Famous American Paintings

Nighthawks Edward Hopper

American artist Edward Hopper created this artwork which became one of the best-recognized artworks in American history. The artist got inspired by a real place and painted the glass window of the diner larger than it actually was. The diner located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York City has since been demolished.

American Gothic Grant Wood

American artist Grant Wood created this masterpiece which became one of his best-known paintings of the rural American Midwest. This iconic artwork depicts a man and a woman standing in front of the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa. The artist used people he knew so in the painting you see his sister Nan Wood Graham and Wood’s dentist Dr, Byron McKeeby. The painting represents the Carpenter Gothic architectural style in which the house was built.

Christina’s World Andrew Wyeth

American artist Andrew Wyeth created this painting which became known by almost everyone in the US. It depicts a woman sitting in a field with some buildings in the distance. The woman’s name was Anna Christina Olson who suffered from a physical condition making it impossible for her to walk. She didn’t use a wheelchair but crawled everywhere she went.

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) Winslow Homer

American artist Winslow Homer created this lovely seascape. He was among the most renowned artists in American history. The painting depicts a catboat with several people off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing village.

Snap the Whip Winslow Homer

American artist Winslow Homer was a self-taught artist from Boston, Massachusetts who was best known for his Civil War Paintings. After the war, he created paintings about childhood and the life of American children. Here children can be seen participating in a game called Snap the Whip.

Whistler’s Mother James Abbott McNeill Whistler

American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler created this artwork depicting his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. It became a popular painting. The artist lived and worked in the UK for most of his career. The painting was originally called “Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1” was completed while his mother lived with him in London, England. It is the most famous American painting completed outside of the US.

The Oxbow Thomas Cole

American artist Thomas Cole created this painting also titled View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a thunderstorm. It became the most famous artwork by this American landscape artist, considered to be the founding father of the Hudson River School in New York State. The artwork depicts a wide view of the Connecticut River Valley showing a bend in the Connecticut River from Mount Holyoke.

Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California Albert Bierstadt

German American artist Albert Bierstadt was born in Germany but established himself as the most renowned painter of landscapes depicting the American West. This artwork is the first of a series of landscapes depicting the Yosemite Valley. It shows two of the most iconic rock formations in the US. El Capitan to the right and The Sentinel to the left. The Merced River flows through the valley.

The Gross Clinic Thomas Eakins

American artist Thomas Eakins created this painting depicting a class held by Dr. Samuel D. Gross at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It became the most important American scientific realism painting ever created. The painting shows an actual operation in a surgical theater during the 1860s.

Flag Jasper Johns

American artist Jasper Johns created this painting which became the most famous depiction of the American flag in art history. The artwork was completed using hot wax and is the first in a series of paintings by Johns in which The Star Spangled Banner is the most important element. The artist completed this painting when he was 24 years old, two years after he was discharged from the US Army. Many of his paintings have sold for millions of dollars.

Madame X John Singer Sargent

American artist John Singer Sargent created his portrait of Virginie Gautreau, a young woman who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She moved to Paris, France after her father died and married a wealthy man twice her age becoming the talk of the town. She posed for Sargent since he was the most sought-after portrait painter of his time.

The Grass Fire Frederic Remington

American artist Frederic Remington created this artwork as an oil on canvas. In the painting, he depicts a band of prairie Native Americans using an unconventional warfare method against an unseen opponent by setting the grasses on fire.