45 Painters from Virginia

Marietta Fauntleroy Minnigerode Andrews was an American painter and designer.

Henry Benbridge was an early American portrait painter. He was born in Philadelphia, the only child of James and Mary (Clark) Benbridge. When he was seven years old, his mother, who had been left a widow, was married to Thomas Gordon, a wealthy Scot. The boy's artistic talent was encouraged. He made decorative designs for his stepfather's drawing-room which were much admired. When he was fourteen years old he may have watched John Wollaston paint Gordon's portrait. It has been plausibly argued that young Benbridge had instruction from Wollaston, since his earliest known portrait, that of his half-sister Rebecca Gordon, "seems to hark back to Wollaston." When he was 21, Benbridge was sent to Italy, where he studied with Pompeo Batoni and Anton Raphael Mengs. In 1769, on commission from James Boswell, biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson, he made a portrait of Pasquale Paoli in Corsica which he took to London. It was exhibited (1769) at the Free Society of Artists, and from it three mezzotints were scraped and published with the artist's name signed "Bembridge." Like other young Americans he was encouraged by Benjamin West. He wrote, on December 7, 1769, to his stepfather: "Upon my arrival I waited upon Mr. West who received me with a sort of brotherly affection, as did my cousin, Mrs. West." Impelled, apparently, by a longing to rejoin his family, he left England in 1770, bearing from West the following note of recommendation to Francis Hopkinson: "By Mr. Benbridge you will receive these few lines. You will find him an Ingenous artist and an agreeable Companion. His merit in the art must procure him great incouragement and much esteem. I deare say it will give you great pleasure to have an ingenous artist resident amongst you."

Trudy Benson is an abstract painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

George Caleb Bingham was an American artist, soldier and politician known in his lifetime as "the Missouri Artist". Initially a Whig, he was elected as a delegate to the Missouri legislature before the American Civil War where he fought the extension of slavery westward. During that war, although born in Virginia, Bingham was dedicated to the Union cause and became captain of a volunteer company which helped keep the state from joining the Confederacy, and then served four years as Missouri's Treasurer. During his final years, Bingham held several offices in Kansas City, while also serving as Missouri's Adjutant General. His paintings of American frontier life along the Missouri River exemplify the Luminist style.

Nell Blair Walden Blaine was an American landscape painter, expressionist, and watercolorist.

Richard Norris Brooke was an American painter known especially for his genre scenes depicting African-American subjects. He has been described as "first among several artists who brought a national distinction to the Washington art community, and who were instrumental in making it more professional through the establishment of schools, clubs, and exhibitions."

Patrick Henry Bruce was an American cubist painter.

John Gadsby Chapman was an American artist famous for Baptism of Pocahontas, which was commissioned by the United States Congress and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda.

Eldzier Cortor was an African-American artist and printmaker. His work typically features elongated nude figures in intimate settings, influenced by both traditional African art and European surrealism. Cortor is known for his style of realism that makes accurate depictions of poor, Black living conditions look fantastic as he distorts perspective.

Ralph Wolfe Cowan was an American portrait artist. He painted more reigning monarchs and heads of state than any artist in history.

Catharine Carter Critcher was an American painter. A native of Westmoreland County, Virginia, she worked in Paris and Washington, D.C. before becoming, in 1924, a member of the Taos Society of Artists, the only woman ever elected to that body.

William Dering was an American dancing master and painter active primarily in Virginia. Very little is known about his life or career; what few details have been established are known primarily from newspaper advertisements, court records, journal entries, and ledgers and from his few surviving paintings.

Walter Howell Deverell (1827–1854) was a United States-born British artist, closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

William de Leftwich Dodge (1867–1935) was an American artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings.

John Durand was a colonial American portraitist. With John Mare, Abraham Delanoy, and Lawrence Kilburn, he was one of a number of portraitists living and working in New York City during the 1760s.

Judith Godwin is an American abstract painter, associated with the Expressionist movement.

Virginia Granbery (1831–1921) was an American painter.

Robert Gwathmey was an American social realist painter. His wife was photographer Rosalie Gwathmey(September 15, 1908 – February 12, 2001) and his son was architect Charles Gwathmey.

Palmer C. Hayden was an American painter who depicted African-American life, landscapes, seascapes, and African influences. He sketched, painted in both oils and watercolors, and was a prolific artist of his era.

Eleanora Clare Gibson Houston was an American painter, women's rights advocate, and suffragist. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Houston studied art at an early age, traveling to New York and abroad, before returning to Richmond to teach and open a studio with Adele Goodman Clark. She was an active participant in the women's suffrage movement in Virginia.

