
Musée Marmottan Monet — Collection and information
5. Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was a French artist best known for his paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures. Born in Paris, Degas produced intimate, observational works that often depict dancers, racecourse scenes, and everyday life. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and influenced by both classical training and contemporary innovations, Degas combined draftsmanship with an interest in modern subject matter and composition, helping to shape Impressionism while maintaining a distinct, realist sensibility.
6. Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse (1869–1954) was a French artist celebrated for his use of bold color, fluid lines, and innovative compositions. Born in northern France, Matisse became a leading figure in modern art, helping move painting away from strict naturalism toward expressive, decorative approaches. Throughout his career he worked in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and later in cut-paper “gouaches découpées,” continually exploring new means of expression and color harmony.
7. Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was a French post-Impressionist painter known for vibrant colors, strong forms, and evocative scenes inspired by landscapes and cultures beyond Europe. After working in various professions, Gauguin dedicated himself to painting and spent periods living and working in Brittany and later in Tahiti, where his work absorbed local motifs and mythologies. His stylistic innovations and emphasis on symbolic content strongly influenced later avant-garde movements.
8. Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera (1886–1957) was a leading Mexican painter and muralist whose large-scale frescoes depicted Mexican history, society, and political themes. Born in Guanajuato, Rivera studied in Mexico and Europe before returning to Mexico, where he became a central figure in the Mexican Mural Movement. His art combined social commentary with a monumental style intended to educate and inspire broad public audiences.
9. Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) was an American painter best known for his drip paintings and his role in Abstract Expressionism. Born in Cody, Wyoming, Pollock studied with regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton and later encountered European modernism and the teachings of Hans Hofmann. In the 1940s and early 1950s he developed his signature “action painting” technique—pouring and splattering paint onto canvases laid on the floor—transforming ideas about gesture, process, and scale in modern art. Pollock died in a car crash in 1956.
Jackson Pollock — MoMA artist page
10. Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist widely regarded as a pioneer of abstract art. Born in Moscow, he studied law and economics before turning to art and later studying at the Munich Academy. Kandinsky’s theoretical writings and works explored the spiritual and expressive potential of color and form, helping to establish abstraction as a major direction in 20th-century art.
