Major American abstract painters (alphabetical by last name)

A–C

• Josef Albers
• Milton Avery
• Richard Anuszkiewicz
• Jennifer Bartlett
• Romare Bearden
• William Baziotes
• Ross Bleckner
• Norman Bluhm
• Fernando Botero (mainly associated with figurative work, but did some abstraction; Colombian-American ties)
• Louise Bourgeois (often sculptural, but with abstract elements)
• Mel Bochner
• Charles Burchfield (borderline abstraction)
• Alexander Calder (abstract sculpture and mobiles)
• John Chamberlain
• Vija Celmins (not pure abstraction but highly influential)
• Judy Chicago
• John Wesley (borderline pop/abstraction)
• Willem de Kooning (Dutch-born, became a leading American Abstract Expressionist)
• Allan D’Arcangelo (more hard-edge/Pop, but often included in abstract discussions)

C–E

• John McLaughlin
• John Cage (better known as a composer, but also an abstract visual artist)
• Mary Corse
• Chuck Close (mostly figurative, but his late grid works verge on abstraction)
• Allan Kaprow (Happenings, but with abstract painting early on)
• William Crozier (American-Irish connections, borderline)
• Richard Diebenkorn
• Gene Davis
• Sam Francis
• Helen Frankenthaler
• Adolph Gottlieb
• Arshile Gorky (Armenian-born, key figure in American abstraction)
• Philip Guston (early abstract, later figurative)

H–K

• Al Held
• Hans Hofmann (German-born, taught and worked in the U.S., central to American abstraction)
• Eva Hesse
• Carmen Herrera (Cuban-born American, hard-edge abstraction)
• Patrick Heron (more associated with British context, but worth noting if you’re studying abstraction broadly)
• Al Loving
• Ellsworth Kelly
• Franz Kline
• Lee Krasner
• Willem de Kooning (already listed above, but firmly in this core group)

L–N

• Morris Louis
• Brice Marden
• Robert Mangold
• Agnes Martin
• Joan Mitchell
• Robert Motherwell
• Barnett Newman
• Louise Nevelson (abstract sculpture)

O–R

• Jackson Pollock
• Larry Poons
• Milton Resnick
• Robert Rauschenberg (straddles abstraction, assemblage, Neo-Dada)
• Ad Reinhardt
• Mark Rothko (Latvian-born, central to American Color Field)
• Dorothea Rockburne
• Bridget Riley (British, but often studied alongside American hard-edge; not American) – flagged here so you don’t accidentally assume she is
• Larry Rivers (hybrid abstract/figurative)

S–Z

• Richard Serra (abstract sculpture)
• Frank Stella
• Myron Stout
• Clyfford Still
• Cy Twombly
• Richard Tuttle
• Jack Tworkov
• Kara Walker (primarily known for figurative silhouettes and installations, not strictly abstract)
• Andy Warhol (largely Pop and figurative, but some abstract series exist)
• William T. Williams
• Terry Winters

More recent / contemporary American abstract painters

These are mostly post-1970s and contemporary; many are still active:

• Mark Bradford
• Jennifer Riewe
• Julie Mehretu
• Charline von Heyl
• Amy Sillman
• Jacqueline Humphries
• Joanne Greenbaum
• Rashid Johnson (multi-media, with strong abstract elements)
• Mark Grotjahn
• Sterling Ruby
• Sarah Morris
• Tomma Abts (German-born, UK-based, but important in current abstraction; not American but often grouped in contemporary abstraction shows)
• Kehinde Wiley (primarily figurative; occasional abstract backdrops)
• Tauba Auerbach
• Jack Whitten
• Stanley Whitney
• Mary Heilmann
• Elizabeth Murray