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9 Years Ago
I was wondering who you would pick - if you didn't have the old European masters to pick from - as the three greatest artists. Choose - but be careful that they are "American" artists - please.
I'll go with my favorite first - Georgia O'keefe
then John Seerey Lester (he's a wildlife artist)
and then perhaps Edward Hopper
Reply Order
9 Years Ago
I have trouble with the term "Greatest" but here are three whose works i really like...
Isamu Noguchi
Jacob Lawrence
Thomas Hart Benton
9 Years Ago
She may not be well known, but I'd give just about anything to have one of Ruth Asawa's wire sculptures. Great American artists have to include Remington ("The Scout" -- my favorite painting) and Ansel Adams, of course!
Oh, yes!! John Singer Sargent. Totally agree on that one, Carolyn.
9 Years Ago
Oh - I do like Bev Dolittle - never met her - though she lived just down the road when I was in CA.
9 Years Ago
Ed - I once owned a Thomas Hart Benton litho - sadly - I sold it - good money a new maytag washer and dryer with a little left over.
9 Years Ago
Charles Demuth (November 8, 1883 – October 23, 1935), too bad not many know of him or his works now a day.
9 Years Ago
Demuth embraces cubism. I don't really get into his work but it was different and I like different.
9 Years Ago
Tastes change all the time. Here is a very short list.
First half the 20th century
Ansel Adams
Edward Steichen
Edward Weston
Second half the 20th century
Cindy Sherman
Richard Avedon
W. Eugene Smith
9 Years Ago
I had to memorize so many for my Art History exams but these American artists have influenced me the most.
The first (gigantic) Sargent I saw in person was inside the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. That's very different from seeing a textbook image or an online image! I can also identify with Hopper's personality and his subject matter. Richard Estes paintings are just incredible!
John Singer Sargent
Edward Hopper
Richard Estes
9 Years Ago
samu Noguchi (1903–1988), sculptor
Will Barnet (1911-2012), painter, printmaker
Clyfford Still (1904–1980), painter
9 Years Ago
Andrew Wyeth would certainly make my top ten if not top five, as would Norman Rockwell.
Fame - as some have pointed out there are artists we don't know - is not always a standard for "greatness" - and so I don't buy Ansel Adams, who was very good, nor do I buy Kinkade who was good - but a better marketeer.
9 Years Ago
Roy,
I too am a huge Rockwell fan and would certainly be in my top 5. His work has influenced my own art.
--mary ellen anderson
9 Years Ago
Anonymous native American artists who painted these....
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mimbres+bowls&qpvt=mimbres+bowls&FORM=IGRE
bob
9 Years Ago
I would have to say:
Thomas Hart Benton; the multiple vanishing-points and vivid colors depicting period life styles rings that bell of recognition that few artist achieve.
9 Years Ago
This might be a stupid question: Is, per your definition, Arnold Schwarzenegger an American, or, because he cannot become president, not?
9 Years Ago
Drew - American - North, South, Central, even the Caribbean if you like. in which case I'll add Alfred Ng (living in Canada)
I keep forgetting - I'm two people on FAA - this one is my digital art account the other (the origin of the thread is my photo account).
9 Years Ago
When I see the term 'Greatest Artists', I understand that to be 'Most Influential Artists'.
So nothing to do with fame or how much money their works sold for. Instead, a great artist should be measured by how they affected the art world at that specific time and how they influenced the art world from then on wards. Artists who define a generation, who pioneer a new movement, who break rules to further expand our boundaries.
---------------------------------
Conor O'Brien
www.ConorOBrienArt.com
9 Years Ago
In that case, Diego Rivera even though I think be was a hypocritical slob, his art is freaking fantastic!
9 Years Ago
I also think Frazetta was one of the most talented artist of all time but most of the Frazetta want to be's I have known are caught in a 15 year-old male mental time warp :-) LOL
9 Years Ago
Frazetta did some super work - I used to sell books because he did the art on the covers. was pretty good money.
Great Artists is kind of like "good art" - all in the eye of the beholder - and personal judgment of fame, aesthetics, what you like or don't and personal feelings about the artists. Although I think the personal lives of artists - or other people is their business and the work should be judged on it's own merits. It's kind of like saying you wouldn't go see a really good movie because Tom Hanks was in it and you think he and his politics are the pits.
9 Years Ago
Like Ed, not sure I'd say they are the greatest but I really enjoy their work:
John Singer Sargent
Georgia O'Keefe
Gamini Ratnavira
If you've never heard of Ratnavira, (wildlife artist) you can view his work either on Google or his own website. I began purchasing his limited edition proofs of African Greys years ago, directly from him:
http://www.gaminiratnavira.com/
-Donna Proctor
9 Years Ago
Oh, my goodness, I can't believe I left off Till Goodan (1896-1958.) There is no western artist with more authenticity.
Charles Russell should also be added.
9 Years Ago
I would like to vote for Mark Rothko. His work introduced me to the power of abstract paintings. Born in Latvia in 1903 but moved to Portland, OR when he was 10. Georgia O'Keefe is another American artist I really admire.
9 Years Ago
I really enjoy threads of this kind because we are invariably introduced to artists we may have been unaware of. Plus, it offers a window into the mind of the person doing the nominating. In the early 60's, I saw several original Audubon works on display at Yale University. Enchanting beyond words and it seems like only yesterday.
Other than that I'd like to add the New Age, visionary art of Alex Grey.
http://alexgrey.com/art/
