Pursuing art as a career can be a fickle endeavor, but for those who achieve success, it can also be very rewarding. These 10 most important painters of all time not only achieved great success, but they also left many cultural imprints that have withstood the test of time. Check them out for yourself below, and prepare to be inspired!
Number Ten: Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906). Cezanne was a French post-impressionist painter. His paintings helped evolve the world of art tremendously. Pictured above is a work of his titled The Card Players.
Number Nine: Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675). Most well-known for the painting above titled Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in depicting the life of the middle class. Unfortunately, Vermeer did not see success in his lifetime and left his wife and kids in debt when he died.
Number Eight: Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919). French artist Auguste Renoir who painted in an Impressionistic style. Pictured above is his famous Luncheon of the Boating Party.
Number Seven: Raphael (1483 – 1520). Simply known as Raphael, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was an Italian painter. Pictured above is part of his Sistine Madonna.
Number Six: Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973). Popular painter Pablo Picasso was from Spain and is perhaps most well known for co-founding the Cubist movement. Above is his wildly famous Guernica.
Number Five: Claude Monet (1840 – 1926). Claude Monet is the founder of French Impressionism and is well known for his depictions of water lilies, pictured above. He was born in Paris, France.
Number Four: Michelangelo (1475 – 1564). Known for painting the ceiling of the daunting Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo was an Italian painter. He is famous for the following quote, which he said about his sculpture David: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Number Three: Rembrandt (1606 – 1669). Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, better known as just Rembrandt, is considered to be the most important painter in Dutch history. Pictured above is The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
Number Two: Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890). Second on our list of the 10 most important painters of all time is Vincent Van Gogh. Popularized for cutting off his own ear and suspected of suffering from mental illness, Van Gogh was a prolific and creative painter capable of producing masterpieces like the one above, titled Starry Night.
Number One: Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 – 1519). Finally, the number one most important painter of all time is Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci was the true Renaissance man, as he not only painted, but he also sculpted, invented and sketched (among many other things). Pictured above is his famous Vitruvian Man, which is meant to depict the ideal human proportions.
