The Top 30 American Visual
Artisans of the 20th Century
Who are the thirty most influential American visual artists of the 20th Century? Who made it to #1? List a few of your favorites then compare notes with our picks.
30 | Peter Max | Arguably the leading the New Age art guru of the Cosmic 60's. |
29 | Mary Louise McLaughlin and Maria Longworth Nichols | Pioneered Art Pottery at the turn of the century at "Rookwood Pottery" works in Cincinnati, Ohio. |
28 | Roy Lichtenstein (born 1923) | "Ben Day Dot" artist whose cartoonish mass media works often incorporated words like "Zoom" and "Pow." Probably overanalyzed by the experts, produced color and bold graphic art for fun's sake. |
27 | Charles & Henry Green | Green & Green of Pasadena, CA produced one of the most beautifully crafted and designed lines of furniture in any century. Mission oak type construction blended with Art Nouveau and Art Deco lines. Distinguished by rounded treatment of edges and corners with noticeable square pegging in darker woods like ebony. |
26 | Donald Deskey (1894-1989) | Leading American Art Deco/Art Moderne Designer who streamlined designs and pioneered the utilization of cork-lined walls, copper ceilings, movable walls, pigskin-covered furniture, linoleum floors, Bakelite, Formica, Fabrikoid, brushed aluminum and chromium-plated brass. |
25 | Andrew Wyeth (Born 1917) | Realism painter whose intense and moving photograph-like images draw record crowds when he exhibits. A true American "Grass Roots" artist. |
24 | Eero Saarinen (1873-1950) | Architect and city planner famous for the TWA Terminal at Kennedy International, The Chicago Tribune Tower and the St Louis Gateway Arch. Many of Saarinen's designs have almost no straight lines, just flowing streamlined curves. 1960's type Futurism on a grand scale. |
23 | Robert Rauschenberg (Born 1925) | An artist and idea man who advanced numerous working methods including combining various types of art. A witty non-conformist who inspired many, including Warhol. |
22 | Jim Henson (1936-1990) | Kermit the Frog artisan who adapted the ancient art of puppetry to modern mediums like television. |
21 | Harley Earl (1893-1969) | From GM's "Art & Color Design Studio" revolutionized car design by introducing flowing shapes and later aircraft tail fins. |
20 | Hans G Knoll (1914-55) |
Along with his wife, Florence (b. 1917), he followed in the footsteps of his father pioneering modern furniture design and interior architectural planning. |
19 | Charles Eames (1907-1978) | Remember those futuristic fiberglass and cast aluminum stacking chairs from the 50's and 60's? He invented them. Eames was a tireless experimenter in plastic, metal, plywood and other materials; and in bold new forms he introduced to his innovative body contoured furniture. |
18 | Edward Hopper (1882-1967) | Stark realistic painter of American vistas, often depicted in a somber mood and devoid of life even when characters are introduced to his work; as in his famous diner painting: "Nighthawks." |
17 | Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) | Abstract expressionist leader rivaled perhaps only by Jackson Pollack, de Kooning is famous for the action and figurative imagery he introduced into his modern art paintings. |
16 | Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) | May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children citing that "children were having trouble to read because their books were boring." Less than a year later, Theodore Seuss Geisel's, "Cat in the Hat" would change all that. Artist and poet of the classic, "The Grinch That Stole Christmas." |
15 | Maxfield Parrish (1870-1976) | Painter and Illustrator whose framed prints of young maidens set off by soft blue & white scenery and Neoclassic elements were among the most popular images in American homes during the first half of the century. |
14 | Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) | Arguably, the most innovative American furniture artisan of the 20th century. Practically invented mission oak and many other complimenting lines of Arts & Crafts aesthetics. |
13 | Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) | American regionalist painter focusing on rural and small town American "characters" often in a comical light. |
12 |
Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986) | Imitative Realist whose sensuous and spiritual depictions of naturalistic southwestern desert terrain became one of the most popular lines of poster and print images hanging in American homes from the mid 1960's on. |
11 |
Jasper John's (born 1930) | Moved from abstract expressionist work to, like Warhol, a painter of everyday things as an expression: flags, beer cans, coat hangers etc. Pop Art pioneer. |
10 | Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) | Invented a new type of suburbia with his broad eve. Deep porch, clean wood Prairie homes. Master designer and pioneer of Mission oak type furnishings. A true genius with wide ranging talents that made him a celebrity architect. |
9 | Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) | The guy who, amongst other techniques, splattered and poured paint onto a canvas from overhead and called it art. Thing was, it is. Surprisingly, Pollock's work is almost impossible to duplicate. An artist who assaulted the bounds of art and got away with it, brilliantly. |
8 | Jerry Siegel and Joseph Schuster | In 1933 the two self-described "bespectacled, introverted, inhibited boys pooled their talents and dreams to create a revolutionary new type of duel-personality comic book hero they called "The Superman." |
7 | Alfred Stieglitz | His commonplace street scenes of New York, portraits of subjects like Georgia O'Keefe and other images are regarded as one of the highest expressions of photographic art. Steichen and Weston also deserve mention here, however in addition to making art with his camera, Stieglitz was one of the great 20th century sponsors of 20th century movements like cubism and other forms of modernism. |
6 | Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) | The son of a jeweler turned artist had as much to do with beauty and innovation in stained glass, art glass and electric lamps as Monet had influence over canvas and oils. |
5 | Alexander Calder 1898-1976 | Abstract artist famous for the development of "mobile" and "stabile" sculpture and producing art on a monumental scale. |
4 | William Van Alen (1883-1954) | Art Moderne/Deco architect and designer of New York's Zigzag Moderne "Chrysler Building." Along with Shreve, Lamb and Harmon's "Empire State Building," both built around 1930, it remains one the most magnificent and influential works of art extant. |
3 | Andy Warhol (1928-1987) | The guy who did the Campbell's Soup Can in 1962. Warhol moved on to idolize screen personalities like Marilyn Monroe in later work. One of the most trend setting personalities of the "we" and "me" decades. Truly a Pop Artist for the time capsule. |
2 | Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) | American illustrator most famous for his Saturday Evening Post Magazine Covers and Four Freedoms poster series that inspired Americans to support the WWII effort by purchasing bonds. |
1 | Walt Disney | Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, the first theme park, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. What do you get when you combine artistic flair, unparralled imagination, technical genius, inventiveness, brilliant business savvy and add in a good work ethic too. You get the "Wonderful World of Disney!" He practically invented the art of making art fun, especially for kids. |
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