There is a stereotype in the art world that you have to be dead to be a famous artist. This is SO not so, and below I have included ten of the most famous and perhaps most collectible artists, because of their age and influence. Have you ever wanted to buy artwork as an investment? The artists listed below are the blue chips.
Note: the work of the artists listed below is truly collectible and a good financial investment, but one should always buy fine art because of how it moves you. Also, never ask an artist for a discount. Excellent art is worth every penny, senior discount be damned.
Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)
The artist Louise Bourgeois is primarily a sculptor more recently remembered for her large spider sculptures. Ms. Bourgeois is also the oldest artist on this list at age 97, and was once a student of Fernand Leger. This old lady totally rocks.
Chuck Close (b. 1940)
Chuck Close is an artist and sculptor who is famous enough to have been included in the film Six Degrees of Separation. You can watch an hour-long interview of Chuck Close by Charlie Rose here.
Robert Colescott (b. 1925)
Colescott’s large narrative paintings playfully investigate race and society. This African-American fine artist and painter was also a student of Fernand Leger’s in Paris.
Lee Friedlander (b. 1934)
Friedlander is a photographer whose work focused on street photography in New York during the fifties and sixties. You can view a slideshow of available work from Friedlander’s dealer, Janet Borden, Inc.
Jasper Johns (b. 1930)
Jasper Johns revolutionized the art world by using imagery such as flags, targets and Ballantine beer cans to express the idea that the painting or rendering of the object was more important than the object itself. Jasper Johns is also enough of an American art icon that he had a cameo on a Simpson's episode in Season Ten.
Claes Oldenburg (b. 1929)
Oldenburg is perhaps best known for his large soft sculptures of everyday objects such as trowels, clothespins, flashlights and the once ubiquitous typewriter eraser.
Martin Puryear (b. 1941)
I know this artist is really young, but Puryear just had his retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which makes him totally bonafide. I saw Martin Puryear’s artwork at a solo exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC years ago and just fell in love with his abstract sculpture.
Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925-2008)
Rauschenberg is the Superman of the contemporary art world. His artwork is bold, fearless and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Rauschenberg is most famous for his combines or assemblages that combined found objects with painted surfaces. Update: RIP Mr. Rauschenberg.
Cindy Sherman (b. 1954)
Cindy Sherman is a photographer who has become famous for photographing only herself. Sherman is not only a master of photography, but a master of makeup, wardrobe and lighting. Each fine art photograph is a tiny movie still with several possible back stories instantly injected into your brain.
Wayne Thiebaud (b.1920)
Cakes, pies, candy apples and gumball machines are some of the imagery used by Wayne Thiebaud in his paintings and prints. Thiebaud also makes the best landscape paintings only second to the late Richard Diebenkorn. View over 300 Thiebaud images at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The above 10 American fine artists may not be household names, but in the world of art these guys are some of the heavy hitters whose artwork is taught in many contempoary art history programs. While buying original pieces of art from these artists might be out of reach, consider buying limited edition prints that can start at about $10,000 (US).
