Aren’t artists awesome?
That’s why we need to celebrate creativity all the more on these famous artist birthdays!
Pair a birthday with an art quote and a piece of free public domain art (I’ll tell you how to find it).
You can simply post the quote as a caption on your Instagram post (or wherever you choose to share) on their special day.
For more fun, place the quote right on the art with one of these iPhone apps to add text to photos (and artwork too!), or one of these easy ways to make picture quotes online.
Ready? Here’s the artist birthday list by month!
Artist Birthdays in January
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bartolomé Esteban Murillo | 1618 |
| 1 | Alfred Stieglitz | 1864 |
| 2 | Ernst Barlach | 1870 |
| 4 | Marsden Hartley | 1877 |
| 5 | Yves Tanguy | 1900 |
| 8 | Albert Bierstadt | 1830 |
| 10 | Barbara Hepworth | 1903 |
| 11 | Eva Hesse | 1936 |
| 12 | John Singer Sargent | 1856 |
| 14 | Henri Fantin-Latour | 1836 |
| 14 | Berthe Morisot | 1841 |
| 15 | Palmer Hayden | 1890 |
| 15 | Jaune Quick-to-See Smith | 1940 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Carroll Cloar | 1913 |
| 19 | Paul Cézanne | 1839 |
| 19 | Clementine Hunter | 1887 |
| 19 | Sidney Goodman | 1936 |
| 19 | Cindy Sherman | 1954 |
| 23 | Édouard Manet | 1832 |
| 24 | Robert Motherwell | 1915 |
| 26 | Barbara Kruger | 1945 |
| 28 | Malvin Gray Johnson | 1896 |
| 28 | Alice Neel | 1900 |
| 28 | Richmond Barthé | 1901 |
| 28 | Jackson Pollock | 1912 |
| 28 | Claes Oldenburg | 1929 |
| 29 | Peter Voulkos | 1924 |
| 29 | Barnett Newman | 1905 |
| 30 | Bernardo Bellotto | 1720 |
Artist Birthdays in February
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Cole | 1801 |
| 2 | William E. Artis | 1914 |
| 3 | Norman Rockwell | 1894 |
| 4 | Fernand Léger | 1881 |
| 5 | Alison Saar | 1956 |
| 8 | John Ruskin | 1819 |
| 8 | Franz Marc | 1880 |
| 9 | Robert Morris | 1931 |
| 10 | Mary Lovelace O’Neill | 1942 |
| 11 | William Henry Fox Talbot | 1800 |
| 12 | Max Beckmann | 1884 |
| 12 | Joan Mitchell | 1925 |
| 12 | William Wegman | 1943 |
| 13 | Grant Wood | 1892 |
| 15 | Charles-François Daubigny | 1817 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Raphaelle Peale | 1774 |
| 17 | Hung Liu | 1948 |
| 18 | Louis Comfort Tiffany | 1848 |
| 18 | Max Klinger | 1857 |
| 19 | Constantin Brancusi | 1876 |
| 20 | Ansel Adams | 1902 |
| 22 | Rembrandt Peale | 1778 |
| 22 | Horace Pippin | 1888 |
| 23 | Tom Wesselmann | 1931 |
| 24 | Charles LeBrun | 1619 |
| 24 | Winslow Homer | 1836 |
| 25 | Pierre-Auguste Renoir | 1841 |
| 26 | Honoré Victorin Daumier | 1808 |
| 29 | Augusta Savage | 1892 |
Artist Birthdays in March
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oskar Kokoschka | 1886 |
| 2 | Ito Jakuchu | 1716 |
| 3 | Melissa Miller | 1951 |
| 4 | Kano Tanyu | 1602 |
| 5 | Giovanni Battista Tiepolo | 1696 |
| 6 | Michelangelo | 1475 |
| 7 | Piet Mondrian | 1872 |
| 7 | Milton Avery | 1893 |
| 9 | David Smith | 1906 |
| 12 | Elaine De Kooning | 1918 |
