Edgar Mueller (1968-present)

Edgar Mueller, born in 1968, grew up in Straelen on the western edge of Germany, where his fascination with painting began. Living near Geldem, where an international competition of street painters took place, Mueller decided to enter the competition. Years later, he is known as the "master street painter," having created transitory art all over Europe. Mueller's ability to create such realistic scenes on such a large scale is spectacular.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Mary Cassatt, born in 1844, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, was an American impressionist painter and printmaker. Cassatt most often used women and children as her painting subjects, with an emphasis on the bonds between mother and child. Mary Cassatt has always been one of my favorite impressionist artists because of her elegant use of color and texture in all her paintings.

Ken Ohara (1942-present)

Ken Ohara, a renowned Japanese photographer, is best known for his series of photographs titled "One," which contains more than five hundred close-ups of different faces, all presented with a standard size and tone. Ohara has a unique way of capturing the human face and all its details. His use of variety in his subjects shows that no face is exactly alike.

Richard Estes (1932-present)

Richard Estes, born in 1932, in Kewanee, Illinois, is a painter who is best known for his photo-realistic paintings, and is considered one of the founders of the international photo-realistic movement that occurred in the late 1960's. What I find most fascinating about Richard's work, is his acute attention to detail and his ability to create paintings that look exactly like photographs.

Mira Schendel (1919-1988)

Mira Schendel was a Swiss-born Brazilian artist, who created artwork that addressed language as a major visual subject matter. Her work is most often exhibited alongside León Ferrari, whose creations are very similar to Schendel's in that he also used letters of the alphabet to make masterpieces. Schendel's art caught my eye from a distance because of the odd yet interesting shapes and patterns she creates. The closer you look, you can tell that all she uses is letters to make a picture - visual poetry.