Rulers of Art

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood. This ruler is a list of Great Painters. This doesn’t mean that we think painters are the only great artists. Maybe someday we’ll make a Rulers of Art - Great Sculptors or a Rulers of Art - Performance Artists. Painting has evolved tremendously over the centuries. In the Western world, most painting before the Renaissance was of religious subjects. In the Renaissance, Italian painters discovered (or re-discovered) perspective, creating a whole new painted world. Before the discovery of photography, portraiture was the way to visually capture a realistic image of a person. After that, painters were free to abandon realism and create abstract visions of what they perceived. We have tried to round out our list of Great Painters with important artists from all periods and from multiple regions around the world. The dates listed are the years of each painter’s birth and death, if known. We have furthermore identified each one with t