Watercolors are a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. This medium is known for its transparency and the way it can be layered and blended on paper or other absorbent surfaces. Watercolor painting stands out for its fluidity and subtlety, allowing artists to create a wide range of tones and effects by adjusting the amount of water used. Watercolors have been a popular medium for fine art for thousands of years.
Below are famous watercolor artists throughout history:
Winslow Homer
- Born: February 24, 1836, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died: September 29, 1910(aged 74) Prouts Neck, Maine, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education:
- Lithography apprenticeship, 1855–56
- National Academy of Design (painting), 1863
- Paris (informal), 1867
- Movement: Realism, American Realism
- Most famous works:
- The Turtle Pound, 1898
- Sponge Fishing, Nassau, 1885
- Canoe In The Rapids, 1897
Winslow Homer is regarded as a star in the realm of watercolor painting. The dynamic forces of nature and the beauty of the American environment are frequently captured in Homer’s watercolor paintings, renowned for their technical inventiveness and emotive strength. His watercolor paintings from the 1870s onward, featuring rural America, fishermen, and seascapes, exhibit an amazing use of color and light and establish a standard for the medium that would be followed for decades. Homer’s watercolors frequently portray the harsh facts of life, depicting the powers of nature and highlighting the fortitude of humans who must face them.
For more information see our artist profile page: Winslow Homer.
John Singer Sargent
- Born: January 12, 1856, Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
- Died: April 14, 1925 (aged 69) London, England
- Nationality: American
- Education: École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
- Movement: Impressionism
- Most famous watercolor artworks:
- Lesson, 1911
- Simplon Pass: Reading, 1911.
- Bedouins, 1905–1906.
John Singer Sargent, most known for his portraits, exhibits another side of his genius in his watercolors. Sargent’s contribution is found in his instantaneous capability to capture and translate events into paper. Sargent’s artwork revealed a new side when he used watercolors. His painstaking oil portraits have beautifully portrayed figures, subdued hues, and ominous, commanding backdrops. On the other hand, his watercolors are typically far looser, with impressionist vibes and free brushwork. His watercolors are praised for their brightness and life, perfectly depicting a wide range of subjects with amazing clarity and immediacy, from Arabian deserts to Venetian canals. His use of color and light manipulation to create vibrant and fleeting images demonstrates his mastery of the medium.
For more information see our artist profile page: John Singer Sargent
Georgia O’Keeffe
- Born: November 15, 1887, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, U.S.
- Died: March 6, 1986 (aged 98), Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Movement: American modernism, Precisionism
- Notable Artwork:
- Train at Night in the Desert, 1916
- House with Tree, Red, 1916.
- Roof with Snow, 1917.
Painter Georgia O’Keeffe experimented with watercolor early in her career; she is most recognized for her expansive floral paintings and landscapes of New Mexico. Her watercolor works from the 1910s combine representation and abstraction, emphasizing dynamic color interaction and simple forms. Her creative approach to encapsulating her subjects’ essence is evident in her works, further establishing her status as a trailblazing figure in American modernism. They also demonstrate a relationship with nature, presenting it as a deeply personal experience and an objective reality.
For more information see our artist profile page: Georgia O’Keeffe
Paul Klee
- Born: December 18, 1879, Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland
- Died: 29 June 1940 (aged 60), Muralto, Switzerland
- Nationality: German
- Education: Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
- Art Movement:
- Expressionism,
- Bauhaus,
- Surrealism
- Notable Artwork:
- Hammamet with Its Mosque, 1914
- Black Columns in a Landscape, 1919
- Miraculous Landing, or the “112!” 1920.
Paul Klee, a member of the Bauhaus movement, is renowned for his innovative use of color theory and various artistic mediums, such as watercolor. Klee’s inventive compositions, wacky figures, and deft use of color and line define his watercolor paintings. His ability to skillfully combine color and form to create complicated pieces that elicit powerful emotional reactions makes him stand out. Klee played a significant role in the evolution of abstract painting in the 20th century because his work in the medium demonstrates his faith in the expressive and symbolic potential of color.
For more information see our artist profile page: Paul Klee
Elizabeth Murray
- Born: 6 September 1940, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Died: 12 August 2007 (age 66 years), New York, United States
- Nationality: American
- Period: Neo-expressionism
- Education: Northeastern University in Oakland (1964), School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Most notable artwork:
- ista de la Orotava y del Pico Teide, circa 1851
- Church Patronage, 1860
Elizabeth Murray was renowned for her colorful, shaped canvases that defied convention. Murray’s approach included watercolor components, even though she is best known for her work in oils and acrylics. She used watercolor to investigate color, form, and spatial relationships in her unique, comical style. Her palette, which combines pigments in red, brown, blue, black, violet, and gold with olive and tan to create the appearance of warm tones, is well-known for her artwork. Murray’s contributions to modern art go beyond her inventive canvases since she consistently questioned accepted painting techniques and compositional color schemes.
