Rulers of the Art World

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. The dates listed are the years of each painter’s birth and death, if known. We have furthermore identified each one with their nationality (and place of birth, if different). Some of America’s notable painters have been women: Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) who collaborated in Paris with Edgar Degas (1834-1917), and Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), who found great inspiration in New Mexico. The “head” image is of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), the troubled Dutch painter who sold just one painting in his lifetime, but after his death went on to inspire a generation. Our illustration is based on one of his many self-portraits, this one with a gray felt hat, now on display in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.