Famous painter, Celebrity Birthdays

Bob Ross was a celebrated, creative American painter and an art instructor. He developed an interest, and a taste for art during his early military career when he attended an art class at the Anchorage USO Club, which led him to find his real calling in life. From being a break-time painter during military service to a full-time art instructor on television, Ross's interest and dedication brought him fame and glory. The magnum opus of his career came with his flagship television program ˜The Joy of Painting' that aired for more than a decade from 1983 to 1994 in US, Canada, Latin America and Europe. What gave his show an edge over others was that it was interactive, interesting, creative and entertaining! He adopted and popularized a 16th century painting technique called ˜alla prima' or ˜wet-on-wet' painting, which he was introduced to on television by a German Painter, Bill Alexander. He was an inspiration for not just the pre-internet generation of artists who followed him religiously, but also the post-internet generation of artists who consider him an iconic celebrity painter. Aspiring artists of today, look up to his works and shows on YouTube and other web portals. Though Ross died at an early age, his legacy continues to live through his works.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci is known to the world as a polymath, architect, mathematician, musician, sculptor, engineer, inventor, anatomist and writer. Da Vinci is considered to be a true Renaissance man who earned a great deal of proficiency in many subjects. He is revered today because of his artistic contributions that defined and molded the world of art and also because of his countless achievements in other notable fields. He helped unravel the sciences, developed new art techniques and was also one of the first people to dissect a human body. Da Vinci was also an accomplished musician and, for the fetes, ballets, intermezzi and sonnets”of which the Renaissance period was so fond”Leonardo was beyond compare. He was an embodiment of the spirit of Renaissance and was known for his feverishly inventive imagination and unquenchable curiosity. Very few artists of his time possessed the qualities and the vehemence to accomplish what he did. Today, his art is priceless and his science is accredited. There are only about 15 of his paintings that survive today and the ˜Mona Lisa' is by far the most valuable one. To learn more about this great personality, scroll further.

Vincent van Gogh was a legendary Dutch artist whose works are known for their charismatic beauty, enthralling emotion and vibrant colors. Considered to be the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, he is seen as one of the most recognizable painters in history. However, unluckily for van Gogh, much of the appreciation and glory came posthumously as he spent a life ridden by poverty, unstable mental health and poor physical state. Van Gogh had a modest start in his life as he struggled for direction. He spent much of his adult life on an unrelenting pilgrimage tour, painting, sketching and preaching the word of God. It was in Paris that he resumed to his old love and passion of art by studying the works of new impressionist painters, and later imitating their works. However, he later developed his own unconventional style that was bold and unflinching. Over his life, he completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings and sketches. Today, several of his paintings rank among the most expensive in the world.

Talk of 20th century greatest artists and one cannot go on the list without mentioning the name of Pablo Picasso! The indomitable artist of the era, he was a born genius whose prodigious work took the world of art by storm. Amazingly, when children of his age were busy rote learning or playing, Picasso dedicated his time to drawing. At the tender age of eight he started painting and by the time he crossed thirteen, his talent and skilfulness had surpassed that of his father. His first two major paintings include, ˜The First Communion' and ˜Science and Charity'. With time, he diversified to sculpting, ceramic designing and stage designing. Picasso was responsible for coming up with Cubism, which was the first step towards modern art. Unlike his predecessors, such as impressionists, fauvists and Cezanne who still employed a model to come up with a work of art, he broke all bars and reached a level of abstraction that was a radical enough to break with the classical dominance of content over form, a hierarchy which was reversed in his ground-breaking work, ˜Les Demoiselles d'Avignon', thus giving birth to modern art of the 20th century. To know more about his childhood, life and profile, browse through the following lines.

Frida Kahlo was a great Mexican painter best known for her self-portraits. She combined traditional Mexican folk art with surrealism, making her paintings a symbolic form of self-expression. A self-taught artist, painting was not her first choice as a career, until a tragic incident changed her destiny and left her severely injured. She spent most of her recovery time painting and later went on to choose this as a medium to convey her pain and suffering. Some of her most notable works include 'Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird', ˜Memory or The Heart', ˜Henry Ford Hospital', ˜The Broken Column', ˜Me and My Parrot', ˜Self Portrait with Monkeys', ˜What I saw in the Water' and ˜The Dream'. One of the best known artists of the 20th century, Kahlo spent her entire life in chronic pain, infertility and disability. Leading an unhappy marital life, Kahlo had several extramarital affairs and was one of the most sexually liberated women of her times.

