A way into art

Art is enormous.
Start here.

Discover artists through carefully chosen works and clear, independent perspectives.

Browse artists How the guide works

246 artists1186 worksNo ranking

The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

J.M.W. TurnerThe Fighting Temeraire, 1839

Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da VinciMona Lisa, c. 1503-1519

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van GoghThe Starry Night, 1889

Behind the Red Moon by El Anatsui

El AnatsuiBehind the Red Moon, 2023

Mural by Jackson Pollock

Jackson PollockMural, 1943

King and Queen by Henry Moore

Henry MooreKing and Queen, 1952–53

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo

Frida KahloSelf-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940

Bloodline: Big Family – Family No. 1 by Zhang Xiaogang

Zhang XiaogangBloodline: Big Family – Family No. 1, 1993

The Canon

Different reasons to look.

Artists whose work has shaped how we see, think and make art.

01The GiantsFoundational artists whose breakthroughs changed the course of art.02The EssentialsCore reference points for understanding major traditions and movements.03The InfluencersArtists whose methods and ideas shaped the work of later generations.04The OverlookedArtists whose achievements deserve more recognition than they have received.05The Cult FiguresArtists with distinctive worlds and especially devoted followings.06The Market MakersArtists who helped shape collecting, demand and the business of contemporary art.

The Contemporary Field

Work worth following.

Established voices, distinctive discoveries and artists we’re following as their work develops.

01The EstablishedArtists with sustained achievement and a substantial critical or institutional record.02The DiscoveriesArtists whose existing work gives us strong reasons to look closely, while their wider reputation is still developing.03The WatchlistEleven artists we are following, with room to revise our view as their work develops.

Exhibitions worth seeing

Art to see.

Explore by city →

New YorkConfirm dates with venue

In the conversation

Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony

New Museum

25 Sept 2026 — 4 Jan 2027

Why go Jafa brings film, photographs, sculpture and found images together like an unstable visual album. Beauty, Black creativity, violence and American memory collide across the first full US museum survey of his work.

Plan your visit →

MilanOn now

A discovery

Aki Sasamoto: XYZ

Pirelli HangarBicocca

17 Sept 2026 — 17 Jan 2027

Why go Ordinary objects become experiments in habits, chance and human relationships. Sasamoto’s moving sculptures and performances give abstract ideas a physical life, often with an unexpectedly comic edge.

Plan your visit →

ParisOn now

Must see

Kerry James Marshall: The Histories

Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

18 Sept 2026 — 24 Jan 2027

Why go Marshall puts Black lives at the centre of ambitious history painting. Moving between everyday scenes and the public record, the exhibition asks who gets pictured, remembered and made monumental.

Plan your visit →

Major shows, independent spaces and discoveries worth your time. How we choose

The World

Different centres of gravity.

Explore artists through the places they come from, work in and return to.

01South KoreaIn this selection, Korean artists use painting, moving images and built space to examine both private experience and public life.02IndonesiaPuppetry, painting and performance carry stories across generations. These artists draw on Indonesia’s many cultures while responding to the present.03ChinaThese eight artists approach a changing China through handwriting, family photographs, urban life and experiments with familiar materials.04JapanWoodblock prints share this selection with performances, installations and photographs. Follow the shifts in scale, materials and the part given to the viewer.05Africa & The African DiasporaEight introductions to artists working across Africa and its diaspora. Their different circumstances matter as much as the connections between them.06OceaniaIndigenous knowledge, colonial histories and contemporary life across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.07Latin AmericaColour may fill a canvas, occupy a room or depend on someone taking part. These artists put different demands on the viewer.08IndiaThe artists gathered here draw on different regions, traditions and experiences of modern India. No single style accounts for them all.09United KingdomA landscape, a portrait and a public sculpture offer different accounts of life in Britain. This selection follows some of the artists who changed those forms.10VietnamSilk and lacquer sit alongside photography and moving images. Across these works, everyday life bears the marks of war, migration and urban change.11FranceFrom Delacroix and Degas to Sophie Calle, these artists find subjects in public events, private encounters and the habits of looking.12ItalyLook at how a story occupies a fresco, how a portrait addresses its viewer, or how a sculpture uses the room around it.13SpainEl Greco, Juan Gris, Eduardo Chillida and Maruja Mallo offer four very different starting points for this selection.14Germany & AustriaPrints, paintings and photographs record private anxieties alongside public upheaval. Their emotional force often depends on precise formal decisions.15Netherlands & BelgiumClose observation and visual invention run through this selection, from painted interiors to Magritte’s puzzles and Ensor’s crowded fantasies.16United StatesWho appears in a picture, and what counts as an artistic subject? Everyday objects, city life and overlooked histories give these artists different answers.17Middle East & North AfricaThese artists work with histories of place, faith and displacement. Painting, poetry and performance allow personal accounts to sit beside contested public ones.

Mediums

What changes when the method changes?

A photograph holds an instant; a performance takes time. Explore what each way of making allows.

01PhotographyA photograph can document, stage, persuade or mislead. Look at how framing and timing affect what each image lets us know.02SculptureWalk around a sculpture and its shape changes. Here, weight, balance, materials and the surrounding space all deserve attention.03PerformanceAn action unfolds in time, sometimes with the audience taking part. What survives may be a photograph, a recording or an account of being there.04VideoDuration, sound and editing shape these works. A still offers a starting point; seeing the moving work can change the experience considerably.05Conceptual ArtSometimes an instruction, a choice or a question does much of the work. These artists test what is needed for something to count as art.

Ideas

Return with a different question.

Follow an idea across periods, borders and mediums and familiar art begins to look unfamiliar.

01The Artists Who Changed How We SeeColour can seem to move; scale can unsettle a familiar object. These works reward attention to what happens while we look.02The BodyPose, proportion and gesture can suggest strength or vulnerability. Consider whose bodies are pictured, and how much control they seem to have.03IdentityA portrait can express belonging, impose a label or leave a person elusive. These works explore the distance between being seen and being known.04PowerLook for who commands the space, who is missing and whose account is being told. Power can be visible in a monument or tucked into an ordinary image.05NatureA view of land may also tell us about ownership, belief or environmental change. Start with what is pictured, then consider the position from which it is seen.

Keep exploring: Contemporary Chinese art All introductory guides →