About Cecily Brown

Cecily Brown stands out as one of the most acclaimed artists in contemporary painting, seamlessly navigating the delicate balance between figuration and abstraction. Her artwork is a virtuous blend of the dramatic compositions found in Baroque art with the dynamic energy of action painting, creating a visual language that is both familiar and wholly original. By drawing from a rich tapestry of art historical references—including the haunting, fractured forms of Francis Bacon, the lively gestural expressionism of Willem de Kooning, and the intricate, fantastical worlds of Hieronymous Bosch—Brown crafts scenes that are at once evocative and elusive.

Her approach to painting involves deconstructing traditional compositions through vigorous, gestural brushstrokes, positioning the viewer as a distant voyeur, especially in scenes with overt sexual undertones. Cecily Brown’s intention is for her paintings and prints to unfold gradually, revealing its layers and depths over time, ensuring that the act of viewing never reaches a conclusion but remains an ongoing engagement. She has stated, “One of the main things I would like my artwork to do is to reveal itself slowly, continuously, and for you never to feel that you’re really finished looking at something.”

In the late 1990s, alongside contemporaries such as Peter Doig, Chris Ofili, and Neo Rauch, Cecily Brown played a pivotal role in the revitalization of contemporary painting. Her contribution extends beyond her unique canvas artworks to include limited edition prints, offering a broader audience the opportunity to engage with her explorations of form, color, and narrative. Cecily Brown was born in London in 1969, and currently lives in New York City.

Auction record: US$6.8m, Sotheby’s, 2018

Notable exhibitions

Cecily Brown gained early institutional attention with her inclusion in the Greater New York exhibition at MoMA PS1 (2000) and the Whitney Biennial (2004), positioning her among a new generation of painters.

Her first major museum solo exhibition, Cecily Brown: Paintings, was held at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford in 2005. This was followed by important exhibitions at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2008), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2018), and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2018).

Most recently, Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2023) marked a critical milestone, highlighting her engagement with art history and the body.