Known for works such as "The Catskills" (1859) and "Progress," he was a member of the Hudson River School (1853).

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, popularly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. He is considered to be one of the greatest artists of the High Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he lived with the family of a stonecutter from the age of six after the death of his mother. Michelangelo never paid attention to schooling and instead expressed an interest in painting and later became an apprentice to a painter before studying in the sculpture gardens of the powerful Medici family. Thereafter, he started focusing on his work, creating for himself a remarkable career as a painter and sculptor in the Italian Renaissance. Two of his most significant initial works that helped him rise to eminence were the statues of ˜Pieta' and 'David' which were recognized for their artistic technique. Subsequently, he was commissioned by Pope Julius II to design his tomb, a project on which he worked on for four decades. Meanwhile, after receiving much appreciation for his sculpted works, he was commissioned to design the ceiling of Rome's Sistine Chapel, a project which fueled his imagination to produce one of the most influential works in the history of Western Art. Some of his other major works include the design of ˜Medici Chapel' and ˜Laurentian Library', and the painting of ˜Last Judgment' on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel which is considered a masterpiece. Michelangelo was the greatest artist of his time and his name has become synonymous with the best of the Italian Renaissance

Spanish Golden Age artist who was a portrait painter for the Spanish royal family, famous Europeans, and commoners. He was admired by many realist and impressionist painters like <a title='Edouard Manet' href='/famous/edouard-manet.htm'>Edouard Manet</a>.

Romanian painter, born in Arad, Romania. Got recognition for her style and her artworks.

Md Saidul Islam ((Born: February 27, 1991)) is a contemporary fine artist and founder of 'Md Saidul Islam's Art Gallery.' This Gallery is working tirelessly to spread the father of the Bengali nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his ideology in digital media. He has been drawing portraits of Bangabandhu since 2011. However, his works have been spreading online since 2013 when he started uploading his works to Deviant Art Gallery. Md Saidul Islam is an artist who, in recent years, has been working in the area of digital portrait painting, creating large-scale commissioned artworks for public spaces through his self-owned company Md Saidul Islam's Artworks. He has been commissioned to create works for political parties, social organizations as well as private projects, and corporate art commissions. He has always been fueled by a combination of deep interest in the history of painting and his personal connection with the subject as a medium for expression. His early influences were the works of Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, and Edward Hopper. His early artistic influences are implemented in the lively, vibratory, and colorful works of his paintings.

Salvador Dali is popularly known as Dali. He is hugely popular around the world for creating a new genre in art “ surrealism. Dali is known for his strange, right in the eye bizarre images. Dali got strongly influenced by thoughts, ideas and artworks of the Renaissance period. Dali was eccentric by nature and he drew attention of his critics who remained mostly irritated by his weird antics and outrageous behaviour and public actions. Dali was passionate about style, statement making and luxury. There have been several films, sculptures and photography exhibitions carried pout by Dali in collaboration with other artists. Dali was an excellent draftsman who produced skilled technical drawings. Dali gave many art lectures around Europe. But his fame was greatly popular in the USA. Dali's most famous paintings include The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Landscape Near Figueras, Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening and The Great Masturbator which are some of his greatest symbolic art representations. Besides painting Dali indulged in writing and produced some great literary works like The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí, Diary of a Genius and Oui: The Paranoid-Critical Revolution. Dali created great many lithographs, etchings and graphic arts. Dali was a self proclaimed genius who is referred for his paintings even in the modern times.

Georgia O'Keeffe was an American artist counted amongst the greatest American artists of the 20th century. She was especially famed for her bold and striking paintings of flowers and New York skyscrapers. Born in the Town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, into a large family, she developed an interest in drawing and sketching at a young age and soon realized that her calling in life was to become an artist. She received lessons from a local art teacher as a young girl and went on to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also attended the Art Students League in New York City where she excelled as a budding artist and won accolades for her paintings. She learned the techniques of traditional realist painting from the likes of William Merritt Chase, F. Luis Mora, and Kenyon Cox, and was also greatly influenced by the radical ideas of Arthur Wesley Dow. Over the course of her career she became acquainted with the famed photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz who she eventually married. Her husband supported her career wholeheartedly and she went on to attain a name for herself as one of America's most important and successful artists. She is often referred to as the "Mother of American modernism" in recognition of her contributions to American art.