| 13 | Georges de La Tour | 1593 |
| 13 | William Glackens | 1870 |
| 13 | John Rhoden | 1918 |
| 14 | Reginald Marsh | 1898 |
| 14 | Diane Arbus | 1923 |
| 14 | Jennifer Bartlett | 1941 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Emilio Cruz | 1938 |
| 16 | Rosa Bonheur | 1822 |
| 18 | William Henry Johnson | 1901 |
| 19 | Albert Pinkham Ryder | 1847 |
| 19 | Josef Albers | 1888 |
| 20 | George Caleb Bingham | 1811 |
| 21 | Hans Hofmann | 1880 |
| 22 | Anthonie van Dyck | 1599 |
| 22 | Randolph Caldecott | 1846 |
| 23 | Juan Gris | 1887 |
| 24 | William Morris | 1834 |
| 27 | Edward Steichen | 1879 |
| 27 | Mies van der Rohe | 1886 |
| 28 | Grace Hartigan | 1922 |
| 30 | Francisco José de Goya | 1746 |
| 30 | Vincent van Gogh | 1853 |
| 31 | William Morris Hunt | 1824 |
Artist Birthdays in April
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Max Ernst | 1891 |
| 2 | Charles White | 1918 |
| 4 | Maurice de Vlaminck | 1876 |
| 5 | Jean-Honoré Fragonard | 1732 |
| 6 | Raphael | 1483 |
| 6 | Gustave Moreau | 1826 |
| 9 | Eadweard Muybridge | 1830 |
| 9 | Charles Burchfield | 1893 |
| 9 | Victor Vasarely | 1906 |
| 10 | Shimomura Kanzan | 1873 |
| 10 | Kenneth Noland | 1924 |
| 12 | Robert Delaunay | 1885 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Thomas Jefferson | 1743 |
| 13 | Thomas Lawrence | 1769 |
| 13 | James Ensor | 1860 |
| 13 | John Biggers | 1924 |
| 14 | Edward Hicks | 1780 |
| 15 | Leonardo da Vinci | 1452 |
| 15 | Charles Willson Peale | 1741 |
| 15 | Théodore Rousseau | 1812 |
| 15 | Thomas Hart Benton | 1889 |
| 15 | Arshile Gorky | 1904 |
| 15 | Elizabeth Catlett | 1915 |
| x | ||
| 16 | Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun | 1755 |
| 16 | John Chamberlain | 1927 |
| 18 | Max Weber | 1881 |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Odilon Redon | 1840 |
| 20 | Joan Miró | 1893 |
| 22 | Ruth Arams | 1924 |
| 23 | J. M. W. Turner | 1775 |
| 24 | Willem De Kooning | 1904 |
| 24 | Bridget Riley | 1931 |
| 25 | Karel Appel | 1921 |
| 25 | Cy Twombly | 1928 |
| 26 | John James Audubon | 1785 |
| 26 | Ferdinand Delacroix | 1798 |
| 26 | I. M. Pei | 1917 |
| 27 | Samuel F. B. Morse | 1791 |
| 28 | Yves Klein | 1928 |
Artist Birthdays in May
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Latrobe | 1764 |
| 1 | George Inness | 1825 |
| 4 | Frederic Edwin Church | 1826 |
| 4 | Melvin Edwards | 1937 |
| 4 | Keith Haring | 1958 |
| 6 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner | 1880 |
| 7 | Deborah Butterfield | 1949 |
| 7 | Richard Cleaver | 1952 |
| 11 | Salvador Dalí | 1904 |
| 12 | Frank Stella | 1936 |
| 13 | Georges Braque | 1882 |
| 14 | Thomas Gainsborough | 1727 |
| 15 | Jasper Johns | 1930 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Walter Gropius | 1883 |
| 18 | Janet Fish | 1938 |
| 21 | Albrecht Dürer | 1471 |
| 21 | Henri Rousseau | 1844 |
| 22 | Mary Cassatt | 1844 |
| 22 | Jean Tinguely | 1925 |
| 22 | Marisol (Marisol Escobar) | 1930 |
| 23 | Franz Kline | 1910 |
