Artist Andy Warhol (© AP Images)

In honor of August’s American Artist Appreciation Month, we’ve released a list of the top five most researched American artists in our library. To celebrate, we’re opening up some of our best content to make reference works on these famous artists free for an entire month!

1. Andy Warhol: Famous for his pop art paintings, prints, photography, film, music and much more, Andy Warhol is considered one of the most controversial artists of the century. Whether the opinion is positive or negative, it’s clear that Warhol’s art struck a nerve with many. “In more than one hundred books and in more than a thousand articles, writers have either adored or despised Andy Warhol, and no other artist has ever aroused such impassioned praise and vehement condemnation.” (Pratt xvii) [Pratt, Alan R., ed. The Critical Response to Andy Warhol.Westport,CT:Greenwood, 1997. Questia. Web.]

2. Jackson Pollock: Famous for his technique of pouring, dripping and splattering paint onto the canvas, Jackson Pollock, appropriately nicknamed “Jack the Dripper,” is a pivotal figure in American postwar art. His large-scale paintings were influenced a great deal by the two artists that Pollock admired most, Picasso and Miró. “In recent years scholars have recognized the seriousness of Pollock’s artistic aims, the originality of his stylistic solutions, and his crucial role in the general development of contemporary art.” (Cernuschi 1) [Cernuschi, Claude. Jackson Pollock: Meaning and Significance.New York: Icon Editions, 1992. Questia. Web.]

3. Mark Rothko: Mark Rothko was an abstract expressionist artist famous in the fifties and sixties for his paintings featuring colorful blocks and rectangles. While some declared Rothko to be a genius, others found his work simple and incapable of being considered serious art. “Rothko, back in the early 1950s, was a fighting word. I remember vividly the combative, black-and-white climate that divided theNew York art world into pro-or-con extremes when faced with the unheralded innovations of the Abstract Expressionists.” (Rosenblum 122) [Rosenblum, Robert. On Modern American Art: Selected Essays.New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. Questia. Web.]

4. Mary Cassatt: A 19th century American painter, many of Mary Cassatt’s paintings focused on women, particularly mothers and their children. This female impressionist was praised for the wholesomeness of the figures in her work, while many fellow impressionists were accused of “scattering the body in calligraphic excess.” (Higonnet 105) “Cassatt’s pictures are filled with embraces. Everything extraneous to the physical contact between mothers’ and children’s bodies has been eliminated. Mother and child virtually never gaze toward anyone or anything except each other, so they are engaged only in their mutual absorption.” (Higonnet 104) [Frederickson, Kristen, and Sarah E. Webb, eds. Singular Women: Writing the Artist.Berkeley,CA:University ofCalifornia, 2003. Questia. Web.]

5. Georgia O’Keeffe: Born in November of 1887, Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most celebrated female artists of the 20th century. Recognizable themes and imagery include flowers and bones, which O’Keeffe frequently painted so that they appeared extremely close up. “Georgia O’Keeffe was one of the ways to be a woman and an artist, and it seems important not to see her life as a mold, a pattern that determines form, defining a way to live.” (Patten and Cardona-Hine 5) [Patten, Christine Taylor, and Alvaro Cardona-Hine. Miss O'Keeffe.Albuquerque:University ofNew Mexico, 1992. Questia. Web.]

Visit Questia’s topic page on famous artists for more information.

Artist Andy Warhol (© AP Images)

Questia is honoring LGBT Pride Month by sharing a few interesting facts on the five most researched LGBT painters in our library. To celebrate, we’ve even opened up our library to make reference works on each of these artist free for a whole month. Continue the celebration by checking out the Huffington Post‘s slideshow of 15 LGBT art exhibits you can visit around the country this month. Enjoy!

1. Andy Warhol:  In the visual art movement known as pop art, Warhol was a leading figure and created iconic masterpieces that are engrained within American pop culture, such as the infamous Campbell’s Soup Cans paintings.  While Warhol may be most well-known for his paintings, he expressed his art through many other mediums such as sculpture, fashion and theater. Throughout his career, Warhol allowed his sexuality to be reflected in his work and openly explored the complexities of sexuality and desire, with some of his homoerotic drawings of male nudes receiving rejection from galleries for being too openly gay at the time.  [Horne, Peter.  Lesbian and Gay Sexualities and Visual Cultures.  Routledge: 1996]
2. Rosa Bonheur:  Bonheur is widely considered to be one of the most famous female painters of the nineteenth century and his work can be viewed in world-class museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée d’Orsay. Bonheur’s sexual identity is said to be expressed through her art, with many of the animals in her work depicting the constraints felt by many homosexuals at that time.  Bonheur was also notorious for dressing in masculine attire, often opting for trousers, and many scholars view this as an overt expression of her lesbian identity.  [Broude, Norma, et al.  The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History.  Westview Press: 1992]
3. Keith Haring:  Greatly enthused by New York City’s street culture in the 1980s, Haring received inspiration from graffiti art and studied at the city’s School of Visual Arts.  His legendary chalk drawings graced the surfaces of everything from subway walls and lamp posts to black paper and painted plastic or metal.  Haring was openly gay, and much of his personal sexual politics was injected into his artwork, reflecting socio-political themes in the public sphere, such as AIDS awareness and the crack cocaine epidemic. Although he passed away as a result of AIDS-related complications in 1990, his legacy and messages live on through his foundation.  [Aldrich, Robert, et al.  Who’s Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History.  Routledge: 2001]
4. Robert Rauschenberg:  One of the most important figures in art history of the late-twentieth century, Rauschenberg developed a technique for screen printing images from popular media such as newspapers and magazines. Through this technique, Rauschenberg was able to juxtapose recognizable images yet highlight the complexity and vibrancy of modern visual culture. Rauschenberg developed a powerful friendship with fellow artist Jasper Johns, and it has been theorized the two pursued an intimate relationship.  [Bossy, Michel- Andre.  Lives and Legacies: An Encyclopedia of People who Changed the World.  Oryx Press: 2001]
5. David Hockney:  One of the most widely known and appreciated British artists, Hockney is the self-proclaimed “Playboy of the art world.” He received early success with a series of etchings, The Rake’s Progress, but unlike many of his fellow contemporaries, he did not become closely associated with any one movement.  Throughout his career, Hockney adopted a more naturalistic style of painting, depicting beach houses, swimming pools and scenes of pleasure and leisure.  [Christopher, David.  British Culture.  Routledge: 1999]