Claude Monet was a renowned French painter who used to capture his daily life's best moments on canvas. He is one of the most celebrated figures in the field of art, and an inspiration to many budding artists. Unlike many other contemporaries of his times, Claude observed his immediate environment, and painted it on canvas. His work is also known for the effective use of light. One of Claude's greatest contributions was his painting style, which was later termed ˜Impressionism'. Artists who had a similar style of painting were since then called ˜Impressionists'. The term was coined because of one of his famous works, the ˜Impression, Sunrise'. Unlike other paintings of its era, this painting seemed like an unfinished sketch, making it seem really different. Though Monet was considered a great painter by many others, he often doubted his abilities and got depressed. His decision to become an artist made him face several challenges in life. Once he even tried jumping into a river from a bridge owing to acute financial crisis. Several of Claude's paintings are displayed at famous museums around the world even till date, and continue to inspire many.

Painter who is known for his work in oils. His subjects are often of the ocean and city and retain an impressionistic style. He shares his paintings along with the locations that inspired them for his over 80,000 Instagram followers. 

Remembered best for his famous fresco The School of Athens, this important Italian artist of the High Renaissance also created numerous portraits, religious paintings, drawings, and prints. Also an architect, he designed the Chigi Chapel and several other structures in Rome, Italy.

Diego Rivera was a twentieth century Mexican muralist and painter. His full name was Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodrígue. Although his parents were catholic he himself was a proclaimed atheist and had a Jewish streak in his personality. May be that is because his family was said to be converse. His passion for art was evident from an early age. Although his father wanted him to pursue a military career but by the age of ten he knew he wanted to study art and trained himself accordingly. He first tried his hand in cubism, but later shifted to post impressionism. Ultimately, he created a style of his own. In fact, his art was a reflection of the lives of the working class. The culture of the native people of Mexico is also reflected in his works. As far as his art was concerned, he was not ready to compromise, even if it meant losing a commission. May be because of the same reason none of his marriages lasted long.

Became known for his YouTube videos, which have accumulated more than 230,000 views. He has worked as a visual artist, painter actor, and producer on television and internet commercials.

Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse was a French artist whose career spanned over six decades. He was influenced by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, who painted in a Pointillist style with small dots of color rather than full brushstrokes. Matisse's creativity came to the fore with sensational canvases such as, Luxe, calme et volupté, Open Window, and Woman with a Hat. Although he was initially labeled a Fauve (wild beast), he found his own style, and began to enjoy a greater degree of success. He travelled to travel to Italy, Germany, Spain and North Africa for inspiration. He signed a contract with the prestigious art dealers of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris. His art was purchased by prominent collectors such as Gertrude Stein and the Russian businessman Sergei I. Shchukin. In his later career, Matisse received several major commissions, such as a mural for the art gallery of collector Dr. Albert Barnes of Pennsylvania and for the Chapel of the Rosary in Venice. Although his subjects were traditional”nudes, figures in landscapes, portraits, interior views”his revolutionary use of brilliant color and exaggerated form to express emotion made him one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Maltese printmaker and watercolorist who focuses on the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania.

Folk artist best known for her rural, nostalgic scenes and her late-in-life success. She began painting at the age of 78. She was immensely popular during the 1950s, and her exhibitions traveled the world, shattering attendance records globally.

Body paint artist whose whimsical works and chameleon-like creations won her the inaugural season of GSN's Skin Wars.

Canadian author and "Blunden Harbour" painter who was inspired by the history and culture of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. She was influenced by the post-impressionists and fauvists she encountered while living in France.

Painter and poet who, by the age of 19, had created over 200 works of art.

Norman Perceval Rockwell was an American artist”a painter and an illustrator. His work was an artistic depiction of the American culture and spirit of its people - he was inspired by the ideas of civil rights, poverty, national events, international events and space exploration. Most of his career was spent illustrating for the ˜Saturday Evening Post', a collaboration that continued for around 47 years and resulted in 321 magnificent covers. Apart from the Post, Rockwell also worked for other publications like ˜Look', ˜Peoples Popular Monthly', ˜Life Magazine', ˜The Literary Digest', etc. He successfully created 4,000 illustrations and paintings in his career. Some of his iconic works include”1927 celebration of Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic, Neil Armstrong's left foot on the surface of the moon after the successful moon landing, the ˜Four Freedom' series during World War II, etc. Apart from illustrating for magazines and publications, Rockwell took classes at the Otis College of Art and Design, penned down his autobiography, ˜My Adventures as an Illustrator', and did portraits of personalities like, President Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, Jawaharlal Nehru, etc.