William James Hubard (1807–1862) was British-born artist who worked in England and the United States in the 19th century. He specialized in silhouette and painted portraits.

William Henry Huddle (1847–1892) was an American painter famous for his portrait of Davy Crockett that hangs in the Texas State Capitol and his depiction of the surrender of Antonio López de Santa Anna. The Texas State Legislature commissioned Huddle to paint official portraits of the state's chief executives.

Mitchell Jamieson was an American painter.

Frederick Kemmelmeyer was a German-born American painter. He was entirely self-taught and his work is generally classified as folk art.

Christine Herter Kendall was an American painter.

William Sergeant Kendall, was an American painter, most famous for his evocative scenes of domestic life; his wife and three young daughters were frequent subjects in his early work.

Bessie Niemeyer Marshall was an American botanical illustrator known for her watercolor paintings of the wildflowers of Lee Memorial Park. Her artwork documented the variety of plant species being preserved in Lee Memorial Park, a Works Progress Administration-funded wildflower and bird sanctuary in Petersburg, Virginia.

Ryan Joseph McGinness is an American artist, living and working in Manhattan, New York. Known for his original extensive vocabulary of graphic drawings which use the visual language of public signage, corporate logos, and contemporary iconography, McGinness creates paintings, sculptures, and environments. McGinness is interested in assuming the power of this anonymous aesthetic in order to share personal expressions. His work is in the permanent public collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Cincinnati Art Museum, MUSAC in Spain, and the Misumi Collection in Japan.

Corinne Lawton Mackall Melchers was an American painter, humanitarian, and gardener. She was the wife of painter Gari Melchers and maintained their Belmont estate after his death. As a gardener and rosarian, Melchers was an early supporter of the Historic Garden Week and heavily involved with the restoration of the grounds of the Kenmore plantation. She led humanitarian efforts during World War I and World War II. Melchers initiated the creation of the Stafford County Health Association and the hiring of the first Stafford County nurse. Melchers helped establish the Mary Washington Hospital and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She served on the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Julius Garibaldi Melchers was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Patricia (Pat) Buckley Moss, also known as P. Buckley Moss, is an American artist. She was born on May 20, 1933, in Richmond County of New York City. Raised on Staten Island, she was the second of three children of an Irish American-Sicilian marriage.

Jerome Myers was an American artist and writer associated with the Ashcan School, particularly known for his sympathetic depictions of the urban landscape and its people. He was one of the main organizers of the 1913 Armory Show, which introduced European modernism to America.

Bernard Perlin was an American painter. He is primarily known for creating pro-war art during World War II and magic realism paintings of urban American life.

Hubert G. Phipps is an American sculptor and painter who divides his time between Middleburg, Virginia and New York City. Known for his paint pigment drawings and abstract sculptures, Phipps experiments with various forms and materials, including steel, bronze, wood, composites, plaster, glass, and marble. He was also a racecar driver and is a member of the Phipps family.

Lucien Whiting Powell (1846–1930) was a renowned landscape painter who gave the village of Airmont, Virginia its name for its scenic westward views. Powell, himself, could be considered a native of Airmont, having been born a few miles southeast, near Upperville, Virginia.

Ellen Isham Schutt (1873–1955) was an early 20th-century American botanical illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her work now forms part of the USDA National Agricultural Library's Pomological Watercolor Collection.

Ada Jessamine Shumate was an American artist, historian and cartographer, winner of the "Award of Distinction" in 1955 from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Arthur Hall Smith was an American painter.

Louise Jordan Smith was an American painter and academic.

Queena Stovall was an American folk artist. Sometimes called "The Grandma Moses of Virginia," she is famous for depicting everyday events in the lives of both white and black families in rural settings.

Robert Matthew Sully was an American portrait painter who worked mostly in Virginia. He is best remembered for his depictions of Native Americans. The famous English-born artist, Thomas Sully, was his uncle.

Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

William Dickinson Washington was an American painter and teacher of art. He is most famous for his painting The Burial of Latané, which became a symbol of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy in the years following the American Civil War, and for the work he did in establishing the fine arts program of the Virginia Military Institute.

Verner Moore White, born Thomas Verner Moore White but informally known as Verner White, was an American landscape and portrait painter. White painted works for many of the business and political leaders of his time including commissions for three United States Presidents.

Adele Williams was an American artist who was one of the earliest Impressionist painters in Virginia.