Art Students League 215 West 57th Street

The Art Students League of New York is an

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

in the

American Fine Arts Society The Art Students League of New York Building (also the American Fine Arts Society and 215 West 57th Street) is a building on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh in the Frenc ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study full-time, there have never been any degree programs or grades, and this informal attitude pervades the culture of the school. From the 19th century to the present, the League has counted among its attendees and instructors many historically important artists, and contributed to numerous influential schools and movements in the art world. The League also maintains a significant permanent collection of student and faculty work, and publishes an online journal of writing on art-related topics, called LINEA. The journal's name refers to the school's motto '' Nulla Dies Sine Linea'' or "No Day Without a Line", traditionally attributed to the Greek painter

Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...

by the historian

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, who recorded that Apelles would not let a day pass without at least drawing a line to practice his art.

History

19th century

Founded in 1875, the League's creation came about in response to both an anticipated gap in the art instruction program of classes at New York's

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

for that year, and to longer-term desires for more variety and flexibility in education for artists than it was felt the Academy provided. The breakaway group of students included many women, and was originally housed in rented rooms at 16th Street and

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

. When the Academy resumed a more typical but liberalized program in 1877, there was some feeling that the League had served its purpose, but its students voted to continue its program, and it was incorporated the following year. Influential board members from this formative period included painter

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

and sculptor

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

. Membership continued to increase, forcing the League to relocate to increasingly larger spaces. The League participated in the founding of the

(AFAS) in 1889, together with the

Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...

and the

Architectural League The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

, among others. The American Fine Arts Building at 215 West 57th Street, constructed as their joint headquarters, has continued to house the League since 1892. Designed in the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

style by one of the founders of the AFAS, architect Henry Hardenbergh (in collaboration with W.C. Hunting & J.C. Jacobsen), the building is a designated

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...

and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In the late 1890s and early 1900s an increasing number of women artists came to study and work at the League many of them taking on key roles. Among them was Wilhelmina Weber Furlong, accompanied by her husband Thomas Furlong. The avant-garde couple served the league in executive and administrative roles and as student members throughout the American modernism movement.

Alice Van Vechten Brown Alice Van Vechten Brown (June 7, 1862 - October 16, 1949) was an art educator and historian, notable for the creation of the first courses in museum training (1911) and modern art (1927) in the United States. The modern art course was taught by ...

, who would later develop some of the first art programs in American higher education, also studied with the league until prolonged family illness sent her home. The painter

Edith Dimock Edith Dimock (February 16, 1876 – October 28, 1955) was an American painter. Her work was exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in New York. She married fellow artist, William Glackens, but continued to use her maiden name professionally after th ...

, a student from 1895 to 1899, described her classes at the Art Students League: In his official biography, ''My Adventures as an Illustrator'',

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

recounts his time studying at the school as a young man, providing insight into its operation in the early 1900s.

20th century

The League's popularity persisted into the 1920s and 1930s under the hand of instructors like painter Thomas Hart Benton, who counted among his students there the young

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

and other

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artists who would rise to prominence in the 1940s. In 1925 to celebrate their golden jubilee (fifty years), the League organized an exhibition which included the work of members, students and instructors.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, ...

gave a reception at which

Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator who created the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century. He published his ...

was toastmaster. Between 1942 and 1943, many of the League's students joined the armed forces to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the League's enrollment decreased from 1,000 to 400, putting it in danger of closing in mid-1943. In response, five hundred artists donated $15,000, just enough to keep the League from closing. In the years after World War II, the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

played an important role in the continuing history of the League by enabling returning veterans to attend classes. The League continued to be a formative influence on innovative artists, being an early stop in the careers of

Abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

s, Pop Artists and scores of others including

Lee Bontecou Lee Bontecou (January 15, 1931 – November 8, 2022) was an American sculptor and printmaker and a pioneer figure in the New York art world. She kept her work consistently in a recognizable style, and received broad recognition in the 1960s. Bont ...

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

Joseph Glasco Joseph Glasco (January 19, 1925 – May 31, 1996) was an American abstract expressionist painter, draftsman and sculptor. He is most known for his early figurative drawings and paintings and in later years for deconstructing the figure to develop ...

Al Held Al Held (October 12, 1928 – July 27, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist painter. He was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings. As an artist, multiple stylistic changes occurred throughout his career, ho ...

Eva Hesse Eva Hesse (January 11, 1936 – May 29, 1970) was a German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. She is one of the artists who ushered in the postminimal art movement in the 196 ...

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...

Knox Martin Knox Martin (February 12, 1923 – May 15, 2022) was an American painter, sculptor, and muralist. Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, he studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1946 until 1950. He was one of the leading members of the N ...

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

James Rosenquist James Albert Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advert ...

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and photographer. Twombly influenced artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, and Jean-Michel Bas ...

and many others vitally active in the art world. In 1968, Lisa M. Specht was elected first female president of the League. The League's unique importance in the larger art world dwindled somewhat during the 1960s, partially because of higher academia's emergence as an important presence in contemporary art education, and partially due to a shift in the art world towards

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, conceptual art, and a more impersonal and indirect approach to art making.

21st century

, the League continues to attract a wide variety of young artists, and its focus on art made by hand, both figurative and abstract, remains strong. Its continued significance has largely been in the continuation of its original mission, which is to give access to art classes and studio access to all comers regardless of their means or technical background.

Other facilities

From 1906 until 1922, and again after the end of World War II from 1947 until 1979, the League operated a summer school of painting at

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

. In 1995, the League's facilities expanded to include the Vytlacil campus in

Sparkill, New York Sparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudso ...

