The 20 Most Famous Painters Today You Should Know

When it comes to putting together a list of the most influential artists, we tend to turn to the analytical research tool of Artfacts[1]. Based on objective data and career facts, the Artfacts algorithm generates a ranking of the most important living artists. For this article, we will take a closer look at this ranking for the most famous painters today, presenting a reasoned selection of the twenty most influential contemporary painters.

Since the 1960s and 70s, the traditional categories in art have been cleared and rewritten more than once, to say the least. So, how do we define a painter? When going through the top hundred living artists, we have come across several artists who are occupied with painting but from a multidisciplinary artistic practice, such as Francis Alÿs (b. 1959) or Günther Brus (b. 1938). As a result, we have chosen artists with painting as (one of) their primary activities.

Furthermore, the selected artists are part of an older generation, as their historical importance and career longevity made them surpass their younger peers. In this case, if you would like to discover the most important painters born after 1975, make sure to read our article on the Top 10 Young Contemporary Artists You Need To Know next. Other lists that might interest you are our selection of the most famous female painters today or the top 20 abstract painters today. Feel free to discover those next. Or, if you are a painter yourself, feel free to discover our tools and services with industry-approved advice for artists here.

20. Frank Stella

Frank Stella, born in 1936 in Malden, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, currently lives and works in New York City, the United States of America.

Stella is one of the most important painters of the second half of the 20th century and has remained relevant since the new millennium. The American artist is best known for his shaped canvases pushing the boundaries of painting and minimalism in the 60s and 70s.[2]

For further reading, we recommend Frank Stella from the renowned Phaidon Contemporary Art Series.

19. Richard Prince

Born in 1949 in Panama, Richard Prince is a visual artist living and working in New York City, the United States of America. Occupied with painting and photography, Prince has been mining images from mass media since the 1970s.

Richard Prince examines the complex transitions from image to artwork, discussing concepts of authorship, ownership, and the aura of an image as an artwork. In doing so, Prince tackles themes such as sexism and racism. His most famous series of works consist of subjects with an almost mythical status, such as cowboys, bikers, celebrities, and paintings of nurses.[3]

18. Michelangelo Pistoletto

Although being one of the prominent representatives of Arte Povera and Conceptual Art, Michelangelo Pistoletto is best known as a painter. Born in 1933 in Biella, Italy, Pistoletto achieved international recognition with his mirror paintings at the start of the second half of the 20th century.

Using metallic paint on canvas or polished steel, Pistoletto plays with the notion of the mirror and reflection, bringing the viewer and his environment into the painting itself. Pistoletto incorporates silkscreen images from his painterly practice on top of his reflective surfaces and paintings.[4]

Find out everything you need to know about his paintings with the printed publication Michelangelo Pistoletto: Mirror Paintings.

17. Leiko Ikemura

Born in 1951 in Tsu, Mie-Ken, Japan, Leiko Ikemura is a contemporary artist living and working in Berlin and Cologne, Germany. She is mainly a painter but is also active as a draughtswoman, a sculptor—since 1981, to be more precise—and a photographer.

Her oeuvre is marked by a mysterious aura residing in her mystical landscapes and obscure portraits. Ikemura balances between abstraction, expression, and figuration as her guideline. In doing so, the Japanese contemporary artist examines gender, war, and religious issues.[5]

Discover more about Leiko Ikemura by reading her recent monograph Leiko Ikemura.

16. Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas, born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa, resides and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Dumas is known for her distinctive figurative language, sensually painted figures, and often thought-provoking subjects.

Dumas feverishly collects images from which she draws inspiration. As a result, she merges political issues with personal experiences and art historical references with a personal approach to the canvas. Being one of the most important painters of the broader movement of New European Painting, themes such as segregation, politics, war, and the cultural processes of objectification are examined in a personal yet universal manner.[6]

For further reading on Marlene Dumas, we highly recommend Marlene Dumas: The Image as Burden.

15. Albert Oehlen

Albert Oehlen, born in 1953 in Krefeld, is a German painter living and working in Cologne, Germany. Marked by freedom and creativity, Oehlen’s oeuvre is characterized by expressionist brushwork, écriture automatique, the history of abstraction and an ongoing quest for new extremes.

