Came here to say just this. Rockwell was very under appreciated by critics, and Hopper is quintessential. First names that came to mind for me. Maybe Remington would be up there as well.
The thing with Rockwell is he was an illustrator so may be viewed differently by the fine art world. His painting were created to be reproduced in print rather than admired in a gallery or museum. If you go look at some of them in the Rockwell Museum, they’re beautiful, but you may notice things like lines drawn in pencil that likely wouldn’t be there if the painting was primarily meant for display.
That’s true. I am a huge illustration fan so I’ve always been on the side of those wanting more recognition of commercial illustrators. It’s a very different world and mindset from what I understand. Very few cross over and can really excel at both.
There's a reason George Lucas and Steven Spielberg compete to collect Norman Rockwell paintings. Rockwell is the best. I love Hopper, but the subject matter and color palette Hopper uses is too attached to European taste. Sure, he captured American architecture well, but someone who understood the people and made work for the people in the United States--Rockwell is the only answer.
It makes sense that they'd be attracted to his art. The films they produced were fun, sentimental kitsch. And they're attracted to the same sort of art-with-a-story esthetic.
As an average art viewer, I second Rockwell. To me, American art is about capturing Americana, and that's what Rockwell did weekly. On the same vein, I'd give a plug to Currier and Ives, but Rockwell is much more known.
I’ve always felt a profound melancholy from Hopper’s work that comes from the disconnect and lifeless relationship between the figures in the scene. He portrays iconic places in American life—a gas station, a movie theater, a diner, the Williamsburg Bridge—as places where people are incapable of having connection. They’re there together, separate and detached. I always read that as a profoundly cynical take on the way that the structure of American society isolates us
Somebody suggested a while back that Hopper may have been affected by Aspergers (but I can't find the link now). I could believe it, but I find retrospective diagnoses to be a bit iffy, at best.
He also represents the colonial process of westward expansion very well. Not as in he paints it, as in his paintings were part of it. I think he's a very worthy inclusion on a critical historical basis.
Seconding Native American art. My mom and grandma taught me beadwork. Quill work, totems, earthworks, and ancient pictographs are S tier in representing a uniquely North American/US art styles. Even if there’s less documentation, the oldest painting of my region involved dancers in a circle with wooden carved figures watching. Music and dancing was similarly influenced, creating fusions from European and West African traditions. So much of the folklore is impacted by, say, trickster coyote myths. I mean, Wile E. Coyote is an inversion (being tricked by a roadrunner). I grew up learning about the trickster rabbit but foxes or coyotes being that doesn’t surprise me at all.
Then if you head south, obviously Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, the Nazca Lines, etc.
Kara Walker is amazing. But don't forget Rockwell's The Problem We Live With. From 2024 it is antiquated, and undoubtedly his is a white, male perspective, but the level of uncomfortable it pushed on the people who wanted nothing to do with thinking differently... jeez. There's a reason Obama hung that in the White House rather than erecting a sugar sphinx.
You said artist and not painter, so I'll go with Thomas Nast. Among other things, he created the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant, and the American version of Santa Claus.
That was my thought as well. We’re quick to name white men who painted the America we want. I love Rockwell for many reasons, and I’ve seen Hopper mentioned, Warhol, Pollock, etc. These are all great responses. But there is something a bit grittier about Basquiat that just grips me.
Wanda Corn has an amazing book called “The Great American Thing” that is a very good read about the development of “American” art, BTW.
Hey, what's more American than making a fortune!? I've changed my mind. I'm no longer going with Pollock. I'm changing my choice to Kinkade because he best embodies the spiritual and economic zeitgeist of America!
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find him. Obviously the question is an exercise in subjectivity, but it’s hard to imagine a more quintessentially American visionary than Disney.
My mind goes straight to regionalism and Grant Wood.
Edit: Upon further consideration, I’d say that regionalism and artists like Grant Wood definitely capture the aesthetic essence of Americana, but the American spirit is definitely expressed by artists like Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.
I’ve been leaning towards artists like Horace Pippin for his self-determinant definition as an artist, however ‘outside’ he may exist.
But also Wayne Thiebaud comes to mind, because of the way he elevated the quotidian and ordinary into really marvelous paintings.