, named after and based upon a gift of the property and studio of former instructor

Vaclav Vytlacil Vaclav Vytlacil (November 1, 1892 – January 5, 1984) was an American artist and art instructor. He was among the earliest and most influential advocates of Hans Hofmann's teachings in the United States. Life Vaclav "Vyt" Vytlacil was born in N ...

Notable instructors and lecturers

Since its inception, the Art Students League has employed notable professional artists as instructors and lecturers. Most engagements have been for a year or two, and some, like those of sculptor

George Grey Barnard George Grey Barnard (May 24, 1863 – April 24, 1938), often written George Gray Barnard, was an American sculptor who trained in Paris. He is especially noted for his heroic sized ''Struggle of the Two Natures in Man'' at the Metropolitan Museum ...

, were quite brief. Others have taught for decades, notably:

Frank DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscapes, and a prominent teach ...

and

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American Painting, painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New Yor ...

, who taught anatomy for artists and life drawing classes for some 45 years, reportedly to 70,000 students. Bridgman's successor was

Robert Beverly Hale Robert Beverly Hale (1901–November 14, 1985) was an artist, curator of American paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and instructor of artistic anatomy at the Art Students League of New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He ...

. Other longtime instructors included the painters Frank Mason (DuMond's successor, over 50 years),

Kenneth Hayes Miller Kenneth Hayes Miller (March 11, 1876 – January 1, 1952) was an American painter, printmaker, and teacher. Career Born in Oneida, New York, he studied at the Art Students League of New York with Kenyon Cox, Henry Siddons Mowbray and with Willia ...

(40 years) from 1911 until 1951, sculptor Nathaniel Kaz (50 years), Peter Golfinopoulos (over 40 years),

(over 45 years),

Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and ...

(over 30 years), Martha Bloom (over 30 years) and the sculptors

William Zorach William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism. He is the husband of ...

(30 years), and Jose De Creeft,

Will Barnet Will Barnet (May 25, 1911November 13, 2012) was an American visual artist and teacher, known for his paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints depicting the human figure and animals, both in casual scenes of daily life and in transcendent d ...

(50 years) from the 1930s to the 1990s, and

Bruce Dorfman Bruce Dorfman (born 1936) is an American mixed media artist and teacher whose work combines painting and assemblage. Dorfman has exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad, and has taught at the Art Students League of New York since 196 ...

, who is the longest continually-teaching instructor in the League's history (over 60 years). Other well-known artists who have served as instructors include: *

Lawrence Alloway Lawrence Reginald Alloway (17 September 1926 – 2 January 1990) was an English art critic and curator who worked in the United States from 1961. In the 1950s, he was a leading member of the Independent Group in the UK and in the 1960s was an i ...

Charles Alston Charles Henry "Spinky" Alston (November 28, 1907 – April 27, 1977) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was active in the Harlem Renaissa ...

Robert Beauchamp Robert Beauchamp (1923 – 22 March 1995) was an American figurative painter and arts educator. Beauchamp's paintings and drawings are known for depicting dramatic creatures and figures with expressionistic colors. His work was described in the ...

* Alice Beckington *

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...

* Thomas Hart Benton, *

Isabel Bishop Isabel Bishop (March 3, 1902 – February 19, 1988) was an American painter and graphic artist. Bishop studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she would later become an instructor. She was most notable fo ...

Arnold Blanch Arnold Blanch (June 4, 1896 – October 3, 1968), was born and raised in Mantorville, Minnesota. He was an American modernist painter, etcher, illustrator, lithographer, muralist, printmaker and art teacher. Life His modernist paintings are a ...

Homer Boss Homer Boss (1882–1956) was a painter, printmaker and advanced art instructor of the early 20th century Modern art movement in America. He first taught at the Henri School of Art in 1909. Boss ended up purchasing the school in 1910 from his forme ...

Louis Bouche Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

Robert Brackman Robert Brackman (September 25, 1898 – July 16, 1980) was an American artist and teacher, best known for large figural works, portraits, and still lifes. Biography Robert Brackman was born on September 25, 1898, in Odessa, Russian Empire (no ...

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

Naomi Andrée Campbell Naomi Andrée Campbell is a Canadian visual artist and current resident in the International Studio & Curatorial Program. She has been an instructor of contemporary body in watercolor at the Art Students League of New York since 2007. Works Cam ...

* John F. Carlson * Robert Cenedella *

Charles Shepard Chapman Charles Shepard Chapman (June 2, 1879 – December 15, 1962) was an American painter, perhaps best remembered for his landscape of the Grand Canyon at the American Museum of Natural History. Early life and education Chapman was born in Morristo ...

Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French-born American painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business ...

* Edward Leigh Chase *

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

Dionisio Cimarelli Dionisio Cimarelli (born September 8, 1965 in Jesi, Italy) is an Italian sculptor known for his expertise in both classical and contemporary figurative sculptures in particularly in marble and Chinese porcelain and a sculpture of Matteo Ricci ...

* Timothy J. Clark * Walter Appleton Clark *

Sylvie Covey Sylvie Covey (born in Paris, France) is a French born American visual artist, printmaker, author, and academic living and working in New York City. Covey attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. Covey then went on to garner ...

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of the League ...

* Jose De Creeft *

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

* Stuart Davis *

Dorothea H. Denslow Dorothea "Miss Dee" Henrietta Denslow (December 14, 1900 – April 26, 1971) was an American sculptor, and educator. She was the founder of the Clay Club (later known as the SculptureCenter) in New York City. Biography Dorothea Henrietta Dens ...

Edwin Dickinson Edwin Walter Dickinson (October 11, 1891 – December 2, 1978) was an American painter and draftsman best known for psychologically charged self-portraits, quickly painted landscapes, which he called ''premier coups'', and large, hauntingly enigma ...