In the 80s, Oehlen became a dominant figure in the Berlin and Cologne art scene, alongside the Neue Wilde, such as Martin Kippenberger or Werner Büttner. The German artist attempts to deconstruct the medium, investigating painting’s most essential aspects such as color, the brushstroke as a gesture, motion, and time.[7]

Discover more in his multilingual printed monograph published in 2018, titled Albert Oehlen.

14. Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns, born in 1930 in Augusta, the United States of America, is an American artist living and working in Sharon, Connecticut, the United States of America. The winner of the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 1988 is best known for his iconic Flag paintings.

Between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, Johns approaches the American flag in a formalistic manner, effectuating the image’s power. The stripes and stars are redefined as shapes arranging the picture, as a painting, and as a statement.[8]

There is a magnificent and extensive catalog raissonné on Jasper Johns. Find it here: Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture.

13. Damien Hirst

Born in 1965 in Bristol, the United Kingdom, and residing and working in the English capital, London, Damien Hirst is one of the most popular and controversial artists of his generation. He rose to fame in the late 1980s with his often shocking sculptures, pushing the boundaries of art, good taste, or the acceptable, but is also renowned for his painterly practice, depicting dots, butterflies, flowers, skulls, and more.

Hirst examines the complex relationships of religion versus science, art and beauty, or life versus death. His serialized paintings of multicolored spots challenge belief systems and the uncertainties of the human condition and experience. His spot-paintings—a series that originated in the mid-1980s and continues up to today, with over a thousand pieces to date—is an ongoing search to paint as a machine but allowing subtle imperfections to dictate the overall feeling of the painting, making them both calming and unnerving, beautiful and ordinary.[9]

For further reading on Damien Hirst and his spot paintings, we highly recommend Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings.

12. Ugo Rondinone

Born in 1964 in Brunnen, Switzerland, and currently residing and working in New York City, the United States of America, Ugo Rondinone is one of the most important artists of his generation occupied with painting, but also large-scale drawings, sculptures, and installations. Throughout those various disciplines, and in particular, with his almost psychedelic paintings, Rondinone explores the relationships between opposites, think of night versus day, artificial versus real, or even euphoria versus depression.

His neon-hued mandala paintings are arguably one of his most iconic series of works alongside his colored stacked rock sculptures. Still, when it comes to his painterly practice, there is much more to discover; abstracted landscapes, irregularly shaped canvases resembling clouds, monochromes, and even tromp-l’oueils with a sculptural quality.[10]

For further reading on Ugo Rondinone’s paintings, we highly recommend Ugo Rondinone: Pure Sunshine.

11. Sean Scully

Sean Scully, born in 1945 in Dublin, Ireland, lives and works in New York City, the United States of America, and Berlin, Germany. Scully is one of the most important painters of the post-war era and is best known for his large-scale abstract paintings of vertical and horizontal shapes and planes.

A synthesis of the dominant American abstraction and Scully’s European heritage results in a personal style, dominated by geometrical forms. Vertical and horizontal blocks connect as the painting is filled with gestures and tangible emotions.[11]

For further reading, we highly recommend the recently published monograph Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas.

10. Heimo Zobernig

Heimo Zobernig, born in 1958 in Mauthen, Austria, resides and works in Vienna, Austria. The Austrian artist defies categorization, implementing an extensive array of media in his artistic practice, such as architectural interventions, installation, film, video, sculpture, and painting.

His oeuvre is marked by an interrogation of the formal language of modernism. Think of motifs such as the monochrome, the grid, or geometric abstraction to name a few. Even more, Zobernig tends to go a step further and examines how his art is presented or ‘framed’, physically but also conceptually. In doing so, Heimo Zobernig questions traditional gallery architecture or art historical and ideological concerns.[12]

For further reading, find out more in the monographic publication Heimo Zobernig.

9. Anselm Kiefer

We enter the top ten of our list with Anselm Kiefer. Born in 1945 in Donaueschingen, the German artist currently resides and works in Paris, France. Having grown up between the ruins of the Second World War, Kiefer’s oeuvre is marked by Germany’s post-war identity into a broader movement of New European Painting.

