This is a partial list of artists active in Britain, arranged chronologically (artists born in the same year should be arranged alphabetically within that year).
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Born before 1700
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Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Christina of Denmark, c. 1538. Oil and tempera on oak, National Gallery, London
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8–1543) – German artist and printmaker who became court painter in England
Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (c.1520–c.1590) – Flemish printmaker and painter for the English court of the mid-16th century
George Gower (1540–1596) – English portrait painter
Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619) – English goldsmith, limner, portrait miniature painter
Rowland Lockey (c.1565–1616) – English goldsmith, portrait miniaturist, painter
Isaac Oliver (c.1565–1617) – French-born English portrait miniature painter
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) – Flemish Baroque painter, watercolourist and etcher who became court painter in England
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677) – Czech etcher
Samuel Cooper (c.1608–1672) – English miniature painter
John Michael Wright (1617–1694) – British baroque portrait painter
Peter Lely (1618–1680) – Dutch painter and portrait artist in England
Francis Barlow (c.1626–1704) – English painter, etcher, and illustrator
David Loggan (1635–1692) – English baroque painter, born in Danzig
Godfrey Kneller (1646/9–1723) – portrait painter in England
Edward Pierce (1630–1695)
Francis Place (1647–1728) – English potter and engraver
James Thornhill (1675–1734) – English painter of historical subjects
Jonathan Richardson (1665–1745) – English portrait painter
Peter Monamy (1681–1749) – English marine painter
John Wootton (1682–1764) – English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes
Pieter Andreas Rysbrack (1685 or 1690–1748) – Flemish painter working in London
John Michael Rysbrack (1694–1770) – Flemish sculptor working in London
John Vanderbank (1694–1739) – English portrait painter and book illustrator
William Hogarth (1697–1764) – English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist
Born 1700–1799
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J. M. W. Turner, The Fighting Temeraire, National GalleryThomas Gainsborough, The Blue Boy, 1770William Blake, Newton (1795)
Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle (1778–1865) – Franco-English painter specializing in literary, historical and religious subjects
Louis-François Roubiliac (1702/5–1762) – French sculptor whose works reside in Westminster Abbey
Samuel Scott (1702–1770) – British landscape painter
James Seymour (c.1702–1752) – English painter especially of equestrian art
William Hoare (c.1707–1792) – English painter especially of pastels
Francis Hayman (1708–1776) – English painter, illustrator, and one of the founding members of the Royal Academy
Arthur Devis (c.1712–1787) – English portrait painter, especially of conversation pieces and other small portraits
Allan Ramsay (1713–1784) – Scottish portrait painter
Richard Wilson (1713–1782) – Welsh landscape painter and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy
Alexander Cozens (c.1717–1786) – British landscape painter in watercolours and a published teacher of painting
Charles Brooking (1723–1759) – English painter
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) – English painter specialising in portraits
George Stubbs (1724–1806) – British painter especially of horses
James Lambert (1725–1788) – English landscape painter
Francis Cotes (1726–1770) – English painter
Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) – English portrait and landscape painter
Paul Sandby (1730–1809) – English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours
Sawrey Gilpin (1733–1807) – English animal painter
Johann Zoffany (1733–1810) – German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England
George Romney (1734–1802) – English portrait painter
Joseph Wright (1734–1797) – English landscape and portrait painter
Alexander Runciman (1736–1785) – Scottish painter of historical and mythological subjects
Mary Black (c.1737–1814) – English portrait painter
Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823) – sculptor from London
Francis Towne (1739/40–1816) – English watercolour painter
John Crome (1768–1821) – English artist, founder of the Norwich school of painters
Martin Archer Shee (1769–1850) – Irish painter and President of the Royal Academy
Thomas Lawrence (1769–1820) – English portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy
James Ward (1769–1859) – English painter, particularly of animals, and an engraver
Thomas Phillips (1770–1845) – English portrait and subject painter
Henry James Richter (1772–1857) – engraver and painter
François Hüet Villiers (1772–1813) – French-born portrait painter, resident in London
Anne Frances Byrne (1775–1837) – painter of flowers and still lifes
Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) – English painter, watercolourist, and etcher
Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet (1775–1852) – painter of landscapes and horses
