That would have to be either Yves Tanguy, who I love for his gooey toothpaste like surrealism and empty dream landscapes, or Ed Paschke, who was a master of vibrant color, going to the beautiful extreme.

so many to name,can't choose just one!I love klimt,kandinsky<3;frida kahlo,waterhouse,bouguereau,seignac,dali,moreau...painters are so inspiring!!

Salvador Dali is my main favourite. But so many couldn't name them all. I live in Cornwall and I like Patrick Heron, Kurt Jackson.

contemporary - native canadian artist www.daleauger.com

Milton Avery is my fave but no one has mentioned M. Vlaminck yet so I have to give him a nod. Vlaminck , to my mind, continued on the path started by Van Gogh and takes it a step farther. Dynamite colours and dramatic compositions but he didn't paint enough pictures.

Corot, Chardin, Caravaggio and Rothko

My favorite artist:
Paul Klee
Andrew Wyeth
Mortene Solberg
Vincent van Gogh

My answer to this question probably changes twice a month, but I'm a sucker for Titian right now.

Right now, Georgia O'Keefe. She embraced the concept of painting what had meaning to her, and executed it in abstract terms that revealed her inner vision. How inspiring!

It depends on the mood:
All of the Wyeths, Hans Holbein, Kaspar David Friedrich, Van Gogh, Leucian freud, Mark Ryden, Joe Sorren, Jonathan Weiner...

Guston, Gauguin, Goya, Kitaj, Zak Smith, Fairfield Porter, Vuillard, Elmer Bischoff, David Park, Morandi, Matisse, Hockney, Alice Neel, ...

Rauschenberg, Twombly, Rothko, Kandinsky, Klimt, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Kara Walker, and Edmonia Lewis. If I was forced to chose one: Kandinsky.

Mark Rothko.

Egon Schille,Gustav Klimt,Konstantin Korovin,Klodt Monet

otto dix, Max beckman, goya, Bosch.

Norman Rockwell

Don't think you can have a favorite - just the one that you are being effected by at this moment -

Because of my personal suffering with family life and the ever present financial stuff, Van Gogh - that man painted with so much heart and emotion - then I start thinking about Dali (from another mention here) and his work just is awesome - No favorite is possible for me.

i agree with the thought of people effecting you and not really having an absolute favorite....

julie mehretu
arturo herrera
cecily brown
gerhard richter
elbow-toe
farmer bob

can't think of everyone......but those are a few.....

Joan Mitchell, Rauschenberg, Howard Hodgkin, Klimt, Egon Schiele, Louise Nevelson, Karen Kilimnik, Elizabeth Peyton, Alice Neel, Louise Bourgeois...it's impossible to name one!

Robert Rauschenberg, no contest.

He's the single greatest American painter ever, in my opinion.
Unlike Basquiat & Warhol, he is still alive and producing as much as he ever has despite having a stroke and losing the function of his right arm.

I think he doesn't get as much credit as he should. Sure, Andy jumped mediums but his stuff was mechanical and most of the time didn't even involve him. Rauschenberg is pure and pulls off everything he touches with elegance and ease.

Frank Frazetta, heheh , yes!
Susan Rothenberg
Stella
Duchamp
Ron English
I am all over the place with who I like. There are plenty more I could add.

Monet

nice topic here....

favorite painter, alot... hmm for the top of head the guys i can think of right now

most of these guys below are graphic novel illustrator and paiters
Kent William
Ashley Wood
Jeff Jones
Frank Frazetta
Brom

Camilla Engman

...possibly Naoto Hatori =) see his website here www.wwwcomcom.com

Picasso,
who else.
BEAU

I love the work of so many artists that it is very difficult to decide who is my favourite. I love works of art for reasons different from each other.

kandinsky and Miró

Degas for color and composition. Sargent for technique and handling, Rembrandt for palette and surface effects, Odd nerdrum for being a modern strange Rembrandt, Edouard Cortes for imaginative use of color in traditional painting, da vinci for his drawings, Hyronamous Bosch (I bet I mauled the spelling) for being so bizarre, Malcolm Liepke for combining Degas and sargent so well, Manet for influencing so many of his friends to paint so well, monet for the same reason. this list could go on forever. I don't have a favorite. How could anyone?

Too many to choose just one.

J.W Waterhouse
Jenny Saville
Andrew Wyeth
Carel Weight
Jim Steranko
Roger Dean
Mary Cassatt
and (thanks to Jim) Odd Nerdrum

for starters :-)

I'm taking liberties here and replacing "artist" for "painter". Right now my favorite Artist is right here on Flickr: Gossamerpromise. She is flat out awesome overall. My favorite painter thus far is Gayheb with Jimpennn running a close second.
Do we favor the dead because it's safe or do we not realize we are in the company of greatness all around us and within ourselves?

Dave Mckean
Allan Lee
Mark Ryden
Ray Ceasar
Camilla Engman
Barry Moser
the list goes on.....