Following the popularity of the 100 sketchbook prompts and the video that showed how I grade my weekly sketchbooks, there have been quite a few requests for a download that documents all of the artists I share with my students. You see, every Friday, my students get a new sketchbook assignment, and I introduce an artist that I think will interest them–we sketch, we talk, we think, and we write. I love the learning that takes place during this time.
Today, I’m sharing all of the artists we study in one comprehensive list.
The list is a mix of contemporary and historical artists, some more well-known than others. It is by no means comprehensive, but it is a great start for any high school art program. Use it to inspire your teaching and your students.
If you’re wondering why there are 144 artists, the math works out like this:
36 weeks in a school year x 4 years in a high school experience=144 artists
With this list, your high school students can be introduced to a new artist every week you work with them during their time in school without ever seeing the same artist twice. Take a look!
144 Artists to Pique Your Students’ Interest
- Ai Weiwei
- Albrecht Durer
- Alexander Calder
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Alice Neel
- Allora & Calzadilla
- Alma Thomas
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Ana Mendieta
- Andreas Gursky
- Andrew Wyeth
- Andy Warhol
- Annie Leibovitz
- Antoni Gaudí
- Artemisia Gentileschi
- Banksy
- Barbara Kruger
- Bernard Leach
- Betye Saar
- Bridget Riley
- Cai Guo-Qiang
- Carrie Mae Weems
- Christo and Jeanne-Claude
- Chuck Close
- Cindy Sherman
- Claude Monet
- Constantin Brancusi
- Cy Twombly
- Damien Hirst
- Daniel Rhodes
- Deborah Butterfield
- Diego Rivera
- Donatello
- Dorothea Lange
- Edvard Munch
- Edward Hopper
- Elaine de Kooning
- Elizabeth Catlett
- Elizabeth Murray
- Ellsworth Kelly
- Faith Ringgold
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Frank Stella
- Franz Marc
- Frida Kahlo
- Gabriel Orozco
- Georges Braque
- Georges Seurat
- Georgia O’Keeffe
- Gerhard Richter
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo
- Glenn Ligon
- Goya
- Grandma Moses
- Grant Wood
- Gustav Klimt
- Hannah Hoch
- Helen Frankenthaler
- Henri Matisse
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
- Hokusai
- Jackson Pollock
- Jacob Lawrence
- Jacques-Louis David
- James Rosenquist
- Jan Vermeer
- Jasper Johns
- Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith
- Jean Arp
- Jean Dubuffet
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Jesús Rafael Soto
- Jim Dine
- Joan Miró
- Joan Mitchell
- John Baldessari
- José Clemente Orozco
- Joseph Stella
- Joshua Johnson
- Judith Leyster
- Judy Chicago
- Kara Walker
- Käthe Kollwitz
- Kehinde Wiley
- Keith Haring
- Kent Bellows
- Lee Krasner
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Lorna Simpson
- Louise Bourgeois
- Louise Nevelson
- Magdalena Abakanowicz
- Man Ray
- Marc Chagall
- Marcel Duchamp
- Maria Martinez
- Marina Abramović
- Marisol Escobar
- Mark Rothko
- Mary Cassatt
- Max Ernst
- Maya Lin
- M.C. Escher
- Michelangelo
- Nikki St De Phalle
- Norman Rockwell
- Pablo Picasso
- Paul Cézanne
- Paul Gauguin
- Paul Klee
- Peter Voulkos
- Piet Mondrian
- Rachel Whiteread
- Rembrandt
- René Magritte
- Richard Diebenkorn
- Richard Estes
- Robert Henri
- Robert Longo
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Romare Bearden
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Salvador Dalí
- Sandy Skoglund
- Sean Scully
- Shepard Fairey
- Shōji Hamada
- Sonia Delaunay
- Stuart Davis
- Tamara de Lempicka
- Thomas Hart Benton
- Thomas Hirschhorn
- Titian
- Tony Oursler
- Umberto Boccioni
- Victor Vasarely
- Vija Celmins
- Vincent van Gogh
- Walter De Maria
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Wayne Thiebaud
- Yayoi Kusama
- Yves Klein
- Yves Tanguy
Even with a list this extensive and diverse, it can be difficult to fit a healthy mix of old masters and contemporary artists into your curriculum. Take a look at what you currently teach and see what holes this list can help you fill!
Who is missing from the list?
Which artists would you take away, or which would you add?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
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