Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Renowned 20th-century artists

Renowned 20th-century artists
Renowned 20th-century artists. One of the most important artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso displayed 75 works at his first Paris show on June 24, 1901, at a small gallery on Rue Laffitte when he was just 19. He went on to become one of the most successful living painters of his time. Here we look at Picasso as well as other significant artists who had an enormous impact on 20th-century art.
Pablo Picasso
Born: Oct. 15, 1881, Malaga, Spain

Early life: Picasso's father noticed his talent at age 10 and started teaching his son before he started art school in Spain's capital city.


Death: After nearly 80 years of work, Picasso died at age 91 on April 8, 1973, in Mougin, France. His works can be seen at this major museum in New York City.
Ansel Adams
Born: Feb. 20, 1902, San Francisco

Early life: Afterhis family lost their fortune following a historic natural disaster, Adams took solace in nature and visited a natural wonder in 1916, which would have a major impact on his lengthy career.


Death: The California photographer died April 22, 1984, in Monterey, Calif. An archive of his work is at a university in Arizona
Andrew Wyeth
Born: July 12, 1917, Chadds Ford, Pa.

Early life: Wyeth was influenced early in his career by his father, a famous 1920s illustrator, but his works later took on a realist and regionalist style.


Death: The New England painter died Jan. 16, 2009. Wyeth's son Jamie is a third-generation artist in the family. Wyeth's works can be seen at his hometown museum.
Frida Kahlo
Birth: July 6, 1907, Mexico City

Early life: Kahlo was in a severe accident that left her in pain the rest of her life and also influenced her work. She was married to another prominent Mexican painter.


Death: Mexico's most famous female artist died July 13, 1954, in Mexico City. Her works can be seen at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City.
Edward Hopper
Birth: July 22, 1882, Nyack, N.Y.

Early life: Encouraged by his parents to go into commercial illustration, Hopper attended an illustration school in New York before transferring to this art school for seven years working under another famous artist.


Death: The American realist painter died May 15, 1967, in New York. After his death, many of his works were donated to a modern American art museum in New York.
Andy Warhol
Birth: Aug. 6, 1928, Pittsburgh

Early life: Born with a different name, Warhol found fame in numerous ways, including a new art style, his famous studio, his films and a rock band.

Death: An American icon, Warhol died Feb. 22, 1987, in New York (cause of death). His works can be seen at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
Georgia O'Keeffe
Birth: Nov. 15, 1887, Sun Prairie, Wis.

Early life: O'Keeffe attended a famed Chicago art school and the Art Students League in New York before quitting art. She picked it up again four years later, becoming one of the first American modernist painters.


Death: A famous painter of the American Southwest, O'Keeffe died March 6, 1986, in Santa Fe, N.M. A collection of her works can be seen at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.
Robert Rauschenberg
Birth: Oct. 22, 1925, Port Arthur, Texas

Early life: The pop artist didn't grow up wanting to do art, but after a stint in the Marines he moved to this Southern state to study art before moving on to the New York art world.


Death: The "Combines" artist died May 12, 2008, in Florida. His works can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Mark Rothko
Birth: Sept. 25, 1903, Dvinsk, Russia

Early life: Born with a different name, Rothko emigrated from Russia with his family in 1910 to this Northwest city and attended Yale. After dropping out, he began his life as a painter.


Death: The "color field" painter died tragically on Feb. 25, 1970, in New York. His works can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art.
Henri Matisse
Birth: Dec. 13, 1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France

Early life: Matisse left the rural town he grew up in and went to Paris in 1887, where he worked in this profession before falling ill and taking up painting with the art supplies his mother bought him while he recovered.


Death: The "fauvist" artist died Nov. 3, 1954, in Nice, France. The Matisse Museum in Nice houses many of his famous works.
Jackson Pollock
Birth: Jan. 28, 1912, Cody, Wyo.

Early life: Pollock first attended an arts high school in Los Angeles before moving to New York in 1929, where he had his first show and met his future wife.


Death: The "drip-style" painter died young on Aug. 11, 1956, in Springs, N.Y. His works can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Louise Bourgeois
Birth: Dec. 25, 1911, Paris

Early life: The French-American sculptor grew up with a domineering father and studied math before she switched to studying art after her mother died in 1932.


Death: The inventor of "confessional art", Bourgeois died May 31, 2010, in New York. An exhibition of her works is at a famous London gallery.
Jasper Johns
Birth: May 15, 1930, Augusta, Ga.

Early life: Johns grew up in Allendale, S.C., and like his friend and fellow Southern painter Robert Rauschenberg, he attended art school in the South before moving to New York and becoming involved in the abstract expressionism movement.


Later life: The 81-year-old artist continues to make art and in 2006 his painting "False Start" sold privately at the highest price ever for an artist still living.

Source: Special