For more information see our artist profile page: Elizabeth Murray
J. M. W. Turner
- Born: 23 April 1775, London, England
- Died: 19 December 1851 (aged 76), Chelsea, London, England
- Nationality: British
- Education: Royal Academy of Arts
- Movement: Romanticism
- Most famous watercolor artworks:
- Study of Sea – Stormy Sky, 1825
- Dawn after the Wreck, 1841
- Crook of Lune, looking towards Hornby Castle, 1821
JMW Turner is one of the most well-known watercolor painters in history. One of the main focuses of his career was painting the English countryside, and watercolor painting was the perfect medium for capturing its beauty. Turner’s proficiency with watercolor allowed him to obtain both the characteristic transparent qualities of watercolor and a unique brilliance. Using this to his advantage, he created landscape scenes from picturesque locations in Britain and Italy, concluding his career with a fusion of Venetian lagoons and English meadows.
Turner used a variety of iron oxide pigments, such as ochres, siennas, and umbers, in addition to indigo, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, rose madder, blue verditer, and Indian yellow, in his watercolor paintings. He employed block-form watercolors, and there’s proof that he created most, if not all, of them himself.
For more information see our artist profile page: J. M. W. Turner
Albrecht Dürer
- Born: Nuremberg, Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire
- Died: 6 April 1528 (aged 56), Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire
- Nationality: German
- Movement: High Renaissance
- Most notable works:
- The Wire-drawing Mill, c. 1489
- A Young Hare, 1502
- The Large Turf, 1503
Albrecht Dürer was a multi-talented artist well-known for his engravings, woodcuts, and paintings. He also created some of the earliest watercolor paintings in Europe. These were in the form of drawings of natural scenes and landscapes. His reputation as the Leonardo Da Vinci of Northern Europe stems from his inventive concepts in geometry and human body proportion, accurate portrayal of nature, and inventiveness in exploring new printing techniques.
For more information see our artist profile page: Albrecht Dürer
Charles Demuth
- Born: November 8, 1883, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died: October 23, 1935 (aged 51) Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Movement: Precisionism
- Most notable works:
- At Marshalls, 1915
- Turkish Bath with Self Portrait, 1918
- Plums, 1925
Charles Demuth developed as an artist during the modernist era, and his exposure to Cubism significantly impacted his watercolor paintings. He was one of the founders of the Precisionist Movement because of his love of geometric shapes and precise lines. He combined order and chaos by combining structured pieces with dispersed washes.
Demuth’s ability to depict urban subjects with the highest accuracy and clarity makes him so important. Demuth stayed close to Lancaster throughout his career. Hundreds of his watercolors and paintings focused on the city’s modest commercial and civic structures. His paintings of factories, warehouses, and row houses give these commonplace buildings—sometimes ironically—a majesty and glitz typically associated with palaces, cathedrals, and temples.
For more information see our artist profile page: Charles Demuth
Andrew Wyeth
- Born: July 12, 1917 (Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, USA)
- Died: January 16, 2009 (Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, USA)
- Nationality: American
- Movement: Regionalism
- Most famous artworks:
- Fallen Deer, 1999
- Evening at Kuerners, 1970.
Artist Andrew Wyeth was born to famous illustrator N.C. Wyeth in the United States. Andrew learned to paint with watercolors at a young age, all thanks to his father’s tutelage. He held his first solo exhibition with only watercolor works when he was twenty. Wyeth began using watercolors, especially for his study pieces for more ambitious paintings. He occasionally applied the same dry brush methods in his tempera paintings to his watercolor paintings. Nevertheless, his watercolors frequently exhibit greater fluidity and painterly quality than his intricately drawn egg tempera paintings, showcasing the artist’s remarkable range as a painter of contemporary life in all its complexities and nuances.
Vincent van Gogh
- Born: 30 March 1853 Zundert, Netherlands
- Died: 29 July 1890 (aged 37) Auvers-sur-Oise, France
- Nationality: Dutch
- Education:
- Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
- Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
- Movement: Post-Impressionism
Vincent Van Gogh was a talented artist who ocreated approximately 2,000 art pieces, including drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings. Throughout his life, he created close to 150 watercolor paintings. They are characterized by solid and symbolic colors and dramatic, impetuous, and exceptionally expressive brushwork that helped lay the groundwork for modern art. They include still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and self-portraits. His ability to express feelings and moods distinctively using color has made him one of the most respected artists ever. Color captivated Van Gogh, who experimented extensively with various paints to produce his artwork. Even though the watercolors frequently lack the characteristic textures of his brushstrokes, Van Gogh’s use of vivid, intense color is unmistakable.
For more information see our artist profile page: Vincent van Gogh
William Blake
- Born: 28 November 1757, Soho, London, England
- Died: 12 August 1827 (aged 69), Charing Cross, London, England
- Nationality: British
- Education: Royal Academy of Arts
- Literary movement: Romanticism
- Most famous works:
- God blessing the seventh day, 1805
- The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve, 1825.
