Famous American Realist Painters

Edward Hopper was an American painter and printmaker. An exponent of American Realism, Hopper is best remembered for his oil paintings. He is also widely known as a printmaker in etching and watercolorist. Edward Hopper has had a significant impact on the art world in the USA. Artists like Mark Rothko and Jim Dine have cited him as an influence.

Painter Thomas Kinkade is remembered for his realistic and idyllic themes. He gained fame by selling printed copies of his art through the Thomas Kinkade Company. He called himself the "Painter of Light” and copyrighted the phrase, too. The movie Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage was based on his life.

Andrew Wyeth was a visual artist and one of the best-known American artists of the mid-20th century. Primarily a realist painter, Wyeth worked predominantly in a regionalist style. Andrew Wyeth was the recipient of several prestigious awards, such as the National Medal of Arts and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Winslow Homer was an American illustrator and landscape painter. He is best remembered for painting marine subjects. A pre-eminent figure in American art, Homer is widely regarded as one of the most important painters in 19th-century America. Although he never had any students, Winslow Homer's works influenced subsequent generations of American painters.

Thomas Eakins was an American photographer, realist painter, fine arts educator, and sculptor. Often counted among the most prominent American artists of all time, Eakins painted several hundred portraits during his lifetime. As an educator, Thomas Eakins played an important role in influencing the American art during his generation.

Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American artist best remembered as the first African-American painter to achieve international fame. Widely regarded as the best African American painter of all time, Henry's work was influential during his lifetime. The works of other painters like William Edouard Scott and Norman Rockwell were influenced by Henry Ossawa Tanner's technique.

Itshak Holtz was a Polish-born Israeli-American painter best remembered for his drawings and paintings that portray typical scenes of Jewish life. Holtz's work, especially that involving Jewish subjects, has influenced other Jewish artists like David Segal and Eli Frucht.