Sidney Dickinson Sidney (sometimes Sydney) Edward Dickinson (November 28, 1890 – April, 1980) was an American painter. Dickinson was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, and was the son of a Congregationalist minister, Charles H. Dickinson. His parents moved frequ ...

Frederick Dielman Biography Dielman was born in Hanover, Germany, and was taken to the United States in early childhood. He graduated from Elf Sternberg College in New Windsor, Maryland, in 1864, and from 1866 to 1872 served as a topographer and draughtsman fo ...

* Harvey Dinnerstein *

Arthur Wesley Dow Arthur Wesley Dow (April 6, 1857 – December 13, 1922) was an American painter, printmaker, photographer and an arts educator. Early life Arthur Wesley Dow was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1857. Dow received his first art training in 188 ...

* Edward Dufner *

Frank Duveneck Frank Duveneck (né Decker; October 9, 1848 – January 3, 1919) was an American figure and portrait painter. Early life Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernhard Decker. Decker died in a cholera epidemic whe ...

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

Dagmar Freuchen Dagmar Freuchen-Gale ( Cohn; 30 June 1907 – 9 March 1991) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor. Early life and education Freuchen-Gale was born Dagmar Cohn in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, to Hans Cohn and Betty Johanne Neustadt. Her pa ...

* Lucia Fairchild Fuller * Wilhelmina Weber Furlong * Michael Goldberg * Stephen Greene *

George Grosz George Grosz (; ; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Obj ...

Molly Guion Molly Guion (23 September 1910 – 1982) was an American portrait painter. She taught at the Art Students League of New York. Early life and education Molly Guion was born in New Rochelle, New York on 23 September 1910. Her parents were Cl ...

Lena Gurr Lena Gurr (1897–1992), was an American artist who made paintings, prints, and drawings showing, as one critic said, "the joys and sorrows of everyday life." Another critic noted that her still lifes, city scenes, and depictions of vacation ...

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...

Hans Peter Hansen Hans Peter Hansen (20 December 1829 – 18 November 1899) was a Danish xylographer who specialized in portraits. Hansen was born in Copenhagen. He first learned the profession of watchmaking before studying woodcutting under Hans Christian Henn ...

* Lovell Birge Harrison * Ernest Haskell *

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

Charles Hinman Charles Hinman (born 1932 in Syracuse, New York) is an abstract minimalist painter, notable for creating three-dimensional shaped canvas paintings in the mid-1960s. Early years Charles Hinman was born in 1932, in Syracuse, New York. He initia ...

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

Harry Holtzman Harry Holtzman (June 8, 1912 – September 25, 1987) was an American artist and founding member of the American Abstract Artists group. Early life At the age of fourteen, Holtzman visited the ''Société Anonyme’s'' 1926 “International ...

Jamal Igle Jamal Yaseem Igle is an American comic book artist, editor, art director, marketing executive and animation storyboard artist. The creator of the comic book series ''Molly Danger'' he is also known for his pencilling, inking and coloring work on ...

John Christen Johansen John Christen Johansen (25 November 1876 – 23 May 1964) was a Danish-American portraitist. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Background Johansen was born in Copenhagen and ...

Burt Johnson Burt William Johnson (April 25, 1890 – March 27, 1927)Moore, Nancy Dustin Wall. ''Dictionary of Art and Artists in Southern California Before 1930''. Los Angeles: Privately printed, 1975, p.130 was an American sculptor. Biography Johnson was b ...

Wolf Kahn Wolf Kahn (October 4, 1927 – March 15, 2020) was a German-born American painter. Kahn, known for his combination of Realism and Color Field, worked in pastel, oil paint, and printmaking. He studied under Hans Hofmann, and also graduated from ...

Morris Kantor Morris Kantor () (1896–1974) was a Russian-born American painter based in the New York City area. Life Born in Minsk on April 15, 1896, Kantor was brought to the United States in 1906 at age 10, in order to join his father who had previously ...

Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English American, English descent. ...

Walt Kuhn Walter Francis Kuhn (October 27, 1877 – July 13, 1949) was an American painter and an organizer of the famous Armory Show of 1913, which was America's first large-scale introduction to European Modernism. Biography Kuhn was born in New Yor ...

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Early life Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889, in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906 at 17, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi ...

* Gabriel Laderman *

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", an art form populariz ...

Hayley Lever Richard Hayley Lever (28 September 1876 – 6 December 1958) was an Australian-American painter, etcher, lecturer and art teacher. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life and wor ...

* Martin Lewis * James Little *

George Luks George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting. After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 25, 1885 – January 31, 1966) was an American Sculpture, sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco in the United States, Art Deco movement. ...

* Reginald Marsh * Fletcher Martin *

Jan Matulka Jan Matulka (7 November 1890 – 25 June 1972) was a Czech-American modern artist originally from Bohemia. Matulka's style ranged from Abstract expressionism to landscapes, sometimes in the same day. He has directly influenced artists like Dor ...

* Earl Mayan * Mary Beth Mckenzie * William Charles McNulty * Edward Melcarth *

Willard Metcalf Willard Leroy Metcalf (July 1, 1858March 9, 1925) was an American painter born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and later attended Académie Julian, Paris. After early figure-painting and il ...

* Leo Mielziner *

* Fred Mitchell *

F. Luis Mora Francis Luis Mora (July 27, 1874 – June 5, 1940) was a Uruguayan-born American figural painter. Mora worked in watercolor, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his paint ...

Robert Neffson Robert Neffson (born December 28, 1949) is an American Painting, painter known for his photorealism, photorealistic street scenes of various cities around the world, museum interiors and for early still lifes and figure paintings. Early life and ...