- A Vision of the Last Judgement, 1808
William Blake is widely regarded as one of the preeminent poets of the English language, but his artistic contributions are equally remarkable. Blake’s engraved books, which he created by etching off the whites of the copper plate instead of the inked portions, were colored with watercolors during his career. But Blake’s concentration on drawing rather than coloring is what unites all of his engraved and painted pieces:
William Blake eventually mastered his “fresco” method, which is essentially monotype printing; he painted a pattern on a flat surface (such as a copper plate) before applying it to paper. The designs were separately completed in watercolor and ink to ensure that every image was unique.
For more information see our artist profile page: William Blake
Thomas Moran
- Born: February 12, 1837, Bolton, Lancashire, England
- Died: August 25, 1926 (aged 89)
- Nationality: American
- Movement: Hudson River School, Rocky Mountain School
- Most notable watercolor works:
- The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, (1893–1901)
- Colburn’s Butte, South Utah, 1873
Painter Thomas Moran gained fame for his watercolor landscapes, especially those depicting Yellowstone National Park. With his watercolor paintings, he contributed to the way Americans saw the West. His skill is in portraying the landscape’s breathtaking majesty and evoking awe in the viewer, making them appreciate its beauty.
Inspired by his experiences in the West, Moran created more miniature, more personal watercolor paintings that were as stunning as the enormous canvases. It made sense to turn some watercolors into prints, especially chromolithographs, to reach a broader range of people on a smaller scale.
For more information see our artist profile page: Thomas Moran
Paul Cézanne
- Born: 19 January 1839, Aix-en-Provence, France
- Died: 22 October 1906 (aged 67), Aix-en-Provence, France
- Nationality: French
- Education: Académie Suisse, Aix-Marseille University
- Most notable watercolor paintings:
- Still Life with Blue Pot, 1900–06
- Still Life with Carafe, Bottle, and Fruit, 1906.
In the 1880s, watercolor became Paul Cézanne’s go-to medium. In line with his paintings, he explored motifs in watercolor, including landscapes, still lifes, bathing scenes, and portraits. Watercolors were his first autonomous works of art, and he only produced them at the end of his life, when his reputation among other artists, collectors, and dealers started to take shape. These pieces exhibit unparalleled technical skill, extraordinary touch sensitivity, and visual analysis abilities.
For more information see our artist profile page: Paul Cézanne
Edward Hopper
- Born: July 22, 1882, Nyack, New York, U.S.
- Died: May 15, 1967 (aged 84), Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education: Parsons School of Design
- Notable work:
- Nighthawks, 1942
- Talbot’s House, 1926
Before becoming renowned for his oil paintings, Edward Hopper achieved his initial artistic triumphs through watercolors and etchings. Throughout his career, Hopper would explore themes like isolated persons, deserted streets, the stark distinctions between shadow and light, and the effect of sunlight on architecture. These themes are hinted at in his etchings.
Even though Hopper mostly depicts metropolitan subjects in his etchings, he used watercolor to capture his early small-town or country scenes seen through landscapes. He was especially interested in geometric design and the thoughtful arrangement of human figures in harmony with their surroundings. He frequently drew drafts to refine his well-thought-out compositions.
For more information see our artist profile page: Edward Hopper
Reginald Marsh
- Born: March 14, 1898, Paris, France
- Died: July 3, 1954 (aged 56), Dorset, Vermont United States
- Nationality: American
- Movement: Social realism
- Most Notable work:
- Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan II, 1938
- Woman in Blue Dress, 1947
- Locomotive, 1932
Reginald Marsh’s artwork has come to represent New York City. He documented the working-class city’s everyday life in the 1930s and 1940s, covering outlying places like Coney Island and burlesque parlors. His work was a wonderful fit for journalism because of his keen observational skills and The Daily News employed him.
Reginald Marsh disapproved of modern art, perceiving it as bland. Social realism best describes Marsh’s writing approach. In his artwork, the Great Depression and many socioeconomic classes, each of whose divide was exacerbated by the financial crisis, were portrayed. Watercolors, egg tempera, oils, and ink were typically used to create his vibrant, muddy canvases, which frequently included scenes of dirty nightlife and entertainment. His paintings were executed with the enthusiasm and fury of Social Realism.
For more information see our artist profile page: Reginald Marsh
James McNeill Whistler
- Born: July 10, 1834, Lowell, Massachusetts, US
- Died: July 17, 1903 (aged 69), London, England, UK
- Nationality: American
- Education: United States Military Academy, West Point, New York
- Movement: Founder of Tonalism
- Notable work:
- London Bridge,1885
- Chelsea Children, 1997
- Blue and Silver—Choppy Channel, 1893-97
- Pink Note—The Novelette, 1883-84
James McNeill Whistler underwent an artistic renaissance during the 1880s, employing watercolor as his medium of choice to create a lasting legacy. Over the next fifteen years, starting in 1881, he produced many small, commercially successful pieces. Possibly inspired by his experiments with color printing, he took up the art seriously during his stay in Venice.
