Julian Opie

The British artist Julian Opie had his breakthrough in the 1980s as part of the movement ‘New British Sculpture’. This was a group of artists who, at the time, experimented with the medium of sculpture as a form of expression. Their themes included pop, humour, assemblage and the criticism of a consumer society. Other well-known figures who emerged from this group include Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor.

Since the 1980s Opie has refined his artistic language. Inspired by Pop art, minimalism, classical portraiture and Japanese woodcuts Opie has primarily worked with portraits. Despite his minimalistic style he brilliantly succeeds in capturing the individual’s character traits. His popular breakthrough using this technique came in 2000 when he created the cover for the album Blur: The Best Of by the Britpop band Blur.

In several projects shown at, amongst others, Lisson Gallery in London and Wetterling Gallery in Stockholm, the artist has worked consistently with a group of about thirty friends that he has then portrayed in sculptures, paintings, films and wallpapers.
The portrait in the auction was a special commission by a Swedish musician and pop singer in connection with an exhibition at Wetterling Gallery. When the painting arrived in Stockholm, the Swedish client informed him that he was very happy with his portrait and that he saw certain similarities with Hergé’s comic character Tintin. Opie then replied that that was because the musician really looked just like Tintin.
Six of Opie’s portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery in London; including the four portraits depicting the members of Blur.
Opie’s work can also be found in other public art collections such as Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York as well as the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.