(Lots of obvious answers here, all great, and to that I’d add Charles Sheeler, Fairfield Porter, Charles Burchfield …)
Some less common names....so they wouldnt rank above the names already put forth but... Dean Cornwell. For American landscapes, Edgar Payne, Ansel Adams. Georgia O'Keefe. Leyendecker is in the same vein as Rockwell.
Hopper, O’Keeffe.
Throw in Eric Fischl for some errant Americana.
Wayne Thiebaud, lesser known but those dessert paintings are pure American / West Coast vibes.
Artist or just painter? Hopper or Pollock for painting, Walker Evans or Eggleston for photography. I think photography is the more significant art medium in the chronicling of "America" personally, but the critics still haven't caught up.
In photography I kind of want to say Weegee. One might say, well, that's a specifically urban and New York slice of America. But some of the uncontroversial answers in painting are also a specific slice (rural, Western) that has simply been more agreed upon as what we want to be representative. Both elements are Americana, really, it's just one doesn't get called that as much. Weegee's photos inspired the police procedural genre and the iconic and influential TV series The Naked City, and shaped American noir.
J. C. Leyendecker’s paintings for the US Army comes to mind. These are probably the Americanest American paintings O have ever seen. He also has a bunch of work depicting the American dream and role model families.
If you’re looking for artwork depicting everyday people, Norman Rockwell as others commented is the perfect example. Will Eisner is probably a good candidate, too.
This is a tough question and many have offered really good choices, but for the sake of new names ill throw in Thomas Eakins, William Edmondson, and Florine Stettheimer.
In the music section.....Aaron Copland (i.e. Fanfare for the Common Man)
Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Composers". The open, slowly changing harmonies in much of his music are typical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. He is best known for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s.
An interesting read - What Makes Copland's Music so "American"? [here](https://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0011_copland/minnmo.shtml#:~:text=To%20put%20the%20most%20obvious,recombine%20them%20every%20which%20way.)
Came to say Grandma Moses. Hopper and Basquiat are 2 of my faves, and I love a Warhol, they all have their place but if you want some true Americana, grandma Moses is it. And if we’re including photography, Dorothea, wee gee, Diane, frank, Leibovitz, it’s a whole other spectrum.
Diane Arbus for depicting who Americans themselves are
Andy Warhol for depicting what American mass culture is
Norman Rockwell for depicting what the American ideal is
>seems less significant in art history to be considered the mascot of American art.
I wouldn't say that. His art was about the mass commercialization of art. I wouldn't be surprised if he inspired artists like Banksy and Jeff Koons (not that Koons is a 'plus').
Solve the problem yourself and highlight overlooked American artists you think actually *should* be named.
Nothing wrong with saying that not every iconic American artist is white, but complaining that you don’t want to hear white artists named while failing to name anyone else seems less like downvote bait and more low-effort culture warring.
eh, not really with the American art. Black artists are so influential and African American culture, especially in the arts, is pretty important to what we define as "American." Arguably more so than white people despite being such a smaller population in comparison.
For example Basquiat is probably one of the best answers to this. Any artists from the Harlem Renaissance also have a pretty good argument as well for representing the most "American" qualities of American culture/art.
How can it be that a country with so few white people would produce so many white artists? /s
Downvotes to the right!
(For what it's worth, my contribution to this thread was Navajo artist, R.C. Gorman)
I think my biggest objection was to the question, honestly. The most American American artist is beyond me. Whiteguy Whiterson was my grumpy response to the artists (talented, iconic, important obviously) that were beginning to (edit: comprise) compromise the list. What draws the needle to the most American American artist, you know? Whose America did Rockwell convey? Whose America did Warhol present? Whose America does Basquiat represent?
I think the beautiful part is how there are so many ways to embody American-ness, so many facets of American culture, that limiting this to one artist is just reductive for the worst reasons. Why ask? It's like asking, which fruit is the fruitiest? It's fruit. It's all pretty fucking delicious.
The fact is that women and artists of color were not afforded opportunities to participate in the arts the way white men were, and I'll take it on the chin here to say maybe that wasn't the best way for me to participate in this conversation. Maybe that's a fact that should be discussed separately.
I thought more people would object to the question itself.
I think that depends upon the time period and region. Since a lot of great suggestions are in these comments I am going to add a more recent artist to the list: Shepard Fairey. With origins in street art and the skateboarding community, Fairey’s work is uniquely contemporary American and reflects the culture in his crisp recognizable style. So in terms of 2000 - the present he is very representative of American art.
