6 Famous Jigsaw Puzzle Artists

Puzzle enthusiasts love to learn about the artists who create such mesmerizing, mysterious and appealing jigsaw puzzles. Today you will learn about five of the famous jigsaw puzzle artists in the world. 

Jigsaw puzzle artists have unique gifts and perceptions, allowing them to create some of the most idyllic illustrations.  For example, Charley Harper was one of the most famous jigsaw puzzle artists who create numerous appealing wildlife puzzles, posters, and prints. Similarly, other artists like Jan Van Haasteren, Haruyo Morita, Josephine Wall, Victoria Frances, and Paul Heussenstamm are famous for creating some of the best jigsaw puzzles in recent history. 

Throughout the entire period since the inception of jigsaw puzzles a couple of centuries ago, artists have been creating some exciting and highly stylized illustrations. From wildlife-themed jigsaw puzzles to abstract arts, sceneries to cartoon illustrations for kids, you will find jigsaw puzzle artists with their own specialty. In this article, you will learn about six very famous jigsaw puzzle artists of the present era. 

The first-ever jigsaw puzzle ever created was by a British cartographer and engraver John Spilsbury back in 1760s. Since then, numerous artists have come and paved the way for jigsaw puzzles to take the form that we see in today’s world. 

1. Charley Harper

Charley Harper was born in 1922 in Cincinnati and was a very popular American Modernist artist. Charley was well-known for creating some of the most highly stylized wildlife, posters, prints, book illustrations, and jigsaw puzzles. 

His style was known as “minimal realism” as he captured the essence of all his subjects with very few possible visual elements. In his jigsaw puzzles, you will see exciting shapes, patterns, color combinations, and textures. 

He regarded his puzzles as an ecosystem where all the elements were interdependent and interrelated for well-balanced and perfectly trimmed illustrations. 

2. Haruyo Morita

Haruyo Morita is one of the famous jigsaw puzzle artists hailing from Japan.  During her early years, Haruyo moved into the circuit as a kimono painter. Her work revolves primarily around the idyllic settings and women in kimono. 

The paintings of Haruyo Morita have been a primary source for many calendars, desktop wallpapers, posters, and jigsaw puzzles. 

3. Victoria Frances

Victoria is a Spanish Illustrator born in Valencia in 1982. However, she also lived in Galicia for a while as a child. She later earned a degree in Fine Arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Her work has been a source of many appealing and jawdroppingly gorgeous jigsaw puzzles and has received many accolades and awards. 

Victoria’s style takes inspiration from the Gothic movement, and all her illustrations follow this genre. Her illustrations turned into Jigsaw puzzles showing young couples or women depicting solitary characters. 

She focuses on the melancholic and romantic atmosphere. According to Victoria Frances, her inspiration comes from the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Goethe, etc. 

4. Josephine Wall

Josephine Wall is a British Fantasy artist, sculptor, and painter born in Farnham, Surrey, in 1947. Many of her paintings turned into jigsaw puzzles, and she claims to get inspiration from Arthur Rackham. Other influencers in Josephine’s work include surrealist artists like Dali and Magritte. Plus, her work depicts the romanticism of the Pre-Raphaelites.  

A comprehensive collection of Josephine’s work has been a center of attraction at exhibitions in Tokyo and Teheran in 1974. Josephine and her work were also the highlights of a special television feature in 1990. She later allows British and Swiss firms to publish her work as posters, prints, and jigsaw puzzles. 

If you wish to get her limited editions or originals, you can still get them through Courtenay’s Fine Art & Courtyard of Romance. 

5. Paul Heussenstamm

One of the five most famous jigsaw puzzle artists is Paul Heussenstamm. He is an American lecturer and painter. Paul began painting at the age of 26. He is also very renowned for traveling across the United States and other countries conducting workshops known as “Art as a Spiritual Path.”

Paul is a prolific and well-recognized artist whose work draws influence from spiritually and is on display in various spiritual and religious centers across the country. Some of his work became the primary source of very mesmerizing jigsaw puzzles, including mandala paintings as a premier artwork in both multicultural and spiritual genres. 

6. Jan Van Haasteren

Jan Van Haasteren’s jigsaw puzzles have been world-famous for many years now. If you are a true jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, you must have heard of the name or solved one of his scenic puzzles. From Jumbo-sized shopping malls to libraries, roadside work to island retreats, Jan Van Haasteren is famous for creating some of the most idyllic, realistic, and complicated jigsaw puzzles ever. 

You will find more than 200 different jigsaw puzzles with pieces ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 per jigsaw puzzle.