Kiefer’s paintings are marked by a rough surface, sculpting his paintings with metals and even implementing found objects. In doing so, Kiefer goes beyond reflecting historical events, encompassing myth, spirituality, and memory.[13]

Discover the works of Anselm Kiefer in the monograph Anselm Kiefer, published in 2015 by Thames & Hudson.

8. Arnulf Rainer

Born in 1929 in Baden, Austria, Arnulf Rainer currently resides and works in Vienna, Austria. Rainer achieved international recognition for his unique process of layering paint over photographic material.

Marked by his use of appropriation, Rainer transforms existing artworks by painting on top of them. Thick marks, layers of paint, gestural strokes, and a connection with Surrealism due to the implementation of Automatism by painting with a blindfold, the Austrian artist follows his instincts and urges, working towards abstract tableaus and other experimental practices in his creative process, including the use of his feet or painting under the influence of drugs.[14]

Discover the monographic publication Arnulf Rainer: Retrospective for further reading on Arnulf Rainer.

7. Alex Katz

Alex Katz, born in 1927 in Brooklyn, the United States of America, is an American painter living and working in New York, the United States of America. Over the years, Katz has distinguished himself with a unique approach to figurative painting.

Since the 1950s, Katz has dominated the art scene for over seven decades with his representational paintings of contemporary life. The American artist draws inspiration from films, advertising, friends, and music, working primarily from life. Using large and flat planes of color, Katz’s figures are made out of flat shapes on a monochrome background. Using photographic techniques such as decoupage and/or cropping, Katz searches for the perfect fragment of a figure to paint.[15]

Learn more about Alex Katz’s works in the Phaidon Contemporary Art Series Alex Katz.

6. Imi Knoebel

Born in 1940 in Dessau, Germany, Imi Knoebel is a German artist living and working in Düsseldorf, Germany. Knoebel is best known as a painter. However, he incorporates drawing, sculpture, installation, and photography into his artistic practice.

Knoebel discovered painting in the 60s with a rigorous and basic approach of thick or thin vertical lines placed at variable distances from each other. Throughout the 70s, the German artist continued experimenting with his minimal approach, implementing projections, experimenting with colour, and expansive painting.[16]

An excellent overview of Knoebel’s works is presented in the catalog Imi Knoebel: Works 1966-2006.

5. David Hockney

David Hockney, born in 1937 in Bradford, United Kingdom, is an English painter living and working in Normandy, France. Hockney has been a dominant protagonist for Pop Art, the British art scene, and figurative painting throughout the 20th century. As a result, he is one of the most important British contemporary figurative painters and the contemporary era in general.

Hockney continued to develop his distinctive painterly oeuvre in the Hollywood Hills since the 1960s, where he lived and worked, translating his daily environment to his artistic practice. As a result, the exotic and sensual life by the pool in Los Angeles became visible in his paintings. In November 2018, Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with two figures) was sold at Christie’s in New York City for a whopping 90 million dollars, temporarily dethroning Jeff Koons as the most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at an auction.[17]

There are tons of monographs on David Hockney. However, our absolute favorite is the monograph, David Hockney, by Tate Publishing (2017).

4. Ed Ruscha

Born in 1937 in Omaha, the United States of America, Ruscha is an American painter living and working in Culver City, the United States of America. Ruscha is best known as the artist who abandoned the academic connotations associated with Abstract Expressionism and brought words to the universe of painting.

Ruscha uses words as forms, signs, materials, and as subject matter to construct abstract paintings. Using humor and wit, Ruscha’s word paintings achieved international praise as he intertwined the visual with language and vice versa.[18]

Discover more works by Ed Ruscha with Ed Ruscha: 50 Years of Painting.

3. Yayoi Kusama

Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan, and currently residing and working in Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama is a contemporary artist best known for her unique and colorful paintings—but also immersive installations and sculptures—of pumpkins and polka dots.

She rose to prominence in the 1960s with her paintings depicting ongoing loops and polka dots she called “infinity nets,” dazzling the viewer and combining figurative imagery with minimal abstraction in these mesmerizing organic patterns. Kusama suffers from hallucinations and aims to examine psychological aspects and autobiographical elements in her works.

For further reading on Yayoi Kusama, we highly recommend the monographic publication Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective.