James Whistler produced some of his most creative watercolors after his trip to Amsterdam in 1882. The artist worked on a damp surface, rubbing and scraping the paper to get the desired results. Whistler used the Sword “nocturne” to characterize his nighttime images because “it generalizes and simplifies the whole set of them,” he remarked. All of his nocturnes center on intricate color and tone patterns, regardless of size, setting, subject matter, and media variations.
Whistler has found a sense of artistic serenity in these pieces since his limited workspace prevented him from making the frequent changes that beset many of his larger pieces, and the small size allowed him to employ radical resourcefulness.
For more information see our artist profile page: James McNeill Whistler
Dean Mitchell
- Born: 1957, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education: Columbus College of Art & Design, Illustration, 1980
- Most famous works:
- Damp Morning
- Quality Hill
American figurative painter Dean Mitchell mainly uses oil and watercolor paints. He honors the essence of often-overlooked individuals and places by using his brush with delicate yet deft strokes of controlled edges and subtle transitions. Upon closer examination, paintings that initially seem like simple, realistic depictions are highly structured compositions with thoughtful tone, color orchestration, and editing that come together to form a singular, compelling image.
Mitchell’s subjects, which are primarily drawn from African American culture, have drawn praise for their sophisticated sense of formal design, emotional depth, and avoidance of overly sentimental imagery. His creations are a deft fusion of skillful craftsmanship and a unique grasp of visual magic that goes beyond appearances to reveal reality.
John Constable
- Born: 11 June 1776, East Bergholt, Suffolk, England
- Died: 31 March 1837 (aged 60), London, England
- Nationality: British
- Movement: Romanticism
- Notable work:
- Stonehenge, 1835
- Cottages on High Ground, 1834 – 5
- A Mill Near Colchester,1833
English painter John Constable contributed to the revolution that transformed landscape painting into the esteemed art form that it is today. The vivid, rich colors in his landscape paintings were rather distinctive. He was among the first notable artists to use natural materials directly from the source and to incorporate his understanding of light and realistic detail into Romantic subjects. John would use watercolor’s expressive qualities to depict the color shifts during the day, especially around sunrise and sunset. Many of his settings still have an idealized, dramatic emotional impact.
For more information see our artist profile page: John Constable
Chien Chung Wei
- Born: 1968
- Education: Fine Arts at the National Taiwan Normal University.
- Nationality: Taiwanese
- Most notable works:
- Just Light Your Own Light , 2022
- Outside the Louvre, 2020
- Venice Symphony, 2021
Chien Chung Wei is the inaugural artist from Taiwan to be inducted as a Signature Member of both the National and American Watercolor Society. He has blurred the lines between oil and watercolor painting. His watercolor paintings capture the essence and personality of the Western watercolorists over the past 200 years. Those pieces completely altered the way people generally perceived watercolors. His vibrant, timeless colors are used with skillful brushstrokes that give each character a deep, rich depth. He uses common subjects to create an intriguing and beautiful form.
Şükran Moral
- Born: 1962, Terme, Türkiye
- Nationality: Turkish
Period: Contemporary art - Most notable artworks:
- Found Guilty., 2009
- HAMAM, 1997
Sukran Moral is well-known for her vivid painting style. Her watercolor paintings would stand in for the injustices minorities regularly experience. She highlights the weak in society and provides striking examples of how people are mistreated and discriminated against by others. Some of her key themes include the marginalized communities that live on the edge of society, including prostitutes, mentally ill people, refugees, and transgender people. However, it appears that Moral’s artwork most frequently addresses the subject of violence against women.
Maurice Prendergast
- Born: 10 October 1858, St. John’s, Canada
- Died: 1 February 1924 (age 65 years), New York, New York, United States
- Nationality: American
- Education: Académie Colarossi, Académie Julian Paris
- Periods: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism
- Most notable works:
- Au Café, ca. 1893–1894
- Two Girls with Fruit; With Long Wharf verso (A Double-Sided Work), ca. 1896–1897
Maurice Prendergast was a master of oil and watercolor painting and monotype making. His highly personal style, which featured jewel-like colors and flattened, pattern-like patterns rhythmically organized on a canvas, evolved early in his career and persisted throughout his life. Forms were displayed in flat patches of vivid, unmodulated color, drastically simplifying them. It is a fitting description to say that his works resemble mosaics or tapestries.
From the outset, Prendergast’s artwork was closely linked to tranquil settings found in parks and on beaches. Most of his early work was done in monotype or watercolor; between 1895 and 1902, he created over two hundred monotypes. His beautiful, mosaic-like colored landscapes and themes of contemporary life are typically connected to Post-Impressionism.
For more information see our artist profile page: Maurice Prendergast
Mary Whyte
- Born: 1953, Cleveland, Ohio, US
- Most famous artworks:
- Firefly Girl, 2006
- Bean Soup, 2006
Mary Whyte’s favorite painting medium is watercolor, making her unique in portraiture. Her deft use of this challenging medium demonstrates a careful balancing act between spontaneity and control. Whyte welcomes the flexibility of watercolor, letting colors flow together naturally on the canvas to give her paintings a distinct depth and brightness.
