Entertaining Summaries of Famous Painters to Unite Art Nerds and Novices Alike

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Oct 2, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

Over the thousands of years of perfecting the craft, art has given the world so much. For starters, we wouldn't have memes as we know them if people hadn't decided to start painting on cave walls way back when. The problem is, there are so many different genres and artists out there it can sometimes be hard to define who does what and diving headfirst into the maze of art history can be overwhelming.

However, there's no need to worry because this is the internet, and there's a fast, lazy, and humorous way to learn just about anything on here. When it comes to famous painters, the lady for the job is Mary McGillivray. Otherwise known as The Iconoclass, she summarizes all the pretentious artspeak for normal people consumption. For many of the world's most famous artists, she has given a one sentence rundown of what their work is about and the results are as funny as they are accurate. When your life's work can be outlined in one kind of snarky sentence, that's when you know you've made it.