2. Georg Baselitz

In second place, we have the illustrious career of Georg Baselitz. Born in 1938 in Kamenz-Deutschbaselitz, Germany, Baselitz lives and works in Munich, Germany. The German painter is best known for his painted upside-down figures.

Baselitz is one of the most important post-war artists and a pioneering protagonist for New European Painting and Neo-Expressionism in Germany, rejecting the dominance of abstraction and painting representational elements and returning to the figure. The German painter, printmaker, and sculptor depicts his subjects upside down to slow down the painterly process and the viewer’s experience of the painting. In doing so, Baselitz achieves a unique balance of abstraction and figuration, depicting not only figures on their head but also landscapes, still lives, and more.[19]

Learn more by reading the recently published monograph Georg Baselitz.

1. Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter is at the very top of our list—the most famous living painter today. Born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany, Richter currently lives and works in Cologne, Germany. Richter dedicated his career to exploring the medium of painting in close relation to the effects of photography.

Richter achieved international recognition in the 1960s with his photo paintings. He rendered photographs into paintings, varying in the subject matter. Landscapes, nudes, still life painting, daily life, airplanes, alpines, and more were painted with a haze hovering over the photorealistic image, creating a blurred effect. This Richter blur or haze introduced abstraction into his oeuvre, allowing Richter to move freely from Photorealism to bold abstraction as no other artist had ever been able to do.[20]

As we take on recent art history, Gerhard Richter seems omnipresent. From a retrospective point of view, the illustrious German painter appears to be the pioneer of more than one movement or tendency in contemporary figurative painting. As a result, it is no surprise and well-deserved to have Gerhard Richter as our number one most famous painter today.

For further reading on Gerhard Richter, I highly recommend the extensive catalog Gerhard Richter: Panorama on the occasion of his eponymous retrospective at Tate Modern.

Notes:

[1] Artfacts, Artist ranking at https://artfacts.net/lists/global_top_100_artists consulted 20/03/2021.
[2] Tate, Frank Stella at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/frank-stella-1994 consulted 23/03/2021.
[3] Gagosian, Richard Prince at https://gagosian.com/artists/richard-prince/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[4] Artsy, Michelangelo Pistoletto at https://www.artsy.net/artist/michelangelo-pistoletto consulted 20/03/2021.
[5] Artsy, Leiko Ikemura at https://www.artsy.net/artist/leiko-ikemura consulted 20/03/2021.
[6] Zeno X Gallery, Marlene Dumas at http://www.zeno-x.com/artists/MD/marlene_dumas_bio.html consulted 23/03/2021.
[7] Gagosian, Albert Oehlen at https://gagosian.com/artists/albert-oehlen/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[8] Artnet, Jasper Johns at http://www.artnet.com/artists/jasper-johns/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[9] Gagosian, Damien Hirst at https://gagosian.com/artists/damien-hirst/ consulted 16/01/2023.
[10] Artsy, Ugo Rondinone at https://www.artsy.net/artist/ugo-rondinone/ consulted 16/01/2023.
[11] Lisson Gallery, Sean Scully at https://www.lissongallery.com/artists/sean-scully consulted 23/03/2021.
[12] Simon Lee Gallery, Heimo Zobernig at https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/heimo-zobernig/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[13] Gagosian, Anselm Kiefer at https://gagosian.com/artists/anselm-kiefer/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[14] Artnet, Arnulf Rainer at http://www.artnet.com/artists/arnulf-rainer/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[15] Thaddaeus Ropac, Alex Katz at https://ropac.net/artists/50-alex-katz/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[16] White Cube, Imi Knoebel at https://whitecube.com/artists/artist/imi_knoebel consulted 23/03/2021.
[17] Tate, David Hockney at https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/david-hockney-1293 consulted 23/03/2021.
[18] Gagosian, Ed Ruscha at https://gagosian.com/artists/ed-ruscha/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[19] Gagosian, Georg Baselitz at https://gagosian.com/artists/georg-baselitz/ consulted 23/03/2021.
[20] Artsy, Gerhard Richter at https://www.artsy.net/artist/gerhard-richter consulted 23/03/2021.

Last Updated on May 16, 2024