Creating a comprehensive list of the top 100 American painters from the last 100 years is a significant undertaking. Here is a curated list that spans diverse artistic movements and styles, organized alphabetically to ensure variety across realism, abstraction, conceptualism, and contemporary art.
Top 100 Masters of American Painters (Last 100 Years)
A-D
- Alice Neel (1900–1984)
- Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009)
- Anne Truitt (1921–2004)
- Archibald Motley (1891–1981)
- Barkley L. Hendricks (1945–2017)
- Basquiat, Jean-Michel (1960–1988)
- Bearden, Romare (1911–1988)
- Benny Andrews (1930–2006)
- Beverly Buchanan (1940–2015)
- Charles White (1918–1979)
- Chuck Close (1940–2021)
- Cy Twombly (1928–2011)
- David Hammons (b. 1943)
- Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012)
E-H
- Ed Ruscha (b. 1937)
- Edward Hopper (1882–1967)
- Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989)
- Elizabeth Murray (1940–2007)
- Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015)
- Eva Hesse (1936–1970)
- Fairfield Porter (1907–1975)
- Faith Ringgold (b. 1930)
- George Tooker (1920–2011)
- Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986)
- Grace Hartigan (1922–2008)
- Hans Hofmann (1880–1966)
- Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011)
- Horace Pippin (1888–1946)
I-L
- Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000)
- James Turrell (b. 1943)
- Janet Sobel (1893–1968)
- Jasper Johns (b. 1930)
- Joan Mitchell (1925–1992)
- Judy Chicago (b. 1939)
- Julie Mehretu (b. 1970)
- Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977)
- Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955)
- Lee Bontecou (1931–2022)
- Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
- Louise Nevelson (1899–1988)
- Lucian Freud (1922–2011)
- Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956)
M-P
- Mark Bradford (b. 1961)
- Mark Rothko (1903–1970)
- Marsden Hartley (1877–1943)
- Martin Puryear (b. 1941)
- Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)
- Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971)
- Milton Avery (1885–1965)
- Morris Graves (1910–2001)
- Nancy Spero (1926–2009)
- Norman Bluhm (1921–1999)
- Norman Lewis (1909–1979)
- Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
- Philip Guston (1913–1980)
- Pollock, Jackson (1912–1956)
R-T
- Ralph Goings (1928–2016)
- Raymond Saunders (b. 1934)
- Red Grooms (b. 1937)
- Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993)
- Richard Estes (b. 1932)
- Robert Colescott (1925–2009)
- Robert Indiana (1928–2018)
- Robert Mangold (b. 1937)
- Robert Motherwell (1915–1991)
- Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008)
- Romare Bearden (1911–1988)
- Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997)
- Sam Gilliam (1933–2022)
- Stuart Davis (1892–1964)
U-Z
- Theaster Gates (b. 1973)
- Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975)
- Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004)
- Walton Ford (b. 1960)
- Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021)
- William H. Johnson (1901–1970)
- William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)
- Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
- Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1893–1953)
- Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Japanese-American Influence)
This list spans notable pioneers of American Realism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and contemporary figurative movements. Let me know if you’d like more details on any artist!