Art is a subjective medium, and everyone has their own opinions when it comes to any piece of art. Some art, however, along with its artists, was so influential that it essentially changed the course of the art world forever. These are artists that spent their entire lives honing their skills and creating works that would go on to mystify people even hundreds of years later.
1. Pablo Picasso
Along with his many famous paintings, Picasso was also known as a master sculptor, printmaker, designer, and ceramicist that spent most of his life drawing inspiration from ancient prehistory. Picasso’s work had a monumental effect on contemporary artwork that would come later on, especially during the early 1960’s onward as Picasso was entering his twilight years.
2. Joseph William Mallard Turner
Considered by many to be the greatest landscape artist of all time, JWM Turner first had his work opened to the public when he was only 15 years old, where his work was put on display at the London Royal Academy. His technical skill and ability to work with both watercolour and oils made him a true visionary in the art world, especially considering how young he was when he started.
3. Rembrandt van Rijn
There aren’t many people in the world that haven’t heard of Rembrandt, a true master of his works, who spent much of his time hidden from the public. He became famous for his ability to convey strong emotions in his work, as well as his mastery of chiaroscuro, which is the usage of light and shadow, something that was previously extremely rare to come across. Perhaps one of his biggest contributions was introducing realism into his work, which would lay the ground of inspiration of hundreds of artists later on, and influence the artistic world as we know it, from video games to television shows, to bingo games for money.
4. Salvador Dali
This artist from Spain made a name for himself across the world for the weird and unique art that he created, much of which centred around the surrealist movement, which he is credited with creating. Many have criticised his work, saying that much of it was too shocking for the art world, but many more have found it inspiring, enough so to make him perhaps the most influential artist of modern times. Even today, much of Dali’s work is still studied by new and veteran artists throughout the globe.
5. Leonardo Da Vinci
There are few people in history that earned as much as much of a reputation as Da Vinci, and his name has become common in households for the last few hundred years. Not only was Da Vinci an extraordinarily talented artist, but also a brilliant inventor, and he made sure to document all of the incredible goings-ons in his head.