The White House is home to more than 200 pieces of fine art including portraits, landscapes, and historical scenes. We thought you’d like to meet ten of the artists whose works decorate the walls of the most famous house in America.
1. ALBERT BIERSTADT
1830 – 1902
Bierstadt was a German-American painter who was best known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. He often journeyed out West to capture the images and people in that region during the 19th century.
2. PAUL CEZANNE
1839 -1906
Cezanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter who is best known for his creative work that laid the groundwork for modern art. His landscapes, still lifes, and portraits are still quite popular.
3. WILLIAM MICHAEL HARNETT
1848 -1892
Harnett was an Irish-American painter who practiced a style of realistic painting that was called “fool the eye.” His painting is so clear and precise that the objects in his still lifes can be mistaken for the real thing.
4. GEORGE P. A. HEALY
1813 – 1894
An American painter, Healy was born in Boston and studied in Paris and Rome. He is best known for his portraits of prominent American Colonists and presidents of the US. His presidential portrait of Abraham Lincoln is displayed in the White House and is one of his most sought-after works.
5. JAMES PEALE
1749 -1831
Peale was an American painter, best known for his miniature and still life paintings. He served in the Continental Army and fought in several famous battles. His painting “Grapes and Apples” hangs in the White House.
6. REMBRANDT PEALE
1778 – 1860
Rembrandt Peale, James Peale’s nephew, was a 19th century American artist who is famous for his political portraits, especially those of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. During his lifetime, he completed over 600 paintings.
7. FREDERIC REMINGTON
1861 – 1909
Remington was an American painter and sculptor who specialized in illustrating real people and images of the American West in the last part of the 19th Century. His paintings and sculptures are very popular with collectors today.
8. CHARLES M. RUSSELL
1864 – 1926
Russell was known as “the cowboy artist” because his favorite subject was the American West. During his lifetime he created more than 2000 paintings of cowboys and Indians and the western landscape.
9. GILBERT STUART
This American painter is best known for his wonderful portraits — especially of President George Washington. During his lifetime, he painted portraits of more than 1000 people, including the first six Presidents of the US.
10. JAMES WHISTLER
1834 -1903
Whistler was an American-born artist whose painting style was delicate, but whose personality was said to be the opposite. He is most famous for his portrait of his aging mother, appropriately titled “Whistler’s Mother.”
