I wanted to get out a list of the great painters of all time along with my previous list of living greats.Alphonse Mucha, probably my favorite artist ever. He is famous for his graphic work but I think the brilliant stuff is his oil painting which are more difficult to find. See The apotheosis of the Slavs
William Bouguereau, unbelievable figures with perfect realistic skin. If you haven't seen one of these in real life you need to.
Nikolai Fechin, genius drawings you won't believe, probably the best I have ever seen. I don't feel it with his paintings though.
Emile Frient, really beautiful, I love his style and feeling.
Jean Leon Gerome, why is it so hard to find one of the greatest painters ever? See Pollice Verso.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
John William Waterhouse.
John William Godward, stunning paintings. Nice figures, cloth, marble, etc.
Ingres, so great.
Sir George Clausen, he must be my favorite style. I am just paralyzed when I see his paintings in a museum(see Day Dreams in Philadelphia).
Logsdale, you must be kidding me. Some of the most complicated intricate work I have ever seen.
Daniel Ridgeway Knight, I love beautiful people in beautiful landscapes. A few look a little too much like a Kinkaid painting(that's a bad thing) but a couple are absolutely brilliant. See one here.
Thomas Dewing, there is a whole building of Dewing in D.C. and a great painting in the national gallery(The painting above).
Lepage.
La Thangue, hard to find.
Frederick Lord Leighton,
Charles Sprague Pearce,hard to find.
Almost missed John Singer Sargent. Brilliant portrait artist. Painted with such simple strokes.
Illustrators:
Maxfield Parrish, no one can paint colors like Parrish, need to be seen in real life. I like his characters but the landscapes are crazy good.
Norman Rockwell.
Don't forget J.C. Leyendecker (or here and here). Stunning complicated whimsical work. Rockwell's favorite(I think) and my own.
Robert McGuiness, good illustrations, great cowboy paintings. Make sure to see the western work especially his landscapes. Oops, I think he's still alive.
N.C. Wyeth.
Dean Cornwell. Another early great illustrator.
