This was a very tough list to make due to the subjective and "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" nature of the subject but here is my list of greatest artists of all time:

1. Pablo Picasso - pure artist who was not scared to experiment and evolve. Blue period, rose period, Cubism period, Crystaline Period, working with ceramics, and picking up stuff from the junkyard and turning them into sculptures. He did everything and fearlessly.

2. Michelangelo - David, Pieta, Sistine Chapel. It was a close call between him and Picasso.

3. Leonardo Da Vinci - combination artist, scientist, science fiction thinker, philosopher. He's in third place because he wasn't a pure artist. His drawings were basically illustrations based on his scientific ideas. Can be easily number one.

4. Van Gogh, Gaugin, Cezanne - I have to take them as a group - collectively called the "Post-Impressionists". They were the bridge between "traditional art" and "modern art". Vincent ignited Expressionism and Fauvism. Gaugin ignited "Symbolism" and Cezanne ignited "Cubism".

5. Jackson Pollock - I'll get crucified for this but I stand by the opinion that he was top 5 all time great. Artist in the purest sense of the word.

There is a good article in the recent Smithsonian (March, 2011) about Gauguin that is interesting.

All human societies engage in art and produce artists and the subject is vast and the territory expansive, especially from a history perspective. That you have nothing from Asia or the pre-columbian New World or from more ancient time periods shows a rather narrow vision. And art can cover everything from a dinner plate to a building.











-Zeno

Monet. The impressionist. Difficult to beat him.

Would be cool to have pictures by the artists, otherwise to the lesser artistics like me, its kind of an empty discussion

Bob ross

http://www.monetpainting.net/paintin...?search_by=all

Full screen recommended.

Not sure I get why he's considered a pro. The painting is pretty spot on, but i'm not inspired. What are your reasons for liking the work?

I think I'm just a bit artisticly basic as if their aren't people or something surreal its a bit nothingy to me

Monet is in a way basic when it comes to painting, but well done. He defined 'modern traditional' painting, before we got the post-impressionists and modern painting mentioned earlier. Feel it! But google Van Gogh, guess you´ll like his work better.

Rembrandt's etchings...Incredibly detailed.

I doubt anyone could match him for the intricacy of detail. That's why some of his works were preserved while other masters' etchings were lost. Of course, his paintings are fab, too.

Rembrandt Drawings: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/abo...t_drawings.htm

Several examples of his etchings: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rmb...t_etchings.htm

Van Gogh's work is just extraordinary and beautiful, and makes me feel like I'm in the room with him, seeing the subject through his eyes.

If art is to be discussed in an historical context, then I think threads should be based on time periods or eras and have some importance to history or the development of art, for example, the impressionist movement or the art-deco movement in relation to concurrent historical events. “The greatest” type threads are more appropriate for The Lounge, OOT or EDF. Since “the greatest music” thread was closed; this thread will also be closed.

To be helpful, I suggest that someone could start a thread, The impressionist movement in art, or, art between the two World Wars, (the dada movement). This focuses the discussion and will promote the understanding of how art is intertwined with the events of history and may also be a reaction to, or even the instigation of historical events.

This type of thread is in the same useful vein of, say, the best general in WWII, or the most important general of the Roman Republic, or of the Punic Wars etc.

-Zeno