Mary Whyte’s artistic style combines narrative dedication, expressive brushwork, and technical accuracy. She captures the core of the human experience by turning ordinary occurrences into significant storylines through her expertise in watercolor painting. Beyond mere technique, Mary Whyte’s gift to the art world celebrates life’s rich tapestry, rendered with a brush of equal parts skill and sensitivity.
Antonio Calderara
- Born: 1903, Abbiategrasso, Italy.
- Died: 1978
- Nationality: Italian
- Most notable works:
- Epigramma, 1978
- Progetto 19 [Project 19], 1967
Antonio Calderara is well-known for his abstract and figurative watercolor paintings, many of which are inspired by the people and places of his nation. By the middle of the 1950s, Calderara had abandoned his figurative style in favor of a more geometric one. He drastically reduced his paintings’ size and compositional components by using straightforward forms and small blocks of delicate, ambiguous color. Abstract painters like Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers are comparable to Calderara’s works due to their light color schemes and precisely calculated arrangements.
John Marin
- Born: 23 December 1870, Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
- Died: October 1953 (age 82 years), Addison, Maine, United States
- Education: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The Art Students League of New York, Stevens Institute of Technology
- Periods: Modern art, American modernism
- Most famous works:
- Region, Rowe, Massachusetts, 1918
- Downtown, New York, 1925.
- White Lake, Sullivan County, 1888.
- Region, Rowe, Massachusetts, 1918
Modernist John Marin is renowned for his watercolor paintings’ vibrant color schemes and dramatic intensity. His ability to bring life and movement to his paintings and evoke a feeling of participation distinguishes his artistic contribution. Marin became a prominent character in modern art and impacted the Abstract Expressionist movement thanks to his improvisational approach to color, perspective, paint handling, and movement.
Wassily Kandinsky
- Born: 16 December [O.S. 4 December] 1866, Moscow, Russian Empire
- Died: 13 December 1944 (aged 77), Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
- Nationality: Russian, later French
- Education: Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
- Movement: Expressionism; abstract art
- Most famous watercolor works:
- Untitled (First Abstract Watercolor), 1910
- Watercolor 6, 1911
- Several Circles,1926.
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter among the pioneers of pure abstraction in contemporary art. The way Kandinsky combines and layers colors to produce delicate gradations and tone differences is one way to see how he uses watercolor. He adds depth and brightness by utilizing the watercolor medium’s transparency and fluidity. This adds a general impression of vitality and vigor to the artwork.
For more information see our artist profile page: Wassily Kandinsky
Paul Jackson
- Born: 1968, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education: B.F.A. Painting, Mississippi State University
- Most famous artworks:
- Perfect Timing,2017
- River Dreams,2018
Paul Jackson is renowned for his expansive creations. He works out of his Columbia, Missouri studio, The Avalanche Ranch. At thirty, Jackson received his signature membership induction into the American Watercolor Society. He also holds a signature membership in the National Watercolor Society.
Paul Jackson is one of today’s most recognized and versatile contemporary watercolorists. He is also a prolific artist and an ambitious global traveler. Paul fascinates viewers with genuine emotion, energy, and delicacy that fuel each of his creations, regardless of the subject matter he chooses, whether it is cityscape, still life, landscape, portrait, architectural, or abstract art.
Kelogsloops
- Born: 13 August 1995
- Nationality: Australian
- Most famous artworks:
- In Too Deep, 2018
- This Finity, 2018
Hieu Nguyen, a.k.a. “Kelogsloops,” is an Australian watercolor artist who works out of Melbourne. His artwork combines elements from his childhood anime with abstract and surreal art forms. Focusing on femininity, connection, and intense emotion, he creates exquisitely semi-abstract and beautiful settings by combining semi-realistic portraits with deep-hued watercolor and gold leaf.
Paintings by Kelogsloops have a significant yet personal sense to them. It’s a quality that he has developed over many years on canvas and in his sketchbooks. Ngyuen draws inspiration from modern artists like Shaun Tan and Yoshitaka Amano and from earlier creative periods like Romanticism. His interest in various topics contributes to his well-being as he pulls together his artistic puzzle to produce powerful pieces.
Milind Mulick
- Born:
- Nationality: Indian
- Education: National Talent Scholarship
- Most notable artworks:
- Rainy City 1
- City Reflections
Milind Mulick’s artwork has been displayed in exhibitions across India and beyond. Mulick possesses a mastery of the watercolor medium. The British watercolor painting tradition has influenced him, but his style has developed over time and now has a distinct Indian character. The most distinctive aspects of his paintings are their vibrant colors and capacity to convey the subject’s spirit.
