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[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
Often unrecognised in their lifetime, artists have subsidised their art with a variety of occupations.
Max Ernst (1891-1976)
The German surrealist painter and follower of the Dada movement was untrained as an artist, and was a student of philosophy in Bonn.
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Before becoming a painter and woodcut artist, the Frenchman was a sailor, then a successful stockbroker in Paris.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
One of the most influential abstract art pioneers, the Russian-born painter and writer studied law, economics and politics at the Moscow University and was a lawyer.
Paul Klee (1879-1940)
The Swiss abstract painter and graphic artist was a musician.
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976)
Financial hardships kept the faux-naïf style painter of two-dimensional, matchstick figures, as a clerk with a Manchester accountant and a rent collector.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
More than a painter, lithographer and sculptor, the Frenchman also studied law.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
The Impressionist landscape painter spent years with the French army in Algeria.
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)
The self-taught French primitive painter held a post in the Paris customs service.
Jack Vettriano (b 1951)
Scottish-born popular painter found early employ as a mining engineer.
Grant Wood (1892-1942)
A member of the American Regionalist school, as well as painting scenes of the American Midwest, he opened and worked in a handicraft shop in Iowa.
Graphics version (includes layout and images)