Impressionism, born in France in the 1870s, literally changed the way the world sees light, color, and everyday life. In just a few years, a small group of rebellious painters revolutionized the history of art… and continues today to attract millions of visitors to museums around the world.
But who are really the most famous? Who is universally recognized, from the general public to auction houses?
Here, in November 2025, is the definitive and updated ranking of the 100 most well-known Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, from the must-see monument (unbeaten for 150 years) to the magnificent talents that only enthusiasts place among their favorites.
From Claude Monet to Elizabeth Nourse, including the American, Scandinavian, Russian, or South American stars who carried the Impressionist flame far beyond Paris: get ready to rediscover the masters of light… and perhaps discover a few you didn’t know yet.
1- Claude Monet (1840–1926)
2- Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
3- Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
4- Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) (post-impressionist but often associated)
Visionary post-impressionist, he transformed color into emotional language, leaving works of overwhelming intensity.
5- Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) (post-impressionist)
6- Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)
7- Édouard Manet (1832–1883) (pre-impressionist but a pillar)
8- Henri Matisse (1869–1954) (fauvism, but often cited in the lineage)
Leader of Fauvism, he made color a liberated and joyful space, creating vibrant scenes of harmony and luminous simplicity.
9- Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) (post-impressionist)
10- Georges Seurat (1859–1891) (pointillism)
Inventor of pointillism, he organized color into methodical dots to create works that are both scientific and poetic.
11- Alfred Sisley (1839–1899)
12- Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)
13- Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894)
Observer of urban modernity, he blended precise realism and impressionist sensitivity in his Parisian scenes.
14- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) (post-impressionist)
15- Paul Signac (1863–1935)
16- Childe Hassam (1859–1935) (American Impressionism)
A major figure of American Impressionism, he painted cities and shores with vibrant and atmospheric light.
17- John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)
18- Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) (Spanish Impressionism)
19- Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870)
20- Armand Guillaumin (1841–1927)
21- Eva Gonzalès (1849–1883)
Student of Manet, she developed a subtle and luminous painting focused on modern life and the female figure.
22- Maximilien Luce (1858–1941)
23- James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
24- Théodore Robinson (1852–1896) (American)
25- Willard Metcalf (1858–1925)
26- Edmund Tarbell (1862–1938)
27- Frank Benson (1862–1951)
28- Maurice Prendergast (1858–1924)
29- Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910)
30- Gustave Loiseau (1865–1935)
Painter of French landscapes, he developed a touch with vibrant hatching in service of the changing light.
31- Henri Le Sidaner (1862–1939)
33- Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874–1939) (American in France)
Member of Giverny, he exploited the interplay of shadow and sunlight in bright and sensual interiors.
34- Richard E. Miller (1875–1943)
35- Blanche Hoschedé-Monet (1865–1947)
36- Lilla Cabot Perry (1848–1933)
37- Marie Bracquemond (1840–1916)
One of the "three great Impressionist women," she developed a free and colorful touch imbued with poetry.
38- Federico Zandomeneghi (1841–1917)
39- Giuseppe De Nittis (1846–1884)
40- Stanislas Lépine (1835–1892)
41- Norbert Goeneutte (1854–1894)
Parisian painter close to the Impressionists, he depicted streets, cafés, and urban elegance with freshness and sensitivity.
42- Jean-Louis Forain (1852–1931)
43- Henry Moret (1856–1913)
Landscape painter from Brittany, he fused Impressionism and Symbolism in luminous and powerful seascapes.
44- Maxime Maufra (1861–1918)
45- Henri Martin (1860–1943)
46- Émile Bernard (1868–1941)
Innovator of synthesis, he collaborated with Gauguin and Van Gogh, simplifying shapes and colors in a symbolist spirit.
47- Charles Conder (1868–1909)
Anglo-Australian artist, he painted poetic and elegant scenes inspired by the fin-de-siècle imagination.
48- Theo van Rysselberghe (1862–1926)
49- Georges Lemmen (1865–1916)
50- Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898)
51- Anna Boch (1848–1936)
52- Dario de Regoyos (1857–1913)
53- Isaac Israëls (1865–1934)
54- William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)
55- Julian Onderdonk (1882–1922)
Texas landscape painter nicknamed "the Monet of Texas," he made famous the fields of bluebonnets and the lights of the South.
56- Robert Reid (1862–1929)
57- Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937)
Painter of the great American cities, he magnified skyscrapers and architectures in impressionist lights.