Kimon Nicolaïdes Kimon Nicolaїdes (June 10, 1891 – July 18, 1938) was an American artist, educator, and author. During World War I, he served in the United States Army in France as a camouflage artist. He taught at the Art Students League of New York after ...

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...

Jules Pascin Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 2, 1930), known as Pascin (, erroneously or ), Jules Pascin, also known as the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist of the School of Paris, known for his paintings and drawings. He ...

Joseph Pennell Joseph Pennell (July 4, 1857 – April 23, 1926) was an American draftsman, etcher, lithographer, and illustrator for books and magazines. A prolific artist, he spent most of his working life in Europe, and developed an interest in landmarks, lan ...

Jane Peterson Jane Peterson (1876–1965) was an American Impressionist and Expressionist painter. Her works use broad swaths of vibrant colors to combine an interest in light and in the depiction of spontaneous moments. She painted still lives, beach scenes al ...

* Richard C. Pionk *

Larry Poons Lawrence M. "Larry" Poons (born October 1, 1937) is an American abstract painter. Poons was born in Tokyo; he studied from 1955 to 1957 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, with the intent of becoming a professional musician. Afte ...

Richard Pousette-Dart Richard Warren Pousette-Dart (June 8, 1916 – October 25, 1992) was an American abstract expressionist artist most recognized as a founder of the New York School of painting.Kimmelman, Michae"Richard Pousette-Dart, 76, Dies; An Early Abstract E ...

Vojtěch Preissig Vojtěch Preissig (also, Voitech Preissig) (31 July 1873 – 11 June 1944) was a Czech typographer, printmaker, designer, illustrator, painter and teacher. He studied in Prague at the School of Applied Industrial Art (in Friedrich Ohmann's D ...

Abraham Rattner Abraham Rattner (July 8, 1895 – February 14, 1978) was an American artist, best known for his richly colored paintings, often with religious subject matter. During World War I, he served in France with the U.S. Army as a camouflage artist. Ear ...

* Peter Reginato * Frank J. Reilly * Henry Reuterdahl * Agnes Millen Richmond *

Boardman Robinson Boardman "Mike" Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-born American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876, in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, ...

* Kikuo Saito *

Nelson Shanks John Nelson Shanks (December 23, 1937 – August 28, 2015) was an American artist and painter. His best known works include his portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, first shown at Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York City, April 24 to June 2 ...

* William Scharf * Susan Louise Shatter * Walter Shirlaw *

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight (Ashcan School), T ...

* Hughie Lee-Smith * Isaac Soyer *

Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in ...

Theodoros Stamos Theodoros Stamos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Στάμος) (December 31, 1922 – February 2, 1997) was a Greek-American painter. He is one of the youngest painters of the original group of abstract expressionist painters (the so-called " Irasc ...

* Anita Steckel *

Harry Sternberg Harry Sternberg (1904–2001), was an American Painting, painter, printmaking, printmaker and educator. He taught at the Art Students League of New York, from 1933 to c. 1966. Biography Childhood, family life, and education Sternberg's parents h ...

Augustus Vincent Tack Augustus Vincent Tack (1870–1949) was an American painter of portraits, landscapes and abstractions. Early years Tack was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved with his family to New York in 1883. After graduating from St. Francis Xavier ...

George Tooker George Clair Tooker, Jr. (August 5, 1920 – March 27, 2011) was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with Magic realism, Social realism, Photorealism, and Surrealism. His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, ...

John Henry Twachtman John Henry Twachtman (August 4, 1853 – August 8, 1902) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impre ...

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

* J. Alden Weir * Jerry Weiss *

Prominent former members of the Art Students League
Art Students League website. Retrieved online, December 26, 2011

Notable alumni

The list of Art Students League of New York alumni includes: *

Pacita Abad Pacita Barsana Abad (October 5, 1946 – December 7, 2004) was a Filipino-born American Ivatan self-taught visual artist. Her more than 30-year painting career began when she traveled to the United States to undertake graduate studies in Spain. ...

* Harry N. Abrams * Herbert E. Abrams * Edwin Tappan Adney *

Olga Albizu Olga Albizu Rosaly (1924–2005) was an abstract expressionist painter from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Albizu Rosaly was the first woman dedicated to abstraction in Puerto Rico. Life Albizu was born to a relatively wealthy family and raised in Puerto ...

Karin von Aroldingen Karin Anny Hannelore Reinbold von Aroldingen (9 September 1941 – 5 January 2018) was a German ballet dancer. She danced as a soloist at the Frankfurt Opera Ballet before joining the New York City Ballet in 1962 after receiving a personal ...

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...

Gladys Aller Gladys Aller (July 13, 1915 – March 5, 1970) was an American painter. Family Gladys Aller was born in Massachusetts. Until applying for a passport in her forties, she thought she was born on July 14. Her father, Simeon Aller, being superstit ...

* William Anthony * Edmund Archer *

Nela Arias-Misson Nela Arias-Misson (September 8, 1915 – July 17, 2015) was a Cuban-born abstract expressionist painter and sculptor. Nela Arias-Misson was a contemporary and friend of the 20th-century painters Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Robert ...

* David Attie *

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (; March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American Modern art, modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He wa ...

Norio Azuma Norio Azuma (, November 28, 1928 – February 4, 2004) was a Japanese American painter and serigraph artist who worked in a modernist style. Norio Azuma (born 1928, Japan) was a Japanese-American printmaker and visual artist known for his work i ...

* Elizabeth Gowdy Baker *

Thomas R. Ball Thomas Raymond Ball (February 12, 1896 – June 16, 1943) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Connecticut. Early life Born in New York City, Ball attended the public schools, Anglo-Saxon School in Paris, France, ...

