wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Yasunari Kawabata
June 11, 1899 – April 16, 1972
Japanese novelist (1899–1972)
Modern era
Yukio Mishima
January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970
Japanese author (1925–1970)
Modern era
Mahmoud Darwish
March 13, 1941 – August 9, 2008
The national Palestinian poet, and author (1941–2008)
Modern era
Munshi Premchand
July 31, 1880 – October 8, 1936
Indian writer of Hindi and Urdu fiction (1880–1936); pioneer of social realism in Hindustani literature
Modern era
R. K. Narayan
October 10, 1906 – May 13, 2001
Indian English-language writer (1906–2001)
Modern era
V. S. Naipaul
August 17, 1932 – August 11, 2018
Trinidadian-British writer (1932–2018)
Modern era
Wole Soyinka
b. July 13, 1934
Nigerian writer (born 1934)
Modern era
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
January 5, 1938 – May 28, 2025
Kenyan writer (1938–2025)
Modern era
Ursula K. Le Guin
October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018
American fantasy and science fiction author (1929–2018)
Modern era
Philip K. Dick
December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982
American science fiction author (1928–1982)
Modern era
Frank Herbert
October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986
American writer (1920–1986)
Modern era
Michel Foucault
October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984
French philosopher (1926–1984)
Modern era
Jacques Derrida
July 15, 1930 – October 8, 2004
French philosopher (1930–2004)
Modern era
Karl Popper
July 28, 1902 – September 17, 1994
Austrian-British philosopher of science and social and política e falsificationism and for criticism of Plato, Hegel and Marx as totalitarian opponents of open society (1902-1994)
Modern era
John Rawls
February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002
American philosopher, philosophy teacher
Modern era
Ayn Rand
February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982
Russian-born American writer and public philosopher (1905–1982)
Modern era
Noam Chomsky
b. December 7, 1928
American linguist and activist (born 1928)
Modern era
Antonio Gramsci
January 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937
Italian Marxist philosopher, writer, and politician (1891–1937)
Modern era
Walter Benjamin
July 15, 1892 – September 26, 1940
German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic (1892–1940)
Modern era
Claude Levi-Strauss
November 28, 1908 – October 30, 2009
French anthropologist and ethnologist (1908–2009)
Modern era
Simone Weil
February 3, 1909 – August 24, 1943
French philosopher, writer, and social activist (1909–1943)
Modern era
Gustave Courbet
June 10, 1819 – December 31, 1877
French painter (1819–1877)
Modern era
Berthe Morisot
January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895
French painter (1841-1895)
Modern era
Mary Cassatt
May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926
American painter and printmaker (1844—1926)
Modern era
James McNeill Whistler
July 10, 1834 – July 17, 1903
American painter (1834-1903)
Modern era
John Singer Sargent
January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925
American painter (1856–1925)
Modern era
Winslow Homer
February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910
American landscape painter (1836–1910)
Modern era
Grant Wood
February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942
American painter (1891–1942)
Modern era
Ilya Repin
July 24, 1844 – September 29, 1930
Russian-empire painter of Ukrainian birth (1844-1930)
Modern era
Alphonse Mucha
July 24, 1860 – July 14, 1939
Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist (1860–1939)
Modern era
Amedeo Modigliani
July 12, 1884 – January 24, 1920
Italian painter and sculptor (1884–1920)
Modern era
Henri Rousseau
May 21, 1844 – September 2, 1910
French painter (1844–1910)
Modern era
Paul Klee
December 18, 1879 – June 29, 1940
German-Swiss artist (1879–1940)
Modern era
Max Ernst
April 2, 1891 – April 1, 1976
German artist (1891–1976)
Modern era
Man Ray
August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976
American and French visual artist (1890–1976)
Modern era
Lucian Freud
December 8, 1922 – July 20, 2011
British painter and agravar (1922-2011)
Modern era
David Hockney
July 9, 1937 – June 11, 2026
Painter, printmaker, set designer, photographer (1937–2026)
Modern era
Yoko Ono
b. February 18, 1933
Japanese artist and activist based in the United States (born 1933)
Modern era
Qi Baishi
January 1, 1864 – September 16, 1957
Chinese painter (1864-1957)
Modern era
Raja Ravi Varma
April 29, 1848 – October 2, 1906
Indian painter from Kerala (1848–1906)
Modern era
Ansel Adams
February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984
American photographer and environmentalist (1902–1984)
Modern era
Dorothea Lange
May 25, 1895 – October 11, 1965
American photojournalist (1895-1965)
Modern era
Henri Cartier-Bresson
August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004
French photographer (1908–2004)
Modern era
Robert Capa
October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954
American photographer (1913–1954)
Modern era
Constantin Brancusi
February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957
Romanian sculptor, photographer and painter (1876-1960)
Modern era
Alberto Giacometti
October 10, 1901 – January 11, 1966
Swiss sculptor and painter (1901–1966)
Modern era
Henry Moore
July 30, 1898 – August 31, 1986
English sculptor (1898–1986)
Modern era
Louise Bourgeois
December 25, 1911 – May 31, 2010
French-American artist (1911-2010)
Modern era
Gustave Eiffel
December 15, 1832 – December 27, 1923
French chemical engineer and architect (1832–1923)
Modern era
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969
German architect (1886–1969)
Modern era
Le Corbusier
October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965
Swiss-French architect, designer, urbanist, and writer (1886–1965)
Modern era
Walter Gropius
May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969
German-American architect (1883–1969)
Modern era
Oscar Niemeyer
December 15, 1907 – December 5, 2012
Brazilian architect (1907–2012)
Modern era
I. M. Pei
April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019
Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)
Modern era
Frank Gehry
February 28, 1929 – December 5, 2025
Canadian and American architect (1929–2025)
Modern era
Buckminster Fuller
July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983
American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist (1895–1983)
Modern era
Johann Strauss II
October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899
Austrian composer (1825-1899)
Modern era
Jacques Offenbach
June 20, 1819 – October 5, 1880
German-born French composer (1819–1880)
Modern era
Georges Bizet
October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875
French composer (1838–1875)
Modern era
Gabriel Faure
May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924
French composer, organist, pianist and teacher (1845–1924)