Arthur Dove
- Born: August 2, 1880, Canandaigua, New York, US
- Died: November 23, 1946 (aged 66), Huntington, New York, US
- Nationality: American
- Education: Hobart College and Cornell University
- Known for: Modernism, abstract art
- Most notable works:
- Tree, 1935
- Sun, 1943
Originally intended to serve as studies for larger paintings, Arthur Dove’s small watercolors eventually gained recognition as independent pieces, and by the 1930s, he was putting them in shows. Even though Dove was a member of the group of artists close to Alfred Stieglitz, including Georgia O’Keeffe and John Marin, his work was distinctively radical and distinguished him as a trailblazer in American art. Dove’s influence is noteworthy because, in foreshadowing the emergence of Abstract Expressionism in the late 1940s, he concentrated on the formal aspects of painting, especially the use of color and the absence of figuration. Dove’s spontaneous reaction to the environment and the natural world is depicted through lyrical color and loosely drawn figures. His expressive lines and vibrant color washes perfectly reflect the American countryside.
For more information see our artist profile page: Arthur Dove
Don Bachardy
- Born: May 18, 1934, Los Angeles, California, US
- Nationality: American
- Education:
- Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles
- The Slade School of Art in London.
- Most famous watercolor art:
- Michael Rago, 1997
- Portrait of Paul Sorel, 1977
In Don Bachardy’s waterworks, the fantastic art of drawing is elevated to a whole new level. The artist has always been fascinated by the human body and the unique expression on the human face. Throughout his multi-decade work, Bachardy assiduously processed a range of psychological states, as body language and facial expressions may reveal a great deal about a person. The characters were frequently musicians and artists but also regular folks. Barchardy was realistic in the context of the portrayal because of the subtle way he used color and the line.
Milton Avery
- Born: 7 March 1885, Altmar, New York, United States
- Died: 3 January 1965 (age 79 years), New York, New York, United States
- Nationality: American
- Education: Connecticut League of Art Students, Art Students League of New York
- Periods: Modern art, Modernism
- Most notable watercolor artworks:
- Hills and Mountains,
- Burned Hill by the Sea, 1938
- The Swimming Hole, 1943
Impressionism heavily influenced Milton Avery in his early works, miniature plein-air paintings. Modern art, however, changed his work after him and his wife, the artist Sally Michel, relocated to New York. His perspectives flattened to shadowless planes, his colors became brilliant and dazzling, and his brushstrokes became thick and sweeping.
Milton Avery created unique landscapes, still lifes, and portraits characterized by their use of color and illusionistic renderings of space. These works comprised simplistic, saturated forms that frequently featured people, flowers, trees, and seas. They are now recognized as connecting the pre-war period’s loose, representational painting techniques with the color field paintings of the post-war era.
Milton Avery forged his path in American Modernism, defying artistic conventions. Solid color and abstract forms were used to portray a distinct picture of the American landscape. He was a quiet man who did not precisely match the romantic, bohemian concept of the modern, avant-garde artist.
For more information see our artist profile page: Milton Avery
Larry Bell
- Born: 1939, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Movement: Minimal art, geometric abstraction
- Most notable artworks:
- Franctions Unique, 1996
- Assembled Relief, 1988
Larry Bell’s artistic oeuvre uses reflective and sculptural qualities to explore the dynamic between the artwork and its surroundings. Larry Bell has studied the characteristics of surface light throughout his career. Through exploration of the properties of the surface and its relationship to space, Bell has developed an approach marked by intuition, improvisation, and spontaneity.
John Yardley
- Born: March 11, 1933, Beverley, United Kingdom.
- Nationality: British
- Most famous artworks:
- Cottage near sidlow, and salfords near guildford (pair)
- River scene
British painter John Yardley is well-known for his realistic portrayals of city scenes, landscapes, and interiors. Yardley uses sparse brushstrokes that emphasize color and light accuracy above detail to convey the essential elements of each scene in his watercolor paintings. The artist credits Edward Wesson and Edward Seago as having significantly affected his work.
Yardley uses just one brush—the priciest No. 12 Winsor & Newton Series 7 sable—to do most of his paintings. They produce a needle-like point and unique water-holding capabilities when relatively fresh. This makes it possible to accomplish broad washes and detail without switching brushes, which is crucial for a medium where speed is vital. But more recently, he has become an official partner of the Escoda Sable brush line.
John Yardley’s standard color scheme is composed of the following: Raw Sienna, Warm Sepia, Cadmium Red, Light Red, Burnt Umber, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow, French Ultramarine, and Cadmium Lemon. He employs what he refers to as his “exotics” for color accents: Indian red, Winsor Violet, Winsor Green, Alizarin Crimson, Black, Magenta, orange, and Permanent Rose. When creating light highlights against dark backgrounds, white gouache can be used alone or in combination with other colors.