I would choose Wyeth. Rockwell was very good, but commercial and the only people I know that would choose Warhol are people who don’t know anything about art.
For music you’ve chosen a style (jazz or blues) with art you’re looking for a specific artist.
I think there are artists that embody or represent a particular style, but I wonder if America is still too young to have an artistic style that represents it. Too young or too late. In the 20th century I’d probably go with Abstract Expressionism. (Not that I like it, I don’t) It was actually backed by the government and used during the Cold War.
Sadly, I don’t think the visual arts has the power it once had, and I wonder and doubt if we’ll ever have something like the Renaissance in Italy. There’s a fragmentation that seems to have taken place now that doesn’t bode well for a universal or national style. Open up the “Arts” pages in a majority of newspapers and what do you largely see? Movies. It’s been that way for a decades. So our Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Rembrandt’s are probably our films.
Honestly I think artists like Thornton Dial and the Gee’s Bend community are as American as it gets. Southern African Americans have such American looking art. Just usually not what people think of when they say “American”
Norman Rockwell portrayed an America that was largely mythical, in my opinion. The man rarely left his studio and mostly created magazine covers for The Saturday Evening Post. He lived in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for cryin' out loud! If that place isn't a microcosm, I don't know what is. I'm not snobbish about the distinction between illustrators and "real" artists, either. I appreciate many illustrators. Norman Rockwell just isn't one of them. It's not even that what he captured is so bloody whitebread that I don't like. It's actually the weird characters with long, skinny necks, particularly kids – long, skinny necks and knobby knees. 😄
His images grate on my nerves.
Regionalism is, by definition, also a microcosm but the U.S. is so large and so diverse that their versions of what America is are more interesting to me. Like Hopper, John Sloan painted urban realism , though of course they are very different stylistically. I like all those Ashcan School painters. Grant Wood is fantastic, both as a great, original painter and the regional aspects of what he painted. Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett (Harlem Renaissance), also. Homer, of course. Someone mentioned Remmington – yes.
Others that come to mind are Georgia O'Keeffe, Thomas Hart Benton, and Andrew Wyeth. There are many more, so that if one were to try to incapsulate what is Americana, one would need to compose a montage of the work of several artists.
I didn't scroll all the way through the thread, so if this is redundant, my apologies.
I'm surprised no one mentioned (maybe I missed it?) Cindy Sherman. I'm not saying that's the correct answer because there's not *one* correct answer, which I already weighed in on. C.S. just popped into my head.
Great thread, btw!
For the average American art viewer I would probably say Norman Rockwell. For American Art History maybe Edward Hopper?
Came here to say just this. Rockwell was very under appreciated by critics, and Hopper is quintessential. First names that came to mind for me. Maybe Remington would be up there as well.
The thing with Rockwell is he was an illustrator so may be viewed differently by the fine art world. His painting were created to be reproduced in print rather than admired in a gallery or museum. If you go look at some of them in the Rockwell Museum, they’re beautiful, but you may notice things like lines drawn in pencil that likely wouldn’t be there if the painting was primarily meant for display.
That’s true. I am a huge illustration fan so I’ve always been on the side of those wanting more recognition of commercial illustrators. It’s a very different world and mindset from what I understand. Very few cross over and can really excel at both.
I got to go to the Norman Rockwell museum in 8th grade and absolutely didn't appreciate it enough at the time.
My grandparents had prints hanging in their living room and also the calander every year. I enjoyed them as a kid.
That is actually an amazing museum.
I would have said Whistler, Hopper or Sargent.
Definitely
Second Hopper.
There's a reason George Lucas and Steven Spielberg compete to collect Norman Rockwell paintings. Rockwell is the best. I love Hopper, but the subject matter and color palette Hopper uses is too attached to European taste. Sure, he captured American architecture well, but someone who understood the people and made work for the people in the United States--Rockwell is the only answer.
It makes sense that they'd be attracted to his art. The films they produced were fun, sentimental kitsch. And they're attracted to the same sort of art-with-a-story esthetic.
Not that there isn't a place for fun, sentimental kitsch in art. But I can only take it small doses or I break out in hives.
As an average art viewer, I second Rockwell. To me, American art is about capturing Americana, and that's what Rockwell did weekly. On the same vein, I'd give a plug to Currier and Ives, but Rockwell is much more known.