For further tribute to LGBT Pride Month, take a look at our recent blog post honoring the work of famous LGBT playwrights!

Frida Kahlo (© Lola Alvarez Bravo, Vicente Wolf Photography Collection/AP Photo)

In honor of Women’s History Month, we at  Questia have released a list of our library’s top ten most studied female painters, and made the following reference works on each of them available for free this month! Visit our topic page on women artists for additional research.

1. Frida Kahlo—Born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico, Frida Kahlo painted her first self-portrait Self-Portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress one year after sustaining serious injuries in a streetcar accident. Later in life, she was awarded the National Prize of Arts and Sciences by the Education Ministry. [Sánchez, Cynthia A. "2: Latin American Women Artists." Women Artists of Color: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook to 20th Century Artists in the Americas. Ed. Phoebe Farris. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. 125-230. Questia. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.]

2. Mary Cassatt—A 19th century American painter, Mary Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before heading to Europe where she was later invited by Degas to join the Impressionists. Many of her paintings focused on women, particularly mothers and their children. [Sweet, Frederick A. Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1954. Questia. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.]

3. Georgia O’Keeffe—Though Georgia O’Keeffe received training from notable names in the art community, she developed her skill alone through experimentation and introspection. O’Keeffe is quoted as saying “I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say in any other way—things that I had no words for.” [New Art in America: Fifty Painters of the 20th Century. Ed. John I. H. Baur. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1957. Questia. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.]

4. Artemisia Gentileschi— The only (and oldest) daughter of Orazio di Giovanni and Prudentia Montoni, Artemisia’s father taught her how to paint. She completed her first dated painting in 1610 and continued to have a successful career throughout the 17^th century. [Hansard-Weiner, Sonja. "(1563-1639 and 1593-1652/1653)." The Age of Milton: An Encyclopedia of Major 17th-Century British and American Authors. Ed. Alan Hager. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. 144-145. Questia. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.]

5. Beatrix Potter— Famous for her children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter is also known for her beautiful illustrations of animals, landscapes and science. [Mackey, Margaret. The Case of Peter Rabbit: Changing Conditions of Literature for Children`. New York: Garland, 1998. Questia. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.]

6. Rosa Bonheur— Bonheur is renowned for her paintings of animals, in addition to receiving a great deal of recognition for her adoption of male work attire. Her transgressive behavior towards life and sexuality brought her both praise and ridicule. [Broude, Norma, and Mary D. Garrard, eds. The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. Questia. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.]

7. Ann Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses)— Most commonly referred to as Grandma Moses, Ann Mary Robertson Moses was an American Folk Painter who lived from 1860 to 1961. Moses is said to be the most successful self-taught artist of the 20^th century and often focused on painting “rural paradise.” [Kogan, Lee, and Gerard C.Wertkin, eds. Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. New York: Routledge, 2004. Questia. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.]

8. Berthe Morisot—Morisot was a 19th century impressionist with terrific credentials, having received an exceptional art education alongside her sister Edma. It is said that only she and Monet adhered to Impressionism throughout their careers. [Clement, Russell T., Annick Houzé, and Christiane Erbolato-Ramsey. The Women Impressionists: A Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.]

9. Sofonisba Anguissola—Born in 1532, Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter who specialized in portraits and achieved great fame during her lifetime. Before the age of 30, she was invited to the court of Philip II to serve as a lady-in-waiting and a portrait painter to Elizabeth of Valois. [Jacobs, Fredrika H. "Woman's Capacity to Create: The Unusual Case of Sofonisba Anguissola." Renaissance Quarterly 47.1 (1994): 74+. Questia. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.]

10. Angelica Kauffman—Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman was one of the most well-known female artists of the 18th century and specialized in history painting. Considered the most notable form of the art, history painting required extensive knowledge based on education that was not readily available to women, boosting Kauffman further into the spotlight. [Roworth, Wendy Wassyng. "21 Biography, Criticism, Art History: Angelica Kauffman in Context." Eighteenth-Century Women and the Arts. Ed. Frederick M. Keener andSusan E. Lorsch. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. 209-220. Questia. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.]

Does anyone on this list surprise you that they made the top ten? And, who do you think should’ve made the list—who should students be writing papers on that aren’t the typical picks?

Visit the blog by the National Museum of Women in the Arts for more great information on women artists.