Hugo Ballin Hugo Ballin (March 7, 1879 – November 27, 1956) was an American artist, muralist, author, and film director. Ballin was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. Biography Ballin was born in New ...

* Nancy Hemenway Barton *

Saul Bass Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Academy Awards, Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and logo, corporate logos. During his 4 ...

C. C. Beall Cecil Calvert Beall (1892–1970) was an American commercial art, commercial illustrator and portrait painter. He did watercolor art and drawings for magazines and comic books. Beall designed posters for the United States government for war loan ...

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Theresa Bernstein Theresa Ferber Bernstein-Meyerowitz (March 1, 1890 – February 12, 2002) was an Americans, American artist, writer, and supercentenarian born in Kraków, in what is now Poland, and raised in Philadelphia. She received her art training in Philad ...

* Brother Thomas Bezanson * Thomas Hart Benton * Ilse Bischoff *

* Jerzy Bitter *

Meredith Bixby Meredith Bixby (May 31, 1909 – Sept. 11, 2002) was an American puppeteer. Early life and education Meredith Bixby studied engineering at Wayne State University, but discovered a passion for drawing. He then moved to New York City and attend ...

* Dorothy Block *

Leonard Bocour Leonard Bocour (March 18, 1910 – September 6, 1993) was an American artist. Bocour was born in New York City. Around 1933, he formed the New York City based company Bocour Artists Colors. He was the co-developer along with Sam Golden of Ma ...

* Harriet Bogart * Abraham Bogdanove *

* Henry Botkin *

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

* Harry Bowden * Stanley Boxer * Louise Brann *

D. Putnam Brinley Daniel Putnam Brinley (March 8, 1879 – July 31, 1963) was an American muralist and painter. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the son of Edward Huntington Brinley and Rebecca Maitland Porter Brinley. Brinley spent his childhood at his parent ...

* Emma L. Brock * James Brooks * Carmen L. Browne *

Jennie Augusta Brownscombe Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (December 10, 1850 – August 5, 1936) was an American painter, designer, etcher, commercial artist, and illustrator. Brownscombe studied art for years in the United States and in Paris. She was a founding member, stude ...

Edith Bry Edith Bry (1898–1991) was an American painter, printmaker, and glass artist. During her long career she combined technical skill with an impulse to innovate. Critics noted her versatility, pointing to skill in handling oil painting, lithogra ...

Dennis Miller Bunker Dennis Miller Bunker (November 6, 1861 – December 28, 1890) was an American painter and innovator of American Impressionism. His mature works include both brightly colored landscape paintings and dark, finely drawn portraits and figures. One ...

Jacob Burck Jacob Burck (née Yankel Boczkowsky, January 10, 1907 – May 11, 1982) was a Polish-born Jewish-American painter, sculptor, and award-winning editorial cartoonist. Active in the Communist movement from 1926 as a political cartoonist and muralist, ...

* Feliza Bursztyn *

Theodore Earl Butler Theodore Earl Butler (1861–1936) was an American impressionist painter. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to Paris to study art. He befriended Claude Monet in Giverny, and married his stepdaughter, Suzanne Hoschedé. After her death h ...

Paul Cadmus Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 – December 12, 1999) was an American artist widely known for his tempera, egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male ...

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

* Chris Campbell * John F. Carlson * Kathrin Cawein * Robert Cenedella * Paul Chalfin *

Ching Ho Cheng Ching Ho Cheng (December 26, 1946 – May 25, 1989) was a Cuban-born Chinese and American contemporary painter, who lived in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s. His work consists of four distinct periods: Psychedelics, Gouache, Torn Works ...

* Minna Citron * Margaret Covey Chisholm * Walter Appleton Clark *

Kate Freeman Clark Kate Freeman Clark (September 3, 1875 – March 3, 1957) was an American painter born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Clark was the daughter of Edward Clark, an attorney in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Cary Freeman Clark, whose great-uncle was Ed ...

George Henry Clements George Henry Clements (February 12, 1854 – December 16, 1935) was an American artist who was best known for watercolor paintings he made in an American impressionism, impressionist style. Critics said his work was characterized by "exact observa ...

* Henry Ives Cobb, Jr. *

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, born Émilie "Lily" Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway theater, Broadway productions dur ...

Willie Cole Willie Cole (born 1955 in Somerville, New Jersey) is a contemporary United States, American sculpture, sculptor, Lithography, printer, and Conceptual art, conceptual and Visual arts, visual artist. His work uses contexts of postmodern eclecticism ...

* John Connell *

Russell Cowles Russell Cowles (18871979) was an American artist who painted landscapes, still lifes, and human forms in a style that combined both modernist and traditional elements. In 1947 ''The New York Times'' critic Howard Devree said "his work shows a re ...

Allyn Cox Allyn Cox (June 5, 1896 – September 26, 1982) was an American artist known for his murals, including those on display in the United States Capitol and the U.S. Department of State. Early life and education Cox was a son of Kenyon Cox and ...

Ellis Credle Ellis Credle (1902–1998) was an American writer. She wrote a number of books for children and young adults, some of which she also illustrated. Credle (which is pronounced "cradle") is best known as the creator of the acclaimed children's ...

* Richard V. Culter *

Mel Cummin Melville Porter Cummin (January 29, 1895 – December 1, 1980), popularly known as Mel Cummin, was a magazine illustrator and a newspaper staff artist; a notable cartoonist in the early decades of American comic strips; and a Golden Age comic bo ...