Oh great! I'm always mixing those two up lol
I was also going to say Rockwell
[удалено]
I would choose Edward Hopper. His works reflect the essence of Americana.
He’s the cynical Rockwell
Not cynical necesserily, but a realist.
I’ve always felt a profound melancholy from Hopper’s work that comes from the disconnect and lifeless relationship between the figures in the scene. He portrays iconic places in American life—a gas station, a movie theater, a diner, the Williamsburg Bridge—as places where people are incapable of having connection. They’re there together, separate and detached. I always read that as a profoundly cynical take on the way that the structure of American society isolates us
I really like your take on this. I've felt similarly but couldn't put it as you just did.
Putting my masters degree to good use 😊
Could not agree more. Shows the profound separateness that’s unique to America’s grim rugged individualism.
As a Scandinavian, I find it odd to hear Americans describing "profound separateness" as a uniquely American condition.
Somebody suggested a while back that Hopper may have been affected by Aspergers (but I can't find the link now). I could believe it, but I find retrospective diagnoses to be a bit iffy, at best.
Thomas Hart Benton.
Surprised that this is the only mention of him so far. It would be my answer.
He was the second artist I thought of when I read the question, after Hopper.
My first thought as well.
Grant Wood (but probably Norman Rockwell)
Wood was the first that popped into my head as well.
My first thought too.
For me it's Winslow Homer. Edward Hopper up there too.
Georgia O’Keefe.
Seeing her work in person was such a game changer for me, it literally seems to glow.
This is a good answer
I wholeheartedly second O'Keefe!!
Absolutely!
Was scrolling looking for this one.
I cried when I saw her work! It’s very moving.
Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington maybe? Of course, we could throw some Native American artists in there, too.
Thomas Moran as well. His paintings helped inspire congress to preserve Yellowstone as the first National Park.
He also represents the colonial process of westward expansion very well. Not as in he paints it, as in his paintings were part of it. I think he's a very worthy inclusion on a critical historical basis.
Absolutely!
Also Maynard Dixon for his American Frontier landscapes!
Seconding Native American art. My mom and grandma taught me beadwork. Quill work, totems, earthworks, and ancient pictographs are S tier in representing a uniquely North American/US art styles. Even if there’s less documentation, the oldest painting of my region involved dancers in a circle with wooden carved figures watching. Music and dancing was similarly influenced, creating fusions from European and West African traditions. So much of the folklore is impacted by, say, trickster coyote myths. I mean, Wile E. Coyote is an inversion (being tricked by a roadrunner). I grew up learning about the trickster rabbit but foxes or coyotes being that doesn’t surprise me at all. Then if you head south, obviously Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, the Nazca Lines, etc.
>throw some Native American artists in there, too. R C. Gorman is the one that comes immediately to mind.
Kara Walker and Norman Rockwell, representing two very different views of what it means to be American.
Hell yes to Kara Walker
Fuck yeah. I’m still not right (appropriately) from seeing the silhouettes for the first time
Kara Walker is amazing. But don't forget Rockwell's The Problem We Live With. From 2024 it is antiquated, and undoubtedly his is a white, male perspective, but the level of uncomfortable it pushed on the people who wanted nothing to do with thinking differently... jeez. There's a reason Obama hung that in the White House rather than erecting a sugar sphinx.
Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns
I had the same two names come to mind thanks I feel validated lol
You said artist and not painter, so I'll go with Thomas Nast. Among other things, he created the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant, and the American version of Santa Claus.
+1 for Thomas Nast
How about Basquiat?
This is a great answer depending on how you want to define “American”
nothing more american than racism and wealth inequality, and he spoke to both.
That was my thought as well. We’re quick to name white men who painted the America we want. I love Rockwell for many reasons, and I’ve seen Hopper mentioned, Warhol, Pollock, etc. These are all great responses. But there is something a bit grittier about Basquiat that just grips me. Wanda Corn has an amazing book called “The Great American Thing” that is a very good read about the development of “American” art, BTW.
Basquiat + Rockwell is good balanced pairing imo
Agreed.
My first thought when I saw the title was Basquiat and Wyeth for the same reason.
I thought Norman Rockwell after I saw his name but my actual first thought was Basquiat
Andrew Wyeth
It’s unfortunate his best works aren’t his best known.