| 24 | Philip Pearlstein | 1924 |
| 26 | Dorothea Lange | 1895 |
| 27 | Georges Rouault | 1871 |
| 30 | Aleksandr Archipenko | 1887 |
| 31 | Ellsworth Kelly | 1923 |
Artist Birthdays in June
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Grooms | 1937 |
| 3 | Raoul Dufy | 1877 |
| 5 | Thomas Chippendale | 1718 |
| 6 | Diego Velázquez | 1599 |
| 6 | John Trumbull | 1756 |
| 7 | Paul Gauguin | 1848 |
| 8 | Frank Lloyd Wright | 1869 |
| 8 | Harrison Branch | 1947 |
| 9 | Meta Warwick Fuller | 1877 |
| 9 | Elizabeth Murray | 1940 |
| 10 | Gustave Courbet | 1819 |
| 10 | André Derain | 1880 |
| 11 | John Constable | 1776 |
| 11 | Julia Cameron | 1815 |
| 12 | Anni Albers | 1899 |
| 12 | Egon Schiele | 1890 |
| 13 | Joseph Stella | 1877 |
| 13 | Christo | 1935 |
| 14 | Margaret Bourke-White | 1904 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Saul Steinberg | 1914 |
| 16 | Jim Dine | 1935 |
| 17 | Maurits Escher | 1889 |
| 18 | Robert Walter Weir | 1803 |
| 19 | Thomas Scully | 1783 |
| 20 | Kurt Schwitters | 1887 |
| 21 | Henry Ossawa Tanner | 1859 |
| 25 | Antonio Gaudí | 1852 |
| 25 | Robert Henri | 1865 |
| 25 | Sam Francis | 1923 |
| 26 | Roger Shimomura | 1939 |
| 27 | Philip Guston | 1913 |
| 28 | Peter Paul Rubens | 1577 |
| 29 | Robert Laurent | 1890 |
| 29 | Allan C. Houser | 1914 |
Artist Birthdays in July
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | John Singleton Copley | 1738 |
| 3 | Linda Lomahaftewa | 1947 |
| 4 | Edmonia Lewis | 1845 |
| 6 | Frida Kahlo | 1907 |
| 7 | Marc Chagall | 1887 |
| 8 | Artemisia Gentileschi | 1593 |
| 8 | Käthe Kollwitz | 1867 |
| 9 | Michael Graves | 1934 |
| 9 | David Hockney | 1937 |
| 10 | Camille Pissarro | 1830 |
| 10 | Giorgio de Chirico | 1888 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Charles Searles | 1937 |
| 12 | Amedeo Modigliani | 1884 |
| 12 | Andrew Wyeth | 1917 |
| 14 | James Abbott McNeill Whistler | 1834 |
| 14 | Gustav Klimt | 1862 |
| 15 | Rembrandt | 1606 |
| 16 | Joshua Reynolds | 1723 |
| 16 | Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot | 1796 |
| 16 | Charles Sheeler | 1883 |
| 17 | Lyonel Feininger | 1871 |
| 17 | Berenice Abbott | 1898 |
| 18 | Giacomo Balla | 1871 |
| 19 | Edgar Degas | 1834 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Nam June Paik | 1932 |
| 20 | Judy Chicago | 1939 |
| 22 | Edward Hopper | 1882 |
| 22 | Alexander Calder | 1898 |
| 24 | Alphonse Mucha | 1860 |
| 25 | Thomas Eakins | 1844 |
| 26 | George Catlin | 1796 |
| 28 | Marcel Duchamp | 1887 |
| 29 | Jenny Holzer | 1950 |
| 30 | Giorgio Vasari | 1511 |
| 30 | Henry Moore | 1898 |
| 30 | Betye Saar | 1926 |
| 30 | Luis Jimenez | 1940 |
| 31 | Jean Dubuffet | 1901 |
Artist Birthdays in August
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sakai Hôitsu | 1761 |
| 2 | John Sloan | 1871 |
| 2 | Arthur Dove | 1880 |
| 5 | George Tooker | 1920 |
| 6 | Andy Warhol | 1928 |
| 7 | Emile Nolde | 1867 |
| 10 | William Harnett | 1848 |
| 12 | George Bellows | 1882 |
