Elizabeth Peyton’s portraits of cultural icons are characterised by a tender fascination that is reminiscent of teenage adoration. Starting with photographs, often from the weekly press, she transforms well-known figures such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and members of indie bands like Pavement, Pulp and Oasis, into intimate, almost ethereal apparitions. Executed in oil or watercolour, her works are characterised by thin layers of paint that sometimes run across the canvas, creating the impression that the subject is dissolving before our eyes. This auction features a portrait of Peter Doherty, the controversial singer of The Libