Taurus Artists & Painters

Salvador Dali was a Spanish artist best remembered for his precise draftsmanship and technical skills. His artwork is famous for depicting bizarre and striking images. In spite of producing brilliant artworks, Dali's ostentatious and eccentric public behavior often overshadowed his professional achievements, much to the irritation of his fans and critics. His works have influenced other artists like Jeff Koons.

J. M. W. Turner was an English printmaker, painter, and watercolorist best remembered for his imaginative landscapes and expressive colorizations. Intensely reclusive and eccentric throughout his life, Turner lived in poor health and squalor for the last few years of his life. He was portrayed by actor Timothy Spall in the 2014 biographical film, Mr. Turner.

Born to an artisan father in Catalan, Joan Miró was allowed to attend art school after falling sick working as a clerk. Known for combining surrealism and abstract art, he experimented with various forms of art, including paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, and created masterpieces such as The Farm.

Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist who is widely regarded as the patriarch of the French Romantic school. As a muralist and painter, Delacroix's study of the optical effects of color inspired the work of the Impressionists. In fact, his work inspired a generation of impressionists.

Known for founding the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a legendary poet and painter of the 19th century. His illustrations also adorned the books of his poet sister Christina Rossetti. Known for volumes such as The House of Life, he also influenced the Aesthetic movement.

Presidential Medal-winning artist Jasper Johns is best known for his contribution to the pop art movement. His paintings revolve around subjects such as flags, numbers, and letters, whereas he has also gained fame for his cast sculpture art such as Painted Bronze. He also once experimented by attaching strings to his art.

French painter Georges Braque is considered one of the pioneers of Cubism. His 1908 masterpiece Large Nude is one of his most celebrated pieces. Critics often argue whether Braque or Picasso had first begun developing Cubism, and many of their works are very similar in nature.

Effie Gray was a Scottish painter. She was married to draughtsman and watercolorist, John Ruskin, before leaving him to marry John Everett Millais. This popular love triangle has been depicted in several plays and films, including the 1912 silent movie, The Love of John Ruskin. After marrying Millais, Effie Gray had a major influence on his works.

American artist and ornithologist John James Audubon is remembered mostly for his illustrations of North American birds. Born as an illegitimate child in France, he later moved to the US and then to Canada, for business, but ended up documenting birds. His best-known work is the pioneering ornithological work The Birds of America.

One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Touko Valio Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, is remembered for his paintings of the human body and his depiction of homoerotic desire. In his later life, his struggle with emphysema made him switch from pencil to pastels.

Cy Twombly was an American sculptor, painter, and photographer. Although he wasn’t popular among the critics, Twombly's works influenced several younger artists like Francesco Clemente, Anselm Kiefer, and Julian Schnabel. Today, his works are preserved in many museums globally, including the Tate Modern in London, the Menil Collection in Houston, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

One of the greatest Indian painters of all time, Raja Ravi Varma is best remembered for mixing Indian mythological subjects with the Western historicist style of art. His painting skills made the king of Travancore his patron at 14. His best-known works include The Milkmaid and The Begum’s Bath.

Artist Charlotte Johnson Wahl is the mother of British prime minister Boris Johnson and British journalist Rachel Johnson. She is known for her portraits and her signature style that mirrors the Vorticist style. Her creations have been featured at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind.

It is believed Joseph Beuys was rescued by Tartars when his air force plane broke down in Crimea during World War II. He later gained fame as an avant-garde sculptor and artist and part of the group Fluxus. His works used unconventional media, with some even including staged actions.

Renowned for his absurdism and wit, Edward Lear was a British poet who popularized literary nonsense. A talented painter, too, he had worked for the London Zoo, illustrating birds, and had later released illustrated travel books. A pioneer of the modern limerick, he penned the iconic poem The Owl and the Pussycat.

One of the pioneers of Expressionism, German painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner co-established the artists’ group Die Brücke, or The Bridge. His iconic works such as Girl under Japanese Umbrella and Street, Berlin displayed psychological and erotic themes. Declared a "degenerate" by the Nazis, he later committed suicide.

Tasya van Ree is a popular American painter and photographer, known for her keen interests in visual presentation and mixed media. Also known for her distinctive sense of fashion, Tasya believes that people become what they wear. An openly gay celebrity, she serves as an inspiration to the LGBTQ community. She has dated personalities like Amber Heard and Caroline Vreeland.

Frank Stella is an American sculptor, painter, and printmaker known for his work in the fields of post-painterly abstraction and minimalism. An influential artist, Stella has been an ardent supporter of copyright protection for artists. In 2009, he was honored with the prestigious National Medal of Arts. In 2011, the International Sculpture Center honored Stella with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Known for his blue monochrome paintings, French artist Yves Klein was a major figure of the Nouveau réalisme art movement. Though born to artist parents, he initially mastered judo and even taught it. His experiments included fire paintings and his Anthropométries, which involved naked models covered in paint pressing against canvases.

Lorenzo Quinn is an Italian sculptor whose works can be seen in places like the UK and Spain. Apart from being a sculptor, Quinn also works with charity organizations and donates his sculptures to charitable causes. He is also credited with designing MOTO GP championships' Ride The World trophy. A multi-talented personality, Quinn also co-owns a restaurant named Galeria Gastronomica.

Theodor Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist best remembered for his nature paintings and illustrations of legends and fairy tales, especially of trolls. Widely regarded as one of the most popular Norwegian artists of all time, Kittelsen's art has inspired the cover design of many albums released by famous folk metal and black metal bands like Empyrium, Burzum, Satyricon, and Otyg.

Russian artist and architect Viktor Vasnetsov is best remembered for his work on the façade of Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery. He also remains one of the most significant figures of the Peredvizhniki movement, with paintings such as Moving House and A Game of Preference. He later depicted folk tales and legends.

Sidney Nolan is best remembered for his depictions of Australian folklore in his art. The artist had had brief stints as a cyclist, a gold miner, and a cook, before he took up painting as a vocation at 21. Apart from landscapes, his paintings also portrayed legendary figures such as outlaw Ned Kelly.

Spanish artist, sculptor, and architect César Manrique had dropped out of his architecture school because he didn’t like its technical regulations. He later studied painting in Madrid. His creations in Lanzarote, such as the Jameos del Agua and his own house, mingle effortlessly with the volcanic formations of the Canary Islands.

Born to a farmer in Germany’s Black Forest, Franz Xaver Winterhalter was initially trained as a lithographer. The nineteenth-century German painter later gained fame for his paintings and portraits of Europe’s royalty and aristocracy. Among his subjects were Queen Victoria of England and Elizabeth of Austria.