J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) – English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker
John Constable (1776–1837) – English Romantic painter
John Higton (1776–1827) – English painter, particularly of animals, and an engraver
Maria Spilsbury (1776–1820) – painter of religious subjects
John Masey Wright (1777–1866) – watercolour painter
John Varley (1778–1842) – English watercolour painter and astrologer
Augustus Wall Callcott (1779–1844) – English landscape painter
Samuel Colman (1780–1845) – English painter
James Holworthy (1781–1841) – watercolour painter
John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) – artist of the Norwich school, mainly in watercolour
Frederick Nash (painter) (1782–1856) – architectural and landscape painter
David Cox (1783–1859) – English landscape painter
Samuel Prout (1783–1852) – English watercolour painter
Peter De Wint (1784–1849) – English landscape painter
John Romney (1785–1863) – mainly printmaking and watercolour
David Wilkie (1785–1841) – Scottish painter
William Mulready (1786–1863) – Irish genre painter living in London
Benjamin Haydon (1786–1846) – English historical painter and writer
Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1855) - English watercolor painter of landscapes
Patrick Nasmyth (1787–1831) – Scottish landscape painter
John Martin (1789–1854) – English painter
William Henry Hunt (1790–1864) – English watercolor painter
George Hayter (1792–1871) English painter, specialising in portraits
John Linnell (1792–1882) – English landscape painter
Francis Danby (1793–1861) – Irish painter
Edward Calvert (1799–1883) – English printmaker and painter
James Holland (1799–1870) – landscape painter and illustrator
David Ogborne (died 1800/1) – English painter of events and curiosities in Essex
Eglington Margaret Pearson (died 1823) – stained glass painter
Cosmo Armstrong (died 1847) – English line-engraver
Born 1800–1899
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Augustus Leopold Egg, The Travelling Companions, 1862John Ruskin by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, 1853–1854, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828) – English Romantic landscape painter
Edwin Henry Landseer (1802–1873) – English painter and sculptor especially of animals, particularly horses, dogs, and stags
Thomas Shotter Boys (1803–1874) – English watercolourist
Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803–1902) – English painter especially of cattle and farm animals
John Steell (1804–1891) – Scottish sculptor
John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876) – Orientalist English painter
Samuel Palmer (1805–1881) – English landscape painter, etcher, and printmaker
William Dyce (1806–1864) – Scottish artist
John Greville Fennell (1807–1885) – landscape painter
Arthur Elliot (1809–1892) – British watercolourist
Thomas Mogford (1809–1868) – English portrait painter and landscape painter
James John Hill (1811–1882) – English painter
Edmund John Niemann (1813–1876) – English painter
Lucette Barker (1816–1905) – English painter
William James Blacklock (1816–1858) – English landscape artist, painting scenery in Cumbria, the Lake District and the Scottish Borders
Edward Armitage (1817–1896) – English Victorian era painter especially of historical, classical and biblical subjects
Richard Dadd (1817–1886) – English painter especially of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes
Walter Hood Fitch (1817–1892) – Scottish botanist and botanical artist
Alfred Tippinge (1817–1898) – British Grenadier Guard who sent home paintings of the Crimean War
George Frederic Watts (1817–1904) – English Victorian painter and sculptor of the Symbolist movement
Branwell Brontë (1817–1848) – English portrait painter; one of the Brontë children, brother of Anne, Emily and Charlotte; occasional poet and writer
William Hemsley (1819–1906) – English genre painter; vice president of the Society of British Artists
William Powell Frith (1819–1909) – English painter specialising in portraits and Victorian era narratives
George Gammon Adams (1821–1898)- English sculptor and medallist
Ford Madox Brown (1821–1893) – English painter of moral and historical subjects
Lefevre James Cranstone (1822–1893) – English painter, known for paintings of antebellum America
Frances Emilia Crofton (1822–1910) – Anglo-Irish artist
Frederick Goodall (snr) (1822–1904) – English artist specialising in oriental scenes
Frederick William Keyl (1823–1871) – German-born British painter of animals
Charles Davidson (1824–1902) – English watercolour painter
Henry Alexander Bowler (1824–1903) – English painter and academic
Abraham Solomon (1824–1862) – English painter
Thomas Woolner (1825–1892) – English sculptor and poet
Barbara Bodichon (1827–1891) – English educationalist and landscape artist
William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) – British painter, founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Robert Taylor Pritchett (1828–1907) – English watercolourist and illustrator
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) – English poet, illustrator, painter and translator
Anna Blunden (1829–1915) – English painter
James Docharty (1829–1878) – Scottish landscape painter
