The East End gained its initial cache from the artists who have populated our shores for two centuries.

A thriving artists colony lurks below the glossy surface of our seaside towns. The artists claim they were drawn here by the light, and that they stayed because they found themselves in such good company among the other sculptors and painters setting down roots. Such legendary artists as Roy Lichtenstein, Winslow Homer, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell made this their home and found themselves supported by such institutions as the Parrish Art Museum and Guild Hall. On the following pages we've collected the artists who continue to paint and inspire our shores with their unique vision of the Hamptons.

Julian Schnabel

Our consummate modern-day renaissance man of the arts, Schnabel's ability to garner accolades in painting now stands in jeopardy of being eclipsed by his success in film making. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly made its debut last year at The Hamptons International Film Festival Last Year and went on to win him an Academy Award for Best International Film. Of course you'll still find him painting should you ever be invited to his Montauk home, a 10-bedroom seaside compound originally built for the banker Alfred M. Hoyt in 1882. His studio is a tall, green concrete rectangle with no roof, and in it he paints in the open air. Dressed typically in a dressing gown or sarong, Schnabel is a Montauk fixture who surfs when the break is right and in the company of Dennis Hopper, Peter Beard and Schnabel's daughters, Lola and Stella.

Cindy Sherman

With a MacArthur Genius Award and a N.E.A. fellowship under her belt, a beautiful home in East Hampton and artist David Byrne on her arm, Cindy Sherman would seem to have it all, a bulletproof version of success. But her art, primarily disquieting photographic self portraits, seems intent on revealing vulnerability, pain, even the grotesque. The very personal work has clearly reached an appreciative audience with her work often selling for upwards of $1 million. Sherman is collected by such museums as the Guggenheim, the Whitney and MoMA and has also participated in shows at Southampton's Parrish Art Museum and Guild Hall in East Hampton.

Rachel Feinstein

The North Fork proved an ideal escape this summer for Rachel and her husband, John Currin, himself a celebrated artist, and only one of the people who considers the ethereal beauty to be both a painter and a muse. He has famously captured Feinstein in his paintings, and likewise, Jeurgen Teller has photographed her for both W magazine and the Marc Jacobs campaign. Sofia Coppola and James Frey collaborated with Feinstein on a monograph book of her works, and judging by the throngs who attended her book launch at Glenn Horowitz Booksellers in East Hampton, her fan base is only growing.

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