The World's Greatest Artists and Painters  

We may very well be getting above our station at Serviceteam, but what the hell, we're going to give you our opinion on the greatest painters in history. And what qualifies us to judge? Well we are the World's greatest house painters - that's why!

To be an artist, you has to have an innate talent and skill. It may be acquired; however, it will never be the same as an inherent one. Most artists and painters are born and not made. They have an instinct for understanding and interpreting things in their own way. Some did not even finish school but emerged to be the world's best artists and painters. Here are our top five!

1. Michelangelo Buonarroti

The most celebrated and well known artist of the Italian Renaissance is Michelangelo, and without question, he is the most eminent and famed artist of any generation. He tops our list of the world's best artists and painters. He was a sculptor, a painter, an architect and a poet. Born in Caprese (near Florence) in Tuscany on March 6, 1475, Michelangelo lost his mother when he was 6 years old but pursued his dream of becoming an artist. Demonstrating unqualified methodological dexterity and artistry, his marble sculptures are faultless and unblemished. For centuries, Michelangelo has remained the most laudable and extreme advocate of sculpting the body of a man. His last 20 years were dedicated to architecture. His most prominent and distinguished architectural work is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He was 88 years old when he died on February 18, 1564 from a fever.

Michelangelo's greatest examples of painting and sculpture are:

• The Sistine Chapel ceiling: Genesis Fresco, 1508 - 1512; Creation of Adam, 1511
• The Sistine Chapel altar wall: Last Judgment fresco, 1535 - 1541
• St. Peter's Basilica in Rome: Pieta, 1497 - 1499 (marble)
• Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence: David, 1501 - 1504 (marble)
• Louvre in Paris: Dying Slave, 1513 - 1516 (marble)

2. Rembrandt Van Rijn

Born in July 15, 1606, Rembrandt Van Rijn in Leiden, Netherlands, Rembrandt is regarded as one of Europe's greatest painters. He was the greatest painter since the Renaissance. An obscure Dutch Realist, he created a huge number of striking works of art that includes the best illustrations of history painting, individual and group portraits, genre paintings, self-portraits and still-life that have ever been created. He is the supreme advocate of chiaroscuro, an art that is distinguished by sturdy contrasts between dark and light hues. His paintings were known for having character and passion that initiated an avant-garde pragmatism into painting. His works are distinguished by their extraordinary brushwork, the unparalleled use of colour and artistry of shadow and light. Rembrandt died in Amsterdam in October 4, 1669.

Rembrandt's painting magna opera include the following:

• The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1632
• The Night Watch, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, 1642
• Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer in The Metropolitan Museum, NY, 1653
• Bathsheba Holding King David's Letter in Louvre Museum, Paris, 1653
• Jan Six in the Six Collection, Amsterdam 1654
• The Syndics of the Clothmakers' Guild in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 1662
• The Suicide of Lucretia in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, c.1666
• The Jewish Bride in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, c.1665-8

3. Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Spain. He is one of the only great artists to actually make money from his art while he was still alive. As well as being a master in sculpture, Picasso was also a printmaker, ceramicist and designer. His creative works were inspired by tribal, prehistoric, traditional, Renaissance and ultramodern subjects. He was also known for being a co-originator of Analytical and Synthetic Cubism along with Georges Braque. His avant-garde treatment of the picture plane in his Cubist creations started a new period of fine art. On the other hand, he was the first to have initiated in using 'found' objects in his sculpture. This greatly influenced the growth of contemporary and modern art activities that includes Futurism, Purism, Constructivism, Vortism, Orphism and Surrealism and Dada. Picasso was 91 years old when he died on April 8, 1973in Mougins, France.

Picasso's masterpieces include:

• Blue Nude- oil, c.1904, Picasso Museum, Barcelona
• Garcon a la Pipe - oil on canvas, 1905 , Private Collection
• Girl In Chemise, 1905, Tate Collection, London
• Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, oil on canvas, 1907, Museum of Modern Art NY
• Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, oil/canvas, 1909-10, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• Guernica, oil on canvas, 1937 , Prado Museum, Madrid
• Weeping Woman, oil on canvas, 1937, Tate Gallery, London

4. Leonardo di ser Piero Da Vinci

Born on April 15, 1452, Leonardo di ser Piero Da Vinci was an Italian painter, sculptor, polymath, architect, mathematician, geologist, anatomist, botanist, scientist, inventor, cartographer, writer and musician. Described as the epitome of the Renaissance Man, with an unappeasable curiosity and zealously ingenious mind, Da Vinci only has a few artworks; nevertheless, he emerged to be a central figure during the height of the Renaissance period. His methods in painting were extremely original and significant, specifically his absolute talent in sfumato, which was said to be the expression of modern painting. Leonardo was 67 years old when he died on May 2, 1519 in Indre-et-Loire, France.

Leonardo Da Vinci's famous paintings are:

• The Virgin of the Rocks, oil on panel, c.1484, Louvre Museum
• Lady with an Ermine, oil on wood, c.1490, Czartoryski Museum, Cracow
• Last Supper, fresco, 1495 - 1498, Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
• Mona Lisa, oil on wood, 1503, Louvre, Paris

5. JMW Turner

Had to get a British person in here somewhere! Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in Covent Garden, London, England on April 23 1775. He was a landscape painter and is widely regarded as the best landscape painter of all time. He was also a watercolourist and printmaker. He was only 15 years old when he had his 1st painting exhibition at London Royal Academy. His watercolor and oil paintings showed an avant-garde impact in tone, form and composition. His works were characterized by light and he was respected by his peers and even the old artists. JMW died when he was 88 years old on December 19, 1851 in Chelsea, London at age 76.

JMW's great works are:

• Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, oil, 1835, Philadelphia Museum
• The Fighting Temeraire, oil on canvas, 1839, National Gallery, London
• Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbour's Mouth, oil, 1842, Tate Gallery

We're not likely to paint a masterpiece or even recreate one. But we do a fabulous, world class job of painting houses in London.

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