* Frederick Stuart Church * Joan Danziger *

Andrew Dasburg Andrew Michael Dasburg (4 May 1887 – 13 August 1979) was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism". Biography Dasburg was born in 1887 in Paris. He emigrated from Germany to New York City with ...

* Charles C. Dawson *

Adolf Dehn Adolf Dehn (November 22, 1895 – May 19, 1968) was an American artist known mainly as a lithographer. Throughout his artistic career, he participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including Regionalism (art), re ...

Dorothy Dehner Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an American painter and sculptor. Early life Dorothy Dehner was born on December 23, 1901, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother was a passionate suffragette. When Dehner was ten years o ...

Burgoyne Diller Burgoyne A. Diller (January 13, 1906 – January 30, 1965) was an American abstract painter. Many of his best-known works are characterized by orthogonal geometric forms that reflect his strong interest in the De Stijl movement and the work of ...

* Helen Savier DuMond * Ellen Eagle *

Marjorie Eaton Marjorie Lee Eaton (February 5, 1901 – April 21, 1986) was an American painter, photographer and character actress. Biography Eaton was born in Oakland, California, and raised in Palo Alto. She attended the Katherine Delmar Burke School and ...

* Alice Righter Edmiston * Sir Jacob Epstein *

Marisol Escobar Marisol Escobar (May 22, 1930 – April 30, 2016), otherwise known simply as Marisol, was a Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris, who lived and worked in New York City. She became world-famous in the mid-1960s, but lapsed into relative ob ...

Joe Eula Joseph Eula (January 16, 1925 – October 27, 2004) was an American fashion illustrator. He was a prominent illustrator in the 1960s and 70s, having held the post of creative director at Halston for ten years. Early life Eula was born Jo ...

Philip Evergood Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 1901–1973) was an American Social Realist painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator and writer. He was particularly active during the Depression and World War II era. Life ...

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...

* Frances Farrand Dodge * Ernest Fiene * Irving Fierstein *

Louis Finkelstein Louis Finkelstein (June 14, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio – 29 November 1991) was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Conservative Judaism. Biography Louis (Eliezer) Finkel ...

* Ethel Fisher * Wilhelmina Weber Furlong *

Frederick Carl Frieseke Frederick Carl Frieseke (April 7, 1874 – August 24, 1939) was an American Impressionist painter who spent most of his life as an expatriate in France. An influential member of the Giverny art colony, his paintings often concentrated on various ...

Wanda Gág Wanda Hazel Gág ( ; March 11, 1893 – June 27, 1946) was an American artist, author, translator, and illustrator. She is best known for writing and illustrating the children's book ''Millions of Cats'', the oldest American picture book still i ...

* Dan Gheno *

William Glackens William James Glackens (March 13, 1870 – May 22, 1938) was an American realist painter and one of the founders of the Ashcan School, which rejected the formal boundaries of artistic beauty laid down by the conservative National Academy of De ...

* Elias Goldberg * Michael Goldberg * Shirley Goldfarb * Peter Golfinopoulos *

Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painterChilvers, Ian & Claves-Smith, John eds., ''Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. pp. 282-283 who also m ...

* Blanche Grambs *

John D. Graham John D. Graham (, Kyiv, Ukraine – June 27, 1961, London, England) was a Ukrainian–born United States, American Modernism, modernist and Figurative art, figurative painter, art collector, and a mentor of modernist artists in New York City. B ...

Enrique Grau Enrique Grau (December 18, 1920 – April 1, 2004) was a Colombian artist best known for his depictions of Amerindian and Afro-Colombian figures. He was a member of the triumvirate of key Colombian artists of the 20th century which included Fernan ...

Nancy Graves Nancy Graves (December 23, 1939 – October 21, 1995) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the Moon. Her works are included in many public collection ...

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...

* Stephen Greene *

Red Grooms Red Grooms (born Charles Rogers Grooms on June 7, 1937) is an American multimedia artist best known for his colorful pop-art constructions depicting frenetic scenes of modern urban life. Grooms was given the nickname "Red" by Dominic Falcone ( ...

Chaim Gross Chaim Gross (; March 17, 1902 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator of Hungarian Jewish origin. Gross studied and taught at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City’s Lower Manhattan. Childhood Gross was born t ...

* Bessie Pease Gutmann *

Channing Hare Channing Weir Hare (1899–1976) was an American painter. He was born in New York and lived in Ogunquit, Maine and Palm Beach, Florida, where he was best known for his portraiture. He painted portraits of several notable public figures, includin ...

* Minna Harkavy *

Marsden Hartley Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943) was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin. Early life and education Hartley was bor ...

* Julius Hatofsky *

Ethel Hays Ethel Hays (March 13, 1892 – March 19, 1989) was an American syndicated cartoonist specializing in flapper-themed comic strips in the 1920s and 1930s. She drew in Art Deco style. In the later part of her career, during the 1940s and 1950s, she ...

Gus Heinze Gus Heinze (born May 1, 1926 in Bremen, Germany) is an American photorealist painter. Early work From 1947-1950, Heinze studied under Robert Weaver, Howard Trafton, and Robert Ward Johnson at the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League ...

Carmen Herrera Carmen Herrera (May 31, 1915 – February 12, 2022) was a Cuban-born American Abstract art, abstract, minimalist visual artist and painter. She was born in Havana and lived in New York City from the mid-1950s. Herrera's abstract works brought he ...

Al Hirschfeld Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. Early life and career Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex apa ...

* Itshak Holtz *

Lorenzo Homar Lorenzo Homar Gelabert (September 10, 1913 – February 16, 2004) was a Puerto Rican printmaker, painter, and calligrapher whose artwork stretches to three main workshops: (CPA), DIVEDCO (), and the of the (ICP). Homar was also the designer o ...