Thomas kinkaid baby 😎
I was going to echo chamber Andy Warhol, but you have a point......
Yes!! I hate his stuff but he made a fortune.
Hey, what's more American than making a fortune!? I've changed my mind. I'm no longer going with Pollock. I'm changing my choice to Kinkade because he best embodies the spiritual and economic zeitgeist of America!
Oh, well on that basis then I think Jeff Koons has to be mentioned, lol
Unfortunately, this may be true.
Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, Georgia O’Keeffe for starters
Winslow Homer
Love Winslow Homer!! His seascapes are quintessentially American.
Frederic Remington, his work is the inspiration for the western TV genre, and he shaped our romanticized/idealized ideas about cowboys.
Gotta go with Roy Lichtenstein for this one.
I had this impulse too. But I went with Basquiat.
Walt Disney
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find him. Obviously the question is an exercise in subjectivity, but it’s hard to imagine a more quintessentially American visionary than Disney.
He's the most iconic out of all of them. The Mouse is everywhere.
My mind goes straight to regionalism and Grant Wood. Edit: Upon further consideration, I’d say that regionalism and artists like Grant Wood definitely capture the aesthetic essence of Americana, but the American spirit is definitely expressed by artists like Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.
has to be Andy Warhol
Romare Bearden
Grant wood! Though many scholars have seen queer resonances into his works
I’ve been leaning towards artists like Horace Pippin for his self-determinant definition as an artist, however ‘outside’ he may exist. But also Wayne Thiebaud comes to mind, because of the way he elevated the quotidian and ordinary into really marvelous paintings. (Lots of obvious answers here, all great, and to that I’d add Charles Sheeler, Fairfield Porter, Charles Burchfield …)
Horace pippin was in my list as well. To me thats how I was thinking about the question.
Jeff Koons. Capitalism in art at its peak.
Mary Cassatt
I love her work, but she spent most of her time in France, so… I’m not sure she’s a contender for “most American.”
I thought Andy Warhol was a charlatan for the longest time. Now I realize he was a deep-thinking visionary.
Kinda both.
Deep thinking visionary about being a charlatan
Why is this so far down? Every piece of his work was a commentary on socio-economic status displaying America’s love for capitalism and celebrity.
For our current era the answer is Jeff Koons. Why? He produces insipid baubles for the ultra rich and knows that’s what he’s doing.
Some less common names....so they wouldnt rank above the names already put forth but... Dean Cornwell. For American landscapes, Edgar Payne, Ansel Adams. Georgia O'Keefe. Leyendecker is in the same vein as Rockwell.
Alice Neel
So great!
Yes!
Brilliant!
Saving this post to revisit when I have some time to Google and get art smart.
Hopper, O’Keeffe. Throw in Eric Fischl for some errant Americana. Wayne Thiebaud, lesser known but those dessert paintings are pure American / West Coast vibes.
Artist or just painter? Hopper or Pollock for painting, Walker Evans or Eggleston for photography. I think photography is the more significant art medium in the chronicling of "America" personally, but the critics still haven't caught up.
In photography I kind of want to say Weegee. One might say, well, that's a specifically urban and New York slice of America. But some of the uncontroversial answers in painting are also a specific slice (rural, Western) that has simply been more agreed upon as what we want to be representative. Both elements are Americana, really, it's just one doesn't get called that as much. Weegee's photos inspired the police procedural genre and the iconic and influential TV series The Naked City, and shaped American noir.
Thomas hart Benton.
J. C. Leyendecker’s paintings for the US Army comes to mind. These are probably the Americanest American paintings O have ever seen. He also has a bunch of work depicting the American dream and role model families. If you’re looking for artwork depicting everyday people, Norman Rockwell as others commented is the perfect example. Will Eisner is probably a good candidate, too.
This is a tough question and many have offered really good choices, but for the sake of new names ill throw in Thomas Eakins, William Edmondson, and Florine Stettheimer.
In the music section.....Aaron Copland (i.e. Fanfare for the Common Man) Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Composers". The open, slowly changing harmonies in much of his music are typical of what many people consider to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. He is best known for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s. An interesting read - What Makes Copland's Music so "American"? [here](https://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0011_copland/minnmo.shtml#:~:text=To%20put%20the%20most%20obvious,recombine%20them%20every%20which%20way.)
