Hello,
I know you are a painter. I am an artist as well (movies conceptual design) and I really recommend you not to go into the usual brands like Samsung, Dell etc.
EIZO is a japanese brand that manufactures flat screens for graphic artists. (widescreen too)
They have the great advantage of being MUCH more true to colors and contrast, due to a different technology than the usual brands. Eizo screens don't have the usual backlight, means that black will be reprsented as truly black etc.The whole white to black gamma range is much better. The screen is also a lot sharper than the usual commercial ones. It will enhance your computer experience, looking at pictures, reading on screen etc. Also the gaming experience of course. I bought Eizo for my design company and nobody wants to go back to the old screens.
here is a link:
http://www.eizo.com/index.asp
I bought the Eizo FlexScan S2411W.