Single word request: a notable representative of a discipline [duplicate]

Single word request: a notable representative of a discipline

e.g. Picasso and Braque - Cubism

Picasso and Braque were "important representatives" of Cubism

Is there a word to replace "important representatives"?

Solution 1:

A representative of something can be notable or important in different ways, so the choice of the word will depend on the kind of importance that one has in mind. As has already been suggested in the comments, Picasso and Braque can be regarded as important representatives of cubism because they started that artistic movement; if that's what one has in mind, one will say that they were the founders of cubism. They are also important in that many of the people who don't know much about painting in general or cubism in particular, will know that they were cubists; if that's what one has in mind, one will say that they are the best known cubists.

What one may also have in mind, is that cubism is often defined by reference to their work: when one wants to teach somebody what cubism is, one will probably first point to their paintings. Whoever else may have been a cubist, they certainly were. Somebody who denied that Picasso was a cubist would be displaying a confusion about what the word cubism means. If that's the idea one wishes to express, one can say that they are paradigmatic cubists.

Solution 2:

People who are "important representatives" can be said to be

renowned
ADJECTIVE

Known or talked about by many people; famous.
The towering walls were covered with paintings of the world's most renowned artists.

(from Lexico)

Picasso and Braque were renowned pioneers of Cubism.

The word pioneer prompted by @TinfoilHat.