| 13 | Martha Alf | 1930 |
| 15 | Jack Tworkov | 1900 |
| 15 | Leonard Baskin | 1922 |
| 15 | Viola Frey | 1933 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Larry Rivers | 1923 |
| 21 | Aubrey Beardsley | 1872 |
| 22 | Jacques Lipchitz | 1891 |
| 22 | Henri Cartier-Bresson | 1908 |
| 22 | Gene Davis | 1920 |
| 26 | Hale Woodruff | 1900 |
| 27 | Man Ray | 1890 |
| 29 | Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres | 1780 |
| 29 | Richard Haas | 1936 |
| 30 | Jacques-Louis David | 1748 |
Artist Birthdays in September
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Romare Bearden | 1911 |
| 3 | Louis Sullivan | 1856 |
| 7 | Grandma Moses | 1860 |
| 7 | Jacob Lawrence | 1917 |
| 7 | Leo Sewell | 1945 |
| 12 | Ben Shahn | 1898 |
| 12 | Richard Hunt | 1935 |
| 13 | Robert Indiana | 1928 |
| 16 | Jean Arp | 1886 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Hughie Lee-Smith | 1915 |
| 22 | Alma Thomas | 1891 |
| 22 | Jesús Bautista Moroles | 1950 |
| 23 | Suzanne Valadon | 1865 |
| 23 | Paul Delvaux | 1897 |
| 23 | Louise Nevelson | 1899 |
| 26 | Théodore Géricault | 1791 |
| 28 | Caravaggio | 1573 |
| 29 | François Boucher | 1703 |
Artist Birthdays in October
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Pierre Bonnard | 1867 |
| 4 | Jean-François Millet | 1814 |
| 4 | Frederic Remington | 1861 |
| 5 | Maya Lin | 1959 |
| 8 | Faith Ringgold | 1930 |
| 8 | Beverly Buchanan | 1940 |
| 9 | Frank Duveneck | 1848 |
| 10 | Benjamin West | 1738 |
| 10 | Jean-Antoine Watteau | 1684 |
| 10 | Alberto Giacometti | 1901 |
| 12 | Richard Meier | 1934 |
| 14 | Alesso Baldovinetti | 1427 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Paul Strand | 1890 |
| 19 | Umberto Boccioni | 1882 |
| 20 | Jacqueline Winsor | 1941 |
| 21 | Katsushika Hokusai | 1760 |
| 22 | Robert Rauschenberg | 1925 |
| 25 | Pablo Picasso | 1881 |
| 27 | Lee Krasner | 1908 |
| 27 | Roy Lichtenstein | 1923 |
| 28 | Giovanni Antonio Canaletto | 1697 |
| 28 | Francis Bacon | 1909 |
| 29 | Niki de Saint Phalle | 1930 |
| 30 | Angelica Kauffmann | 1741 |
| 31 | Jan Vermeer | 1632 |
Artist Birthdays in November
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Merritt Chase | 1849 |
| 2 | James Lesesne Wells | 1902 |
| 2 | Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin | 1699 |
| 3 | Benvenuto Cellini | 1500 |
| 3 | Walker Evans | 1903 |
| 3 | Loïs Mailou Jones | 1905 |
| 6 | Alois Senefelder | 1771 |
| 7 | Francisco de Zurbarán | 1598 |
| 8 | Charles Demuth | 1883 |
| 10 | William Hogarth | 1697 |
| 11 | Paul Signac | 1863 |
| 11 | Édouard Vuillard | 1868 |
| 11 | Claude Clark | 1915 |
| 12 | Auguste Rodin | 1840 |
| 13 | Wilmer Angier Jennings | 1910 |
| 14 | Claude Monet | 1840 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Georgia O’Keeffe | 1887 |
| 15 | Wayne Thiebaud | 1920 |
| 15 | Miriam Schapiro | 1923 |
| 17 | Isamu Noguchi | 1904 |
| 18 | Louis Jacques Daguerre | 1787 |
| 19 | Nicholas Poussin | 1594 |
| 21 | René Magritte | 1898 |
| 23 | José Clemente Orozco | 1883 |
