20 Famous Spanish Artists of All Time

20 Famous Spanish Artists of All Time

When it comes to art, Spain has been one of the nations that produced globally recognized artists. The vibrant cultural heritage has led to the rise of unforgettable humans who have explored all corners of the world through their creations. While some of them did not travel across the world, their work moved through all seven continents and was accepted by people from different cultures. Considering how wide the field of art is, millions of artists were born in Spain whose work changed the world. Spanning from painters whose art lives today, to talented poets, scriptwriters, actors, and musicians whose works of art made the world fall in love with the Spanish culture and language. looking at the history of artists in Spain is here to help us appreciate the pioneers of the industry as well as celebrate those who are still shining bright with their genius works as they strive to put smiles on people’s faces. History reminds us of the greatest men and women in Spanish art such as Pablo Picasso whose work hit global news and will never be forgotten for centuries. We also explore the masterpieces of Spaniard artists like Goya and Vasquez, or the soul-touching music by Dali. There are several other Spanish artists whose works, and long-lasting legacies have put the country on a global map.

The following are some of the twenty famous Spanish artists of all time:

1. El Greco

Hakjosef, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

El Greco was born in present-day Greece and given the name Domenikos Theotokopoulos before he moved around Europe. He began his young career in Italy at the end of the 1500s before he moved to Spain where his senior career as an artist flourished. While in Spain, he was given the name El Greco because of his Greece origin. El Greco ventured into religious paintings which made him famous globally. Some of his works include View of Toledo, Opening of the Fifth Seal and the most famous was The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Living between 1540 and 1514, El Greco changed the history of art in Spain as he was part of the introduction of Cubism and Expressionism.

Also see: Art: 15 Most Famous Portraits

2. Joan Miro

Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The twentieth century had one of the greatest artists Joan Miro, who is responsible for transitioning art from traditional methods to modern ways. Miro was a surrealist whose nine decades on earth were important for art to change forever. He is remembered for creating pieces of art such as The Farm in the 1920s when his art career was at its peak. Abstract expressionism became a movement that changed art and Miro was at the center of its origin. Today he is remembered as the pioneer of modern art.

3. Diego Velazquez

Diego Velázquez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

If you ask about the painting Las Meninas, many people would fail to recognize the original artist because it has been recreated over time. However, Diego Velazquez was the brain behind this genius piece of art. He was born in 1599 in Spain where he live his whole life creating pieces of art. He was famous during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain. Despite his fame in the sixteenth century, his work was more recognized in the nineteenth century. Famous modern artists such as Pablo Picasso recreated some of Diego’s works making him popular today. His detailed paintings have been used to educate artists.

4. Francisco Goya

Vicente López Portaña, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, many artists roamed around Europe but the name that stood out was Francisco Goya. From being a court painter to a dark nature painter, Goya is remembered for his work that lead to the rise of romanticism. He created The Third of May 1808 painting in 1814. The painting shows French soldiers firing bullets at unarmed civilians, presumed to be Spaniards. The famous painter is regarded as the most significant artist of the two centuries. His intense art with haunting themes made him the pioneer of dark art.

5. Salvador Dali

Roger Higgins, World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Salvador Dali is considered the most influential artist in creating surreal and bizarre images during his career. He was an artist in the middle of the surrealism movement during the twentieth century. Dali is known for his art that tapped into people’s subconscious. Some of his work include the Paranoiac-Critical Method. He used symbolism in his pieces such as the melting watches in the painting The Persistence of Memory in which he explains the way people perceive time inconsistently. Salvador Dali is among the greatest artists of all time.

6. Pablo Picasso

Argentina. Revista Vea y Lea, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pablo Picasso was a child prodigy whose painting talent was known at an early age. He would go on to become one of the most famous artists of all time in Spain and around the world. Picasso was the pioneer of the cubism movement during the twentieth century alongside other famous artists such as Georges Braque of France. Picasso was famous for his dedication and hard work as he is the only painter who created almost two thousand paintings throughout his career. Some of his pieces of art include Guernica which he created in 1937. Several of his paintings are in museums today and are among the most expensive pieces in the modern world.

7. Francisco De Zurbaran

Francisco Zurbaran is arguably the most famous artist who ventured into religious paintings that spoke to people’s faith. Zurbaran is known for spreading chiaroscuro in Spain. His style of painting included using strong contrasts between light and dark and the artistic use of deep colors. Being the creator of The Crucifixion, Saint Serapion, and Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and a Rose. While talking about the expression of faith and religion, the name Zurbaran comes into the picture because he was regarded as the best artist during the Spanish golden age.

8. Juan Gris

Amedeo Modigliani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Juan Gris was a Spanish artist who lived between 1887 and 1927 during which he transformed cubism. Juan Gris’ cubism included using large surface overlapping objects. He created the Portrait of Pablo Picasso which was one of his best works. Despite living for a short period, Juan Gris is remembered as the greatest cubist in the Spanish art industry after Pablo Picasso.

9. Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Esteban Murillo was one of the most celebrated artists in Europe during the seventeenth century. He was also a good teacher whose teachings earned him a name and followers in Spain and across the continent. He was one of the artists who ventured into a variety of subjects including religion, and real life. The painting The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerable was one of his pieces that made him popular. Other pieces include Christ the Good Shepherd and Street Urchins among others. Esteban Murillo died in 1682 after having a successful painting and teaching career in Spain and Europe.

Find out: 15 Amazing Artworks You Need to See at The Musée d’Orsay

10. Joaquim Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There is only one name that comes to our mind when we talk about expressionism in Spain and Europe; the name is Joaquim Sorolla. He was one of the most popular artists of his time, spanning decades, during which he created more than two thousand pieces. He was an expert in nature paintings including landscapes, and historical paintings that told the country’s stories. Sorolla is remembered for being a master expressionist whose accurate paints showed the use of light in the best way. He is associated with the expressionism movement in the continent.

