Important artists in European history – Part 1

Determining who exactly the most important artists of European history is a difficult task. After all what is meant by important? Important can mean different things to different people. To some realism might be important, so artists such as Landseer might top their list. For others importance might be defined by how many different artistic media they had mastered. For the sake of clarity then, this list I have come up with is based upon “important” in terms of the artist responsible for moving and shaping the direction of European Art History.

Giotto was slightly prior to the Italian Renaissance, but he was one of the first painters to break away from the Byzantine style of painting, and in the process set stage for the Italian Renaissance

Andrea der Verrocchio was an early Italian painter. He was Leonardo da Vinci’s painting instructor, and he also had a deep influence upon Michelangelo.

Jacques Callot is not so well known, but he was a printmaker. In fact he was responsible for spreading the art of etching from Italy, where it was created, to France and the rest of Europe. While this art media is often unregarded it was the art media that was the most accessible to the masses.

David, the mere fact that there is a whole school of painting named after him. Not to mention the fact that the Academy of France held up his style of the painting as the ultimate style against which all paintings would be judged.

Goya out of Spain with his distinctive handling of subject matter would come to influence the art world in later generations. Most notably Manet in France, and much later Picasso.

Delacroix in his own time period was regarded as the champion of the avant-garde, and the artist whose work would push society forward. His usage of color, and his discovery of putting saturated color next to one another rather than mixing to obtain the desired optical results would influence the Impressionists.

Monet and Monet’s teacher were some of the first proponents of plein aire painting. Meaning that they paint entirely outside rather than do some sketches than go back to the studio to finish the painting. Monet was also one of the first to fully use Newton’s theory of optics in his paintings.

Du Champ is important to the art world because he was the spokesman for anti art, or Dadaism. His intended joke on the art world has been a lasting one, and artists still continue to go back to it and try it again.

Picasso was quite possibly one of the most proliferate artists of the twentieth century. He was able to reinvent himself in so many different ways and in so many different media it is hard to see how he would not make this list. As one of the founders of cubism his work would come to influence many of the artists following him.