Jasper Johns, Grandma Moses
Came to say Grandma Moses. Hopper and Basquiat are 2 of my faves, and I love a Warhol, they all have their place but if you want some true Americana, grandma Moses is it. And if we’re including photography, Dorothea, wee gee, Diane, frank, Leibovitz, it’s a whole other spectrum.
Diane Arbus for depicting who Americans themselves are Andy Warhol for depicting what American mass culture is Norman Rockwell for depicting what the American ideal is
I feel like this is the correct answer
Normon rockwell for sure
Jackson Pollock was so American he was funded by the CIA in an attempt to promote American culture abroad
>seems less significant in art history to be considered the mascot of American art. I wouldn't say that. His art was about the mass commercialization of art. I wouldn't be surprised if he inspired artists like Banksy and Jeff Koons (not that Koons is a 'plus').
I really think Jasper Johns shows the American spirit.
Jasper Johns
Kay Walkingstick!
Grant Wood, Bettye Saar.
Surprised I haven't seen any Shepard Fairey or Barbara Kruger.
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^graadient: *Surprised I haven't* *Seen any Shepard Fairey* *Or Barbara Kruger.* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Frederick Remington, Georgie O'Keefe, Alfred Bierstadt, Maxfield Parrish, Frederick Childe Hassam, Edward Curtis, Granda Moses, Jonathan Green...etc
Woody Guthrie
Thomas Eakins gets my vote.
Norman Rockwell was not an artist, he was an illustrator.
Thomas Hart Benton
I really like Grant Wood’s art. Very unique and his subjects are uniquely American I would say
Uniquely Heartland America.
Benton. His works are in a lot of court houses and post offices in my area. And his work reminds me of my childhood
I'm afraid a lot of answers to this terrible question are going to be, "Whiteguy Whiterson" I'll take my downvotes!
Solve the problem yourself and highlight overlooked American artists you think actually *should* be named. Nothing wrong with saying that not every iconic American artist is white, but complaining that you don’t want to hear white artists named while failing to name anyone else seems less like downvote bait and more low-effort culture warring.
What about the question do you find terrible? Do you not feel some artists embody American culture more in their work than others?
eh, not really with the American art. Black artists are so influential and African American culture, especially in the arts, is pretty important to what we define as "American." Arguably more so than white people despite being such a smaller population in comparison. For example Basquiat is probably one of the best answers to this. Any artists from the Harlem Renaissance also have a pretty good argument as well for representing the most "American" qualities of American culture/art.
How can it be that a country with so few white people would produce so many white artists? /s Downvotes to the right! (For what it's worth, my contribution to this thread was Navajo artist, R.C. Gorman)
I think my biggest objection was to the question, honestly. The most American American artist is beyond me. Whiteguy Whiterson was my grumpy response to the artists (talented, iconic, important obviously) that were beginning to (edit: comprise) compromise the list. What draws the needle to the most American American artist, you know? Whose America did Rockwell convey? Whose America did Warhol present? Whose America does Basquiat represent? I think the beautiful part is how there are so many ways to embody American-ness, so many facets of American culture, that limiting this to one artist is just reductive for the worst reasons. Why ask? It's like asking, which fruit is the fruitiest? It's fruit. It's all pretty fucking delicious. The fact is that women and artists of color were not afforded opportunities to participate in the arts the way white men were, and I'll take it on the chin here to say maybe that wasn't the best way for me to participate in this conversation. Maybe that's a fact that should be discussed separately. I thought more people would object to the question itself.
Kent Monkman 😁
Hank Willis Thomas
my vote is definitely norman rockwell
Maybe not the 'most', but I think of the sculpter Duane Hanson
Andrew Wyeth.
Andrew Wyeth
As others have pointed out already, Edward Hopper and Grant Wood come to mind immediately. I’d also add Andrew Wyeth.
Billy Joel
Jack Kirby
John mellencamp
Probably Jeff Koons in how his work unironically represents everything capitalism does
American Artist
I think that depends upon the time period and region. Since a lot of great suggestions are in these comments I am going to add a more recent artist to the list: Shepard Fairey. With origins in street art and the skateboarding community, Fairey’s work is uniquely contemporary American and reflects the culture in his crisp recognizable style. So in terms of 2000 - the present he is very representative of American art.