11. Antoni Tapies

Teresa Tàpies Domènech, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Born Antoni Tapies I Puig, later known as Antoni Tapies, was a Spanish painter who contributed both to surrealism and expressionism. He is a twentieth and twenty-first-century painter whose name went global for his involvement in different movements including the Art Informel. Tapies made Art Informel popular in Europe, placing it on the same level as American Abstract Expressionism. He is renowned for matter painting which involves using paint and marble dust. He integrated bigger materials in his work in the 1970s diversifying his art.

12. Remedios Varo

Remedios Varo was born in 1908 in the city of Angles in Spain. Her father was an engineer and her mother was a housewife. Varo had a close relationship with her father who inspired her to venture into art. He helped her to learn sketching when she was a little child. Varo studied surrealism after finishing school. She was also involved in politics in Spain and later in France. She would finally settle in Mexico where she did most of her artwork. Alongside Leonora Callington, Varo dug deeper into surrealism and became one of the renowned artists associated with the movement.

13. Marc Anthony

World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Marc Anthony is a Spanish pop and salsa singer who has been in the United States of America for most of his life. Born to Puerto Rican parents, Anthony has been a Spanish icon in music, releasing several single songs in Spanish. Despite staying in America, he speaks and sings in Spanish which is appreciated by people around the world. He is also an actor and has appeared in several movies during his career. He is considered one of the greatest artists of all time in Spain.

14. Enrique Iglesias

Ralph Arvesen, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Enrique Iglesias is a pop music artist born into a family of artists. His father is Julio Iglesias who is also a musician. Enrique learned from his father at a young age before making a breakthrough and launching his genre. He has released songs since the early 1990s. He is known for putting together romantic words in his music which catches the attention of the modern generation. He also holds the world record for the most number of times single songs were on the billboards hot Latin Songs chart.

15. Pitbull

Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Armando Christian Perez, professionally referred to as Pitbull is a Spanish singer who took the world by storm in the late 2000s with his diversified style. He is popular in both English and Spanish-speaking crowds for his bilingual abilities which have made him a global sensation. He is also referred to as Mr. Worldwide because of his style that has been accepted globally. Staying in America has made his Spanish easy to understand by many of his fans. The Spanish consider him one of the best pop singers in history.

16. Daddy Yankee

Daddy Yankee, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Daddy Yankee, born Ramon Luis Ayala Rodriguez is a professional Spanish singer who is popular in modern art. He is credited for being the pioneer of reggaeton music which earned him the name ‘King of Reggaeton.’ Daddy Yankee was a star in the early 2000s when his album called ‘Barrio Fino’ or Classy Neighborhood, was the top-selling album. He cemented his name as one of the greatest because of his hit songs and popularizing his music genre in the world.

17. Luis Fonsi

Al Vazquez, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Luis Alfonso Rodriguez Lopez-Cepero, popularly known as Luis Fonsi is a Spanish pop singer and songwriter. He is one of the most famous artists in the world known for releasing some of the best songs including Despacito or Slowly, which is considered the most popular song on YouTube after having more than seven billion views. Some of his songs are used by English speakers to learn Spanish vocabulary. Fonsi has made people love Spanish music because of his romantic lyrics. He is one of the greatest artists that the world has ever seen.

18. Antoni Gaudi

Pau Audouard Deglaire, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Antoni Gaudi is remembered for his contribution to the field of architecture during the twentieth century. Born in 152, Gaudi became the architect that transformed the city of Barcelona. He is the pioneer of beautiful architecture that involved using glass, ironwork, and ceramics to make art beautiful. He is considered a link between traditional and modern architecture as his work is studied today. Some of his works of art have been used to serve as world heritage. He is a legend in art and will be remembered forever.

Check out: 10 Amazing Facts About Art

19. Jusepe De Ribera

Jusepe de Ribera, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Jusepe De Ribera was born and raised in Spain where he began his career in art before going to Italy. He spent his early life in Valencia where he learnt art from the best teacher of his time, Francisco Ribalta. While in Italy, the artist stayed in Rome, Naples, and Venice which are cities associated with art. However, he resided in Naples where many Spaniards lived, and therefore Spanish culture was dominant. Before he died in 1652, Ribera transformed art through the Spanish baroque movement. Some of his famous works of art include Aristotle Saint Jerome among others.

20. Claudio Coello

Claudio Coello, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Claudio Coelle is remembered for some popular pieces of art such as Adoration of the Holy Eucharist. He is a Spanish painter who lived between 1642 and 1693 during which he created several religious paintings that evoked people’s feelings. He is one of the best artists during the Spanish golden age alongside several other renowned artists. He studied the best artists such as Juan Correno, and Diego Velazquez who natured his art career. He is also remembered for being the King’s painter when King Charles II appointed him to the position in 1683.

The history of art in Spain shows the legacy built by the ancient and present artists in the country whose contribution is recognized globally. These people rose from their low levels in society to become global sensations with pieces of work that have lived for centuries. These visionary artists, including painters, musicians, and actors, among others have helped to put the country on the global map as one of the most admired places in the world. The artists helped to put Spanish culture on the global radar attracting people from every part of the world.  Men such as Goya, Velázquez, Dali, and Gaudi helped to make art in Spain, Europe, and the world better as they contributed to the transition from traditional methods to modern art. They changed the face of the county and their enduring Spanish art will undoubtedly continue to captivate and resonate with audiences for generations to come.