58- Eugène Boudin (1824–1898)
An essential precursor of Impressionism, he painted skies, beaches, and seascapes with remarkable atmospheric finesse, paving the way for Monet and plein air painting.
59- Guy Rose (1867–1925)
60- Henri Rouart (1833–1912)
61- Théodore Rousseau (1812–1867)
Leader of the Barbizon School, he painted the forest and the great trees with lyrical intensity, sensitive to the wild silence, the filtered light, and the deep soul of the landscape.
62- William Wendt (1865–1946)
63- Peder Severin Krøyer (1851–1909)
Major painter of Skagen, he captures the northern light and seaside life in vibrant scenes.
64- Anna Ancher (1859–1935)
65- Michael Ancher (1849–1927)
Painter of the fishermen of Skagen, he immortalized maritime life with strength, realism, and atmospheric intensity.
66- Lucien Pissarro (1863–1944)
Son of Camille Pissarro, he blended Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in bright and delicate landscapes, marked by a divided brushstroke and a poetic sensitivity inherited from his father.
67- Viggo Johansen (1851–1935)
Member of the Skagen painters, he depicted interiors and family gatherings bathed in a soft and intimate light.
68- Philip Wilson Steer (1860–1942)
Leader of British Impressionism, he painted beaches, landscapes, and intimate scenes with a clear, vibrant, and delicately atmospheric touch.
69- Helen McNicoll (1879–1915)
70- Maurice Cullen (1866–1934)
71- Lawren Harris (1885–1970)
Before the Group of Seven, he explored a refined landscape, leaning towards a luminous and geometric mysticism.
72- Joaquín Clausell (1866–1935)
73- Saturnino Herrán (1887–1918)
Painter of identity and modernity, he fused Impressionism and Symbolism to magnify Mexican culture.
74- Anders Zorn (1860–1920)
75- Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939)
Painter of the northern fauna, he captures nature with a nervous realism and a dramatic sense of movement.
76- Ernest Lawson (1873–1939)
77- Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939)
78- Valentin Serov (1865–1911)
79- Isaac Levitan (1860–1900)
80- Philip de László (1869–1937)
81- John Lavery (1856–1941)
82- Lovis Corinth (1858–1925)
Between Impressionism and Expressionism, he painted with strength, dense material, and vibrant emotion.
83- Max Liebermann (1847–1935)
A major figure of German Impressionism, he represented the outdoors, work, and modern life with clear sobriety.
84- Max Slevogt (1868–1932)
85- Lesser Ury (1861–1931)
86- Dora Hitz (1856–1924)
Artist of the Berlin movement, she created portraits and meditative scenes with intimate and subtle tones.
87- Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907)
A major figure of Polish modernism, painter, playwright, and decorator, he created portraits and stained glass with expressive and symbolic strength, uniting art, theater, and spiritual renewal.
88- Giovanni Boldini (1842–1931)
Virtuoso of worldly elegance, he painted slender, sparkling portraits animated by a feline movement.
89- Federico Beltrán Masses (1885–1949)
Painter of nocturnal atmospheres, he blended sensuality, mystery, and deep chromaticism.
90- Eliseu Visconti (1866–1944)
91- Arturo Michelena (1863–1898)
92- Cecilia Beaux (1855–1942)
93- Elizabeth Nourse (1859–1938)
Painter of women, mothers, and workers, she used a sensitive, intimate, and humanist impressionism.
94- Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850–1924)
95- Henri Lebasque (1865–1937)
Nicknamed "the painter of joy of living," he painted familiar scenes and bright interiors where sweetness, color, and intimacy blend into a serene impressionism.
96- Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918)
A major figure in Swiss art, he developed a monumental and rhythmic style, blending symbolism, simplification of forms, and landscapes infused with majestic spirituality.
97- Albert Lebourg (1849–1928)
Impressionist landscaper, he excelled in the atmospheric capture of shores and skies, favoring soft and diffuse harmonies where light dominates form.
98- Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947)
Member of the Nabis, he developed an intimate, vibrant, and colorful painting, playing on memory, diffuse light, and the tactile harmony of surfaces.
99- Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940)
Member of the Nabis, he cultivated an intimate and muted painting, made of decorative patterns, enclosed interiors, and softened colors where the figure blends into the space.
100- Alfred Maurer (1868–1932)
Initially a portraitist sensitive to Impressionist nuances, he evolved towards a bold modernism, close to Fauvism, exploring pure color and formal simplifications.