| 24 | Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec | 1864 |
| 26 | George Segal | 1924 |
| 28 | William Blake | 1757 |
| 28 | Morris Louis | 1912 |
| 30 | Gordon Parks | 1912 |
| 30 | Sam Gilliam | 1938 |
Artist Birthdays in December
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Georges Seurat | 1859 |
| 2 | David Macaulay | 1946 |
| 3 | Gilbert Stuart | 1755 |
| 3 | John Marin | 1870 |
| 4 | Vasily Kandinsky | 1866 |
| 5 | Walt Disney | 1901 |
| 7 | Gialorenzo Bernini | 1598 |
| 7 | Stuart Davis | 1894 |
| 8 | Aristide Maillol | 1861 |
| 8 | Lucian Freud | 1922 |
| 11 | Mark Tobey | 1890 |
| 12 | Edvard Munch | 1863 |
| 12 | Helen Frankenthaler | 1928 |
| 13 | Diego Rivera | 1886 |
| DAY | NAME | YEAR BORN |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | David Teniers the Younger | 1610 |
| 18 | Paul Klee | 1879 |
| 19 | Joshua Johnston | 1798 |
| 20 | Pieter de Hooch | 1629 |
| 21 | Masaccio | 1401 |
| 22 | James A. Porter | 1905 |
| 22 | Jean-Michel Basquiat | 1960 |
| 23 | Nancy Graves | 1940 |
| 24 | Joseph Cornell | 1903 |
| 24 | Jonathan Borofsky | 1942 |
| 25 | Louise Bourgeois | 1911 |
| 29 | David Alfaro Siqueiros | 1896 |
| 29 | Russ Warren | 1951 |
| 31 | Henri Matisse | 1869 |
How to Find Free Public Domain Art
Of course you want a visual to celebrate your artist’s birthday. Old Masters art is one category that generally falls in the public domain.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t hold a palette knife to these guys! I’m thrilled to be able to use their works, when appropriate.
I like putting together picture quotes for social media holidays like artist birthdays, and of course, their artwork is the perfect background.
NOTE: Living artists’ work is usually NOT in the public domain!
In the U.S., works published before 1923 are in the public domain, plus lots more complicated rules. But instead of worrying about what is or isn’t OK to use, just search on this awesome site that spells it all out for you, image by image: WikiMedia.
All you need to do is enter your search term in the upper right of the home page. Using “Van Gogh” yielded dozens of art pieces.
Click on the one you prefer, and you’re taken to a page that gives you a choice of available sizes to download, AND any information on attribution requirements (i.e. giving credit to the artist).
What you want to see is this:
That means the work is free for you to use without any attribution.
For this picture quote, I added a quote from Van Gogh himself, in the font Chalkduster for its arty feel. The image had 33 Facebook shares from my Fan Page, and had the second highest reach of any of my posts.
If you don’t know how to get text on images, see this post on easy ways to make picture quotes online.
Conclusion
Every day is worth celebrating!
If you love art, beauty, or creativity, why not celebrate these famous artist birthdays.
And you may also want to check out these creativity quotes!
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