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

Thomas Hoving Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving (January 15, 1931 – December 10, 2009) was an American museum executive and consultant and the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Early life He was born in New York City to Walter Hoving, the head of Tiff ...

* Paul Jenkins *

* Joan Kahn *

Matsumi Kanemitsu Matsumi "Mike" Kanemitsu (May 28, 1922- May 11, 1992) was a Japanese-American painter who was also proficient in Japanese style Inkstick, ''sumi'' and lithography. Early life Kanemitsu was born to Japanese parents in Ogden, Utah on May 28, 192 ...

Deborah Kass Deborah Kass (born 1952) is an American artist whose work explores the intersection of pop culture, art history, and the construction of self. Deborah Kass works in mixed media, and is most recognized for her paintings, prints, photography, sculpt ...

* Alonzo Myron Kimball * Ruth Kligman * Torleif S. Knaphus * Belle Kogan *

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American painter and visual artist active primarily in New York whose work has been associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. She received her ear ...

* Anne Kutka (McCosh) *

* Adelaide Lawson * Arthur Lee * Lucy L'Engle *

Alfred Leslie Alfred Leslie (October 29, 1927 – January 27, 2023) was an American painter and filmmaker. He first achieved success as an Abstract Expressionist painter, but changed course in the early 1960s and became a painter of realistic figurative p ...

* Dorothy Loeb * Tom Loepp *

Michael Loew Michael Loew (May 8, 1907 — November 14, 1985) was an American abstract expressionist painter and teacher, who was active in New York City. He taught for many years at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) and University of California, Berkeley (UC ...

John Marin John Marin (December 23, 1870 – October 2, 1953) was an early American modernist visual artist. He is known for his abstract landscape paintings and watercolors. Early life and education Marin was born on December 23, 1870, in Rutherford, N ...

* Reginald Marsh *

* Donald Martiny *

Mercedes Matter Mercedes Matter (née Carles; 1913 – December 4, 2001) was an American painter, draughtswoman, and writer. She was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, and the Founder and Dean Emeritus of the New York Studio School ...

* Louisa Matthiasdottir *

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

* John Alan Maxwell * Roderick Fletcher Mead * Hildreth Meière * Evelyn Metzger * Felicia Meyer * Eleanore Mikus *

Emil Milan Emil Milan ('ɛmil Mɪ'lɑːn; May 17, 1922 – April 5, 1985) was an American woodworker known for his carved bowls, birds, and other accessories and art in wood. Trained as a sculptor at the Art Students League of New York, he designed and made w ...

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art pho ...

* David Milne *

Walter Tandy Murch Walter Tandy Murch (August 17, 1907 – December 11, 1967) was a Painting, painter whose still life paintings of machine parts, brick fragments, clocks, broken dolls, hovering light bulbs and glowing lemons are an unusual combination of Realism ( ...

Reuben Nakian Reuben Nakian (August 10, 1897, College Point, New York – December 4, 1986, Stamford, Connecticut) was an American sculptor and teacher of Armenian extraction. His works' recurring themes are from Greek and Roman mythology. Noted works incl ...

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, ...

Barnett Newman Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American painter. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense ...

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, furniture designer and Landscape architecture, landscape architect whose career spanned six decades from the 1920s. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Grah ...

* Sassona Norton *

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on as ...

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

* Mary Orwen * Roselle Osk *

Tom Otterness Tom Otterness (born 1952) is an American sculptor who is one of America's most prolific public artists. Otterness's works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums around the world, notably in New York City's Rockef ...

* Betty Waldo Parish *

Clara Weaver Parrish Clara Minter Parrish ( Weaver; March 16, 1861 – November 11, 1925) was an American artist from Alabama. Although she produced a large amount of work in a wide array of media, she is best known for her paintings and stained glass window designs ...

Betty Parsons Betty Parsons (born Betty Bierne Pierson, January 31, 1900 – July 23, 1982) was an American artist, art dealer, and collector known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She is regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic f ...

* David Partridge *

Phillip Pavia Philip Pavia (1911-2005) was a culturally influential American artist of Italian descent, known for his scatter sculpture and figurative abstractions, and the debate he fostered among many of the 20th century's most important art thinkers. A foun ...

, *

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American natural history, naturalist, Conservationist (biology), conservationist, citizen scientist ornithology, ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of th ...

* Bert Geer Phillips * I. Rice Pereira *

Fairfield Porter Fairfield Porter (June 10, 1907 – September 18, 1975) was an American painter and art critic. He was the fourth of five children of James Porter, an architect, and Ruth Furness Porter, a poet from a literary family. He was the brother of photo ...

Edith Mitchill Prellwitz Edith Mitchill Prellwitz (1865–1944) was an American artist who is known for Impressionist and Tonalist studies of Peconic Bay, New York, as well as for figurative paintings with literary or mythical subjects. Family and education Prellwitz was ...

Henry Prellwitz Henry Prellwitz (1865–1940) was an American artist known for allegorical paintings and waterscapes of Peconic Bay, New York. Family and education Arthur Henry Prellwitz was born in New York, where his Prussian American, Prussian parents had em ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

* Charles M. Relyea *

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...

* Priscilla Roberts *

* Esther Rolick * Louise Emerson Ronnebeck *

Herman Rose Herman Rose was the professional pseudonym of Herman Rappaport (November 6, 1909 – December 4, 2007), an United States, American Painting, painter and artist. He was best known for his depictions of cityscapes, including his painting "74t ...

Sanford Ross Sanford Ross (January 25, 1907 – March 1, 1954) was an American realist painter and printmaker. His urban and rural scenes of the 1930s bore the influence of Charles Burchfield and Edward Hopper. His later work focused on the landscape a ...

