Notable (and controversial) American artists who changed how we see beauty -

In this gallery,  check out some of the artists that have left their mark in history and shocked the country. Click on for more!

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Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) - Duchamp was a prominent figure in some of the 20th-century’s key movements, such as cubism, dadaism, and futurism. His famous piece 'Fountain' was simply a urinal which he signed with the name 'R. Mutt,' creating a conversation about what constitutes art. 

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Man Ray (1890-1976) - Ray, along with his friend and collaborator Duchamp, played a major role in developing the Dada and surrealist movements. The Philly-born visual artist is best known for his ability to explore different mediums, including painting, sculpture, film, prints, and poetry.

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Man Ray (1890-1976) - Ray is best remembered for his photographs of the interwar years, though he considered himself a painter first. His work helped to popularize surrealism and surrealist works.

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Edward Hopper (1882-1967) - The realist painter and printmaker from New York is known for his calculated renderings that reflected how he perceived modern American life. They beautifully captured the isolation that can arise within the modern city.

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Edward Hopper (1882-1967) - Hopper is widely regarded as the figure that paved the way for abstract expressionism to take form. One of his most famous works is titled ‘Nighthawks’ (1942), a depiction of four figures in a sparsely furnished diner at night, which perfectly captures the themes of alienation, melancholy, and ambiguous relationships.

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Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) - One of the leading figures in American modernism, the Wisconsin-born artist’s paintings largely depict nature and the southwestern American landscape represented in close-ups, which transform the images into abstract and surreal forms.

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Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) - Her most famous paintings are close up depictions of flowers and their reproductive organs. Her distortion of nature—a commonplace theme in art—eschewed the boundaries between representation and abstraction.

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Mark Rothko (1903-1970) - The American painter (born in Latvia in the former Russian Empire) was a prominent figure among the New York School painters who navigated through several artistic styles before reaching his signature in the 1950s. He was parachuted into fame with his paintings of soft, rectangular forms against stained fields of color.

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Mark Rothko (1903-1970) - Rothko was influenced by mythology and philosophy, in addition to being a champion of social revolutionary thought and the right to self-expression. He often expressed and defended these views through numerous essays and critical reviews.

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Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) - The Dutch-American artist was one of the most prominent of the abstract expressionist painters. He developed a radically abstract style that combined cubism, surrealism, and expressionism.

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Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) - He is best known for his depictions of women. His choice to portray traditional subjects shows how he rejects his association with the abstract movement. He was, in fact, against the naming of artistic movements.

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Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) - The Wyoming-born artist was a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, and was known for his unique style of drip painting.

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Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) - By focusing on the technique, Pollock’s paintings reject the traditional narrative and subject-based nature of art by choosing to emphasize the medium itself.

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Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) - The New Jersey-born painter rose to prominence as part of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement that reflected the explosion of social, artistic, and intellectual expressions that took place in Harlem, New York, in the 1920s. He combined social realism and modern abstraction through the use of bold colors to create compelling stories of African-American experiences.

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Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) -

Through his paintings, Lawrence communicated the human struggles and aspirations that resonated with viewers from all walks of life.

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Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) - The Texas-born artist is widely regarded as a leading figure in the transition from abstract expressionism to later modern movements. His radical blending of materials and methods has earned him the status of one of the most influential American artists.

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Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) - As one of the key artists from the neo-Dada movement, his experimental approach stretched the traditional boundaries of art.

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Andy Warhol (1928-1987) - The Pittsburgh-born artist is widely regarded as the leading figure of the pop art movement, a movement that explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising.

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Andy Warhol (1928-1987) - At a time when critics worried that the consumerist culture of the 1960s would suffocate the art world, Warhol embraced it and brought a whole new layer to what we understand as art today.

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Cy Twombly (1928-2011) - The Virginia-born artist defied all preconceived notions of art in post-war America with his large-scale, freely-scribbled, calligraphic, and graffiti-like works.

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Cy Twombly (1928-2011) - Twombly is considered one of the most important figures of the generation of artists who distanced themselves from abstract expressionism.

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Cindy Sherman (1954-) - The New Jersey-born photographer’s conceptual portraits of herself in a range of costumes present a profound study into selfhood and identity.

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Cindy Sherman (1954-) - By assuming the role of author, director, makeup artist, hairstylist, wardrobe mistress, and model, she contests the purpose of photographers and photography itself. Her ‘Untitled Film Stills’ (1977-1980), in which she depicts herself as famous screen icons, questions the simplification and objectification of the female form in contemporary society.

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Jeff Koons (1955-) - The Pennsylvania-born artist is best known for his reproductions of banal objects, such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces.

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Jeff Koons (1955-) - Koons challenges the traditional distinctions between "high art" and mass-produced, commercial art. He challenges the concept of the artist as a creator, which has caused many critics to dismiss his work as kitsch and crass.

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Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) - The New York artist came to prominence as a graffiti artist through the enigmatic phrases he plastered on doors and walls of the Lower East Side.

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Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) - Just a few years after his graffiti days, he was showing his neo-expressionist paintings in galleries and museums internationally. Basquiat focus on dichotomous subjects, such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experiences.

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Kara Walker (1969-) - The contemporary artist from California explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in a way that combines 18th-century Southern folklore with current issues, particularly regarding African-American women.

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Kara Walker (1969-) -

She came into prominence with her 1994 mural ‘Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart,’ which was an instant hit.

See also: Rules of the abstract—Understanding modern art

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