wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
F. Scott Fitzgerald
September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940
American writer (1896–1940)
Modern era
John Steinbeck
February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968
American writer (1902–1968)
Modern era
William Faulkner
September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962
American writer (1897-1962)
Modern era
Tennessee Williams
March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983
American playwright (1911–1983)
Modern era
Arthur Miller
October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005
American playwright and essayist (1915–2005)
Modern era
Samuel Beckett
April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989
Irish writer (1906–1989)
Modern era
Vladimir Nabokov
April 10, 1899 – July 2, 1977
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor (1899–1977)
Modern era
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
December 11, 1918 – August 3, 2008
Russian writer, publicist, poet and politician (1918–2008)
Modern era
Harper Lee
April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016
American novelist (1926–2016)
Modern era
James Baldwin
August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987
American writer (1924–1987)
Modern era
Langston Hughes
February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967
American writer and social activist (1901–1967)
Modern era
Zora Neale Hurston
January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960
African American folklorist, novelist, short story writer, and Civic Rights advocate (1891–1960)
Modern era
Toni Morrison
February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019
African American novelist, essayist, and academic (1931–2019)
Modern era
Sylvia Plath
October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963
American poet and writer (1932–1963)
Modern era
Kurt Vonnegut
November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007
American author (1922–2007)
Modern era
Ray Bradbury
August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012
American author and screenwriter (1920–2012)
Modern era
Arthur C. Clarke
December 16, 1917 – March 19, 2008
British science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist (1917–2008)
Modern era
Pablo Neruda
July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973
Chilean poet and politician (1904-1973)
Modern era
Jorge Luis Borges
August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986
Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator (1899–1986)
Modern era
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
March 6, 1927 – April 17, 2014
Colombian writer and Nobel laureate (1927–2014)
Modern era
Isabel Allende
b. August 2, 1942
Chilean writer (born 1942)
Modern era
Chinua Achebe
November 16, 1930 – March 21, 2013
Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic (1930-2013)
Modern era
Naguib Mahfouz
December 11, 1911 – August 30, 2006
Egyptian writer (1911–2006)
Modern era
Margaret Atwood
b. November 18, 1939
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor (born 1939)
Modern era
Raphael
b. May 5, 1943
Spanish recording artist; singer and actor
Modern era
Edouard Manet
January 23, 1832 – April 30, 1883
French painter (1832–1883)
Modern era
Claude Monet
November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926
French painter (1840–1926)
Modern era
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
February 25, 1841 – December 3, 1919
French painter and sculptor (1841–1919)
Modern era
Edgar Degas
July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917
French Impressionist artist (1834–1917)
Modern era
Paul Cezanne
January 19, 1839 – October 22, 1906
French painter (1839–1906)
Modern era
Paul Gauguin
June 7, 1848 – May 9, 1903
French painter and printmaker (1848–1903)
Modern era
Georges Seurat
December 2, 1859 – March 29, 1891
French painter (1859-1891)
Modern era
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
November 24, 1864 – September 9, 1901
French painter and illustrator (1864–1901)
Modern era
Vincent van Gogh
March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890
Post-impressionist painter whose work sold for millions only after his death
Modern era
Henri Matisse
December 31, 1869 – November 3, 1954
French artist (1869–1954)
Modern era
Gustav Klimt
July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918
Austrian symbolist painter (1862–1918)
Modern era
Egon Schiele
June 12, 1890 – October 31, 1918
Austrian painter (1890-1918)
Modern era
Edvard Munch
December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944
Norwegian painter (1863–1944)
Modern era
Wassily Kandinsky
December 4, 1866 – December 13, 1944
Avant-garde painter of Russian origin (1866-1944)
Modern era
Piet Mondrian
March 7, 1872 – February 1, 1944
Dutch painter (1872–1944)
Modern era
Marc Chagall
July 14, 1887 – March 28, 1985
Belarusian-French artist (1887–1985)
Modern era
Pablo Picasso
October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973
Co-founder of Cubism and the most influential artist of the 20th century
Modern era
Salvador Dali
May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989
Spanish artist (1904–1989)
Modern era
Rene Magritte
November 21, 1898 – August 15, 1967
Belgian surrealist (1898–1967)
Modern era
Joan Miro
April 20, 1893 – December 25, 1983
Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist (1893–1983)
Modern era
Marcel Duchamp
July 28, 1887 – October 2, 1968
French painter, sculptor, and chess player (1887–1968)
Modern era
Frida Kahlo
July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954
Mexican painter of unflinching self-portraits and identity
Modern era
Diego Rivera
December 8, 1886 – November 25, 1957
Mexican muralist (1886–1957)
Modern era
Georgia O'Keeffe
November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986
American modernist artist (1887–1986)
Modern era
Edward Hopper
July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967
American realist painter and printmaker (1882-1967)
Modern era
Norman Rockwell
February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978
American painter and illustrator (1894–1978)
Modern era
Jackson Pollock
January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956
American painter (1912–1956)
Modern era
Mark Rothko
September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970
American painter of Latvian-Jewish descent (1903–1970)
Modern era
Andy Warhol
August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987
American artist, film director, and producer (1928–1987)
Modern era
Roy Lichtenstein
October 27, 1923 – September 15, 1997
American pop artist (1923–1997)
Modern era
Yayoi Kusama
March 22, 1929 – August 14, 2026
Japanese artist (1929–2026)
Modern era
Auguste Rodin
November 12, 1840 – November 17, 1917
French sculptor (1840–1917)
Modern era
Antoni Gaudi
June 25, 1852 – June 10, 1926
Catalan architect (1852–1926)
Modern era
Frank Lloyd Wright
June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959
American architect (1867-1959)
Modern era
Ludwig van Beethoven
December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827
German composer who carried music from the classical to the romantic age