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

* Glen Rounds *

Luis Alvarez Roure Luis Álvarez Roure (born 1976) is a Puerto Rican realist painter based in New Jersey. He is known for his figure paintings as well as his portraits of American public figures such as Philip Glass, Joshua Bell, Paul Volcker, Cándido Camero, Mons ...

* Peter Rubino *

Morgan Russell Morgan Russell (January 25, 1886 – May 29, 1953) was a modern American artist. With Stanton Macdonald-Wright, he was the founder of Synchromism, a provocative style of abstract painting that dates from 1912 to the 1920s. Russell's "synchromie ...

* Abbey Ryan *

Sam Savitt Sam Savitt (March 22, 1917 – December 25, 2000) was an equine artist, author, and teacher, as well as an illustrator of over 130 books, in addition to 16 that he wrote. He was designated the official illustrator of the United States Equestrian ...

Concetta Scaravaglione Concetta Maria Scaravaglione (July 9, 1900 – September 4, 1975) was an American sculptor. Her parents immigrated from Calabria, Italy, and Concetta was the youngest of nine children. She is known for her monumental figurative sculpture, her wo ...

Louis Schanker Louis Schanker (1903 – May 7, 1981) was an American abstract artist. Early life He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish environment in the Bronx, New York. His parents, Sam, a tailor, and Fannie Schanker, were of Romanian descent. He had five sibl ...

* Mary Schepisi *

Edith Schloss Edith Schloss (July 20, 1919 – December 21, 2011) was a German-born American artist, art critic and author, primarily known for abstract paintings and Assemblage (art), assemblages. She received art training first in her native Offenbach am Main ...

* Katherine Schmidt * Emily Maria Scott *

Ethel Schwabacher Ethel Kremer Schwabacher (born May 20, 1903, New York, New York, U.S.— died November 25, 1984, New York, New York, U.S.) was an influential abstract expressionist painter, represented by the Betty Parsons Gallery in the 1950s and 1960s. She ...

Joan Semmel Joan Semmel (born October 19, 1932) is an American feminist painter and professor emeritus in painting. She is best known for her large-scale naturalistic nude self portraits as seen from her perspective looking down. Education and political in ...

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

Ben Shahn Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''. Born Benjamin Shahn in Ka ...

* Nat Mayer Shapiro *

Henrietta Shore Henrietta Mary Shore (January 22, 1880 – May 17, 1963) was a Canadian-born artist who was a pioneer of modernism. She lived a large part of her life in the United States, most notably California. Early life Shore was born in Toronto, Canada, to ...

Jessamine Shumate Ada Jessamine Shumate (born March 31, 1902, as Ada Jessamine White in Horsepasture, Virginia – died on December 16, 1990, in Greenville, North Carolina) was an American artist, historian and cartographer, winner of the "Award of Distinction" ...

* David Smith * Tony Smith * Vincent D. Smith *

Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and mu ...

* Louise Hammond Willis Snead *

Armstrong Sperry Armstrong Wells Sperry (November 7, 1897 – April 26, 1976) was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia ...

Otto Stark Otto Stark (January 29, 1859 – April 14, 1926) was an American Impressionist painter, muralist, commercial artist, printmaker, and illustrator from Indianapolis, Indiana, who is best known as one of the five Hoosier Group artists. Stark's wo ...

* William Starkweather *

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

Joseph Stella Joseph Stella (born Giuseppe Michele Stella, June 13, 1877 – November 5, 1946) was an Italian-born American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America, especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is also ...

Inga Stephens Pratt Clark Inga Marie Pratt Clark (née Stephens; December 8, 1906 – 1970) was an American artist and book illustrator, who, with her husband Fletcher Pratt, was at the center of a circle of New York literary figures during the 20th century. Life and w ...

Clyfford Still Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American Painting, painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediat ...

* Soichi Sunami * Katharine Lamb Tait *

Minerva Teichert Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert (August 28, 1888 – May 3, 1976) was a 20th-century American artist who painted Western and Mormon subjects, including murals of scenes from the Book of Mormon. She received her art education from the Art I ...

* Val Telberg *

Robert Templeton Robert Templeton (12 December 1802 – 2 June 1892) was a natural history, naturalist, artist, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast, Ireland. Life and work Robert Templeton was the son of the botanist John Templeton (B ...

* Patty Prather Thum *

* Kim Tschang-yeul * Wen-Ying Tsai * Luce Turnier *

* Jack Tworkov * Edward Charles Volkert * Charles Wadsworth (artist), Charles Wadsworth * Adele Watson * Emmett Watson (illustrator), Emmett Watson * Nan Watson * Alonzo C. Webb * Sybilla Mittell Weber * Davyd Whaley *

* Adolph Alexander Weinman * J. Alden Weir * Jerry Weiss * Stow Wengenroth * Pennerton West * Anita Willets-Burnham * Ellen Axson Wilson * Gahan Wilson * Louise Waterman Wise * Sarah A. Worden * Alice Morgan Wright * Russel Wright * Koho Yamamoto * Art Young * Marie Zimmermann * Philip Zuchman * Iván Zulueta

References

External links

Art Students League of New YorkLinea
including some notable alumni

retrieved December 14, 2007

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frHWcLbLUr4 "On the Front Lines: Military Veterans at The Art Students League of New York"]
Art Students League records, 1875-1955
from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art {{Authority control Art Students League of New York, Art schools in New York City American artist groups and collectives Arts organizations based in New York City Art Students League of New York people, Culture of Manhattan Education in New York City Modern art Arts organizations established in 1875 Educational institutions established in 1875 1875 establishments in New York (state) Cultural history of the United States