Anders Zorn
- Born: 18 February 1860, Mora, Sweden–Norway
- Died: 22 August 1920 (aged 60), Stockholm, Sweden
- Nationality: Swedish
- Education: Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, Stockholm
- Most famous watercolor artworks:
- The Thorn Bush, 1886
- White lilies, 1887
- In Alhambra Park, 1887
Anders Zorn’s early works were frequently light and brilliant watercolors, but by 1887, he had committed fully to oils. He rose to prominence worldwide as one of the most well-liked portraitists of his time. He accommodated numerous members of high society, including three American presidents, nobility, and the king and queen of Sweden. Zorn also produced self-portraits and portraits of friends and family. Zorn’s paintings of naked people are equally well-known.
The paintings capture the spirit of free-form sketches using warm and cold tones, areas of light and shade, and an awareness of color contrasts and reflected light. Zorn’s deft use of the brush allows light to be reflected and transmitted through the painted subject’s textures and forms. Zorn was exceptionally skilled in portraying water realistically and scenes that reflected rural life and customs, in addition to portraits and nudists.
Anders Zorn is recognized for using a simple color scheme of Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre, Vermilion, and Lead White (Flake White). This constrained color scheme exhibits an incredible variety in color mixing. This palette creates a wide range of tonal ranges, a crucial advancement for portrait painting.
Elizabeth Nourse
- Born: October 26, 1859, Mount Healthy, Ohio
- Died: October 8, 1938 (aged 78), Paris, France
- Nationality: American
- Education:
- McMicken School of Design
- Académie Julian, Gustave Boulanger
- Art Students League of New York
- Movement: Realist
- Most famous artworks:
- Two Children Seated, 1880,
- A Time of Leisure, 1904
- Venice, 1891.
Elizabeth Nourse’s significant reputation as a Salon painter was gained in Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century when that city was the preeminent global hub for the arts. Both the public and her fellow artists praised Nourse for her technical proficiency and the distinct personal perspective she brought to her subject matter.
Even if a viewer has no prior knowledge of Elizabeth Nourse’s life, they can quickly discern an original personal vision from her artwork. However, her biography explains why she portrayed working people—women in particular—and the value of motherhood and the beauty inherent in the little things in life and the natural world with such profound conviction. Nourse was able to give these subjects a unique feeling of their significance and global meaning, even though they would have seemed trivial to someone less honest and proficient. These subjects represented her core beliefs.
Fidelia Bridges
- Born: May 19, 1834, Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died: May 14, 1923 (aged 88), Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education: William Trost Richards, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- Movement: Pre-Raphaelite
- Most famous watercolor artworks:
- A Garden in Bloom,1897
- Chickadee and Thistle, 1875
Fidelia Bridges gained notoriety for her finely detailed paintings that depicted birds, flowers, and plants in their native habitats. Despite starting as an oil painter, she eventually became a master watercolor artist. But her images were more than just snapshots of what she observed; using the creative imagination of a genuine artist, she gave her subjects a profoundly poetic significance. In the early days of the American Watercolor Society, she was the only female artist in a group of seven.
Rowland Hilder
- Born: 28 June 1905, United States
- Died: 21 April 1993 (age 87 years), Greenwich, United Kingdom
- Nationality: British
- Education: Goldsmiths’ College School of Art
- Most famous artworks:
- A FEBRUARY DAY
- Mountains in Snow, Skiddaw
Rowland Hilder is one of the most renowned watercolor artists of the 20th century in the United Kingdom. By no means was he, a slave to the medium. He disregarded a lot of watercolor painting conventions. Hilder painted using a variety of media quite frequently. In addition to oil painting, he occasionally used acrylic and pastels. He often used pen & ink and gouache to enhance his watercolor paintings. Along with his spouse, the artist Edith Hilder, he illustrated some well-known advertising campaigns. They occasionally worked together on the same paintings.
Millard Sheets
- Born: June 24, 1907, Pomona, California, U.S.
- Died: March 31, 1989 (aged 81), Anchor Bay, California, U.S.
- Nationality: American
- Education: Chouinard Art Institute
- Movement: California Scene Painting
- Most famous artworks:
- Mystic Night, 1937
- Afterglow Nebraska, 1936
Millard Sheets was an architectural designer, educator, and artist from the United States. He was among the pioneers of the California Scene Painting movement and contributed to its definition. His watercolors were approved for display in the yearly California Water Color Society show when he was still a teenager. He became a California Water Color Society member at the tender age of nineteen. His abstract representations are renowned for their clarity of intensity and tone.
Anna Zinkeisen
- Born: 29 August 1901, Kilcreggan, Scotland
- Died: 23 September 1976 (aged 75), London, England
- Education: Harrow School of Art and Royal Academy Schools
- Movement: Realism
- Most famous artworks:
- Merry-Go-Round, Original Pai
- Shell Form,1991
Anna Zinkeisen was the canonical master of her paintings. She was a storyteller and a watercolor painter, using a brush dipped in brilliance and an emotional palette. Numerous commissions were part of her journey as well, as her artwork developed into a visual dialogue between the stories she aimed to express and the canvas. As Anna’s brush turned her patrons’ visions into vivid masterpieces, these commissioned paintings served as windows into their worlds. With every brushstroke, she realized people’s hopes and desires, bringing her distinct artistic magic to life.