Edwin Long (1829–1890) – English orientalist painter, depicting Biblical and Middle Eastern subjects
John Everett Millais (1829–1896) – English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
John Henry Dell (1830–1888) – English painter and illustrator
Alfred William Hunt (1830–1896) – English painter
Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) – English painter and sculptor especially of historical, biblical and classical subject matter
Charles James Lewis (1830–1892) – English painter in oils and watercolours
Marianne North (1830–1890) – English naturalist and flower painter
Walter Severn (1830–1904) – English watercolourist
John William Bailey (1831–1914) – British miniature painter
Benjamin Williams Leader (1831–1923) – English painter
Louise Rayner (1832–1924) – English watercolourist
Arthur Hughes (1832–1915) – English painter and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
William Quiller Orchardson (1832–1910) – Scottish portraitist and painter of domestic and historical subjects
Daniel Charles Grose (1832–1900) – English painter
Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898) – English artist and designer
Joseph Clark (1834–1926) – English oil painter of domestic scenes
William Morris (1834–1896) – English artist, writer, and socialist
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) – American-born, British-based painter and etcher
Wyke Bayliss (1835–1906) – English painter of churches and cathedrals
William McTaggart (1835–1910) – Scottish landscape painter
Arthur Boyd Houghton (1836–1875) – British painter (oil and watercolours) and illustrator
John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893) – English painter especially of landscapes
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) – British classical-subject painter
James Tissot (1836–1902) – French-born painter of portraits as well as genre subjects
John Sowden (1838–1926) – English watercolourist
Horatio Joseph Lucas (1839–1873) – English artist
Simeon Solomon (1840–1905) – English Pre-Raphaelite painter
Frederick Walker (1840–1875) – English Social Realist painter and illustrator in watercolours and oils
Albert Moore (1841–1893) – English painter especially of languorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world
Alexander Rossi (1841–1916) – British artist specializing in genre works
Thomas Bush Hardy (1842–1897) – British marine painter and watercolourist
William John Seward Webber (1842–1919) – English sculptor
Lucy Madox Brown (1843–1894) – English painter and watercolourist
Walter Crane (1845–1915) – English artist and book illustrator
Frank Holl (1845–1888) – English painter
Walter Greaves (1846–1930) – English painter
James Campbell Noble (1846–1913) – Scottish landscape, seascape and portrait painter
John Eyre (1847–1927) – English genre painter, illustrator, painted and designed pottery
Ralph Hedley (1848–1913) – English realist painter, woodcarver and illustrator
John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) – English Pre-Raphaelite painter especially of female characters from mythology and literature
Henry Richard Hope-Pinker (1850–1927) – English sculptor
John Collier (1850–1934) – British writer and painter in the Pre-Raphaelite style
Robert Weir Allan (1851–1942) – Glasgow-born painter of landscape and marine subjects
John Charles Dollman (1851–1934) – English narrative, landscape and animal painter
Edward Robert Hughes (1851–1914) – English painter in a Pre-Raphaelitism and Aestheticism style
Edmund Leighton (1853–1922) – English painter in Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic styles
Frank Dicksee (1853–1928) – English Victorian painter and illustrator especially of dramatic historical and legendary scenes
Maude Goodman (1853–1938) (a.k.a. Matilda Scanes) – English Victorian fine art painter and children's book illustrator, Romantic genre paintings
Caroline Gotch (1854–1945) – English painter associated with the Newlyn School of artists
Walter Dendy Sadler (1854–1923) – English painter
Alfred Wallis (1855–1942) – Cornish fisherman and artist
David Winder (1855–1933) – Bolton, Lancashire-born British artist; oil and watercolour
James Pittendreigh MacGillivray (1856–1938) – Scottish sculptor
Alfred William Rich (1856–1921) – English landscape artist
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) – Expatriate American living in England; leading portrait painter of his era, landscape painter and watercolourist
Richard Caton Woodville (1856–1927) – English artist, and illustrator especially of battle scenes
Joseph Benwell Clark (1857–1938) – English landscape painter and book illustrator
Stanhope Forbes (1857–1947) – British artist, founder of the Newlyn School
Arthur Hacker (1858–1919) – English classicist painter
Henry Scott Tuke (1858–1929) – English painter who lived in Cornwall, best known for his maritime paintings and male nudes
Walter Sickert (1860–1942) – English Impressionist painter
Solomon Joseph Solomon (1860–1927) – English painter of mythological scenes and portraits
Philip Wilson Steer (1860–1942) – English artist
Harriet Isabel Adams (1863–1952) – British artist and illustrator
Lily Delissa Joseph (1863–1940) – English painter
Charles Edgar Buckeridge (1864–1898) – church decorative artist