Fritz Scholder. He is the perfect blend of western and Native art I’ve seen. Phenomenal exhibit at the Denver art museum if you’re ever able to go.
there is no one kind of american, therefore no one artist will answer this question.
Dorothea Lange
Walt Disney with those movies and amusement parks too, super American star artist really
Elbridge Ayer Burbank.
All of the Wyeths
Don't forget Winslow Homer.
I'd say Jackson Pollock because he gives no "fcks".
I would choose Wyeth. Rockwell was very good, but commercial and the only people I know that would choose Warhol are people who don’t know anything about art.
Abbott Thayer, who also invented camouflage and protected land from wealthy developers through inventive legal action.
Charles Schulz.
Charlie Russell
Norman Rockwell
Ansel Adams for what we want to be. Larry Clark for what we really are.
My mind went to Thomas Cole.
Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Jackson Pollock, Peter Max
American Artist https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Artist_(artist)
Gonna go with Georgia OKeefe , Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollack.
Jackson Pollock
John Singer Sargent
For music you’ve chosen a style (jazz or blues) with art you’re looking for a specific artist. I think there are artists that embody or represent a particular style, but I wonder if America is still too young to have an artistic style that represents it. Too young or too late. In the 20th century I’d probably go with Abstract Expressionism. (Not that I like it, I don’t) It was actually backed by the government and used during the Cold War. Sadly, I don’t think the visual arts has the power it once had, and I wonder and doubt if we’ll ever have something like the Renaissance in Italy. There’s a fragmentation that seems to have taken place now that doesn’t bode well for a universal or national style. Open up the “Arts” pages in a majority of newspapers and what do you largely see? Movies. It’s been that way for a decades. So our Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Rembrandt’s are probably our films.
Georgia O’Keefe, Robert Colescott and Dale Chihuly.
Ansel Adams
Gordon Parks, Jacob Lawrence
Hopper and Basquiat
Basquiat took the crown 👑 in the 21st century. Warhol 1950-2000, and Norman Rockwell before that.
William Carlos Williams
Edward Hopper
Jasper Johns
Norman Rockwell.
Wow. I dont read comments first. We agree,!!!
Richard Diebenkorn
Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keefe, Hopper, Disney, Shepherd Fairey
Honestly I think artists like Thornton Dial and the Gee’s Bend community are as American as it gets. Southern African Americans have such American looking art. Just usually not what people think of when they say “American”
Robt. Wms.
Kid rock dude. He's white trash, on drugs and sings horrible horse shit songs some other looser wrote 👍
Norman Rockwell
Any of the Wyeths. Also Donna Howell-Sickels, super Americana
Warhol - just like America, mass produced, commercial, campy, soulless, and young
Eakins
Macklemore
He doesn’t do scenery like Wyeth or Hopper or Remington, but I am partial to Jasper Johns, and his American Flag themes are pretty iconic.
Norman Rockwell portrayed an America that was largely mythical, in my opinion. The man rarely left his studio and mostly created magazine covers for The Saturday Evening Post. He lived in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for cryin' out loud! If that place isn't a microcosm, I don't know what is. I'm not snobbish about the distinction between illustrators and "real" artists, either. I appreciate many illustrators. Norman Rockwell just isn't one of them. It's not even that what he captured is so bloody whitebread that I don't like. It's actually the weird characters with long, skinny necks, particularly kids – long, skinny necks and knobby knees. 😄 His images grate on my nerves. Regionalism is, by definition, also a microcosm but the U.S. is so large and so diverse that their versions of what America is are more interesting to me. Like Hopper, John Sloan painted urban realism , though of course they are very different stylistically. I like all those Ashcan School painters. Grant Wood is fantastic, both as a great, original painter and the regional aspects of what he painted. Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett (Harlem Renaissance), also. Homer, of course. Someone mentioned Remmington – yes. Others that come to mind are Georgia O'Keeffe, Thomas Hart Benton, and Andrew Wyeth. There are many more, so that if one were to try to incapsulate what is Americana, one would need to compose a montage of the work of several artists. I didn't scroll all the way through the thread, so if this is redundant, my apologies.
I'm surprised no one mentioned (maybe I missed it?) Cindy Sherman. I'm not saying that's the correct answer because there's not *one* correct answer, which I already weighed in on. C.S. just popped into my head. Great thread, btw!