Charles E. Burchfield
- Born: April 9, 1893, Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio
- Died: January 10, 1967 (aged 73)
- West Seneca, New York
- Nationality: American
- Most known artworks:
- Late Winter Dawn, 1956–1965
- Face in the Foliage, 1918
- Bee Hepaticas, 1962
Charles Ephraim Burchfield is renowned for his vibrant watercolor paintings of townscapes and natural landscapes. His naturalistic watercolor paintings vibrate with movement and brightness. Frequently centering on themes from his close environs, such as the homes of neighbors, icy forests, and blossoming wildflowers, Burghfield cultivated a distinct formalism that remained sensitive to light and weather. More recently, Burchfield has been called “the mystic, cryptic painter of haunted houses originating ectoplasmic auras, trees with telekinetic halos, and transcendental landscapes.”
Burchfield was an expert draftsman despite his paintings’ joyous and whimsical use of color. His extensive collection of sketchbooks and journals is the foundation for his enormous work. The meticulous arrangement in his initial landscape paintings is evident, as is the unwavering accuracy in his wallpaper designs.
Charles Burchfield began with smaller pieces and expanded them by editing and adding paper as the paintings grew. The paper is expertly manipulated, taped, and patched; watercolor is applied directly or occasionally allowed to mix awkwardly. They resemble laboriously achieved oil paintings more closely than conventional watercolors; they have been challenged and driven to the verge before being brought to a resolution. The physicality of light, life, sound, and temperature is attributed to the energy that emanates from the recognized structures and tree forms.
Charles Burchfield remains a source of fascination and knowledge for contemporary art. His highly felt, almost mystical sensibility has prompted curators and artists to return and reevaluate his many successes. His intensely personal, spiritualized view of the world resonates with artists who create in various media.
Jade Fon
- Born: 1911
- Died: 1983 (age 72 years)
- Nationality: American
- Education: University of Arizona, Arts Students League
- Most known artworks:
- Locomotive Shed (Woodburning Locomotive), 1918
- Hemlock in November No. 2, 1960-61
- Flower Garden and Pillar of Cloud, 1961-62
Jade Fon (Woo), well-known for being an accomplished watercolorist and instructor, was born in San Jose, California, but relocated to the Southwest with his family as a young child. A cowboy gave him one of his earliest art classes, using the surface of an outhouse as an example to demonstrate how the form was created using light and shade. Watercolor was his preferred medium throughout his career, occasionally combined with gouache, charcoal, conté crayon, chalk, graphite, or pastel.
Morris Graves
- Born: August 28, 1910, Fox Valley, Oregon
- Died: May 5, 2001 (aged 90), Loleta, California
- Nationality: American
- Movement: Abstract Expressionism, Northwest School
- Most notable artworks:
- Dove of the Inner Eye, 1941.
- Jardinière of Dwarfs, 1950
Morris Graves was among the first Pacific Northwest Modern artists to win recognition domestically and abroad. With his parents’ approval, Graves left high school in Seattle as a teenager and boarded a commercial ship sailing to Japan. After being greatly impacted by Japanese design for a lifetime, he began fusing Asian design and philosophy into his creations. By the 1930s, his paintings have evolved into serene, contemplative works of art with a personal iconography of fanciful birds, flowers, and containers. His paintings employed the subdued hues of the Northwest landscape, yet he could still convey fleeting yet potent moments of spiritual insight and illumination.
Morris Graves explored the nature of consciousness through his style, which some reviewers called “mysticism,” which combined Asian aesthetics and philosophy with subdued tones in the Northwest and his unique iconography of birds, flowers, chalices, and other objects.
Childe Hassam
- Born: October 17, 1859, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died: August 27, 1935 (aged 75), East Hampton, New York, U.S.
- Education: Académie Julian
- Movement: American Impressionism
- Most notable works:
- Sunday Morning, 1912
- In the Park, 1910
- Sunday Morning, 1912
Frederick Childe Hassam gained recognition for his depictions of coastal and urban landscapes. In collaboration with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam played a pivotal role in introducing Impressionism to American dealers, collectors, and institutions. He created over 3,000 paintings, watercolors, etchings, oils, and lithographs throughout his career. When he first started painting creatively, watercolor was his chosen medium. He generally painted outdoor scenes, and in 1879, he started producing his first oil paintings.
Aitch
- Born: 1980, Soviet Romani
- Most notable works:
- Beautiful Us, 2015
- Adam and Eve
Aitch is a Romanian watercolorist who currently resides in Lisbon, Portugal. She makes deeply affecting watercolor paintings on paper, wood-cut characters, painted murals, and elaborate patterns and images for customers worldwide.
Aitch specializes in painting landscapes and seascapes. Her global travels and experiences influence her sense of style. She draws inspiration from various sources, including naturalistic images, innocent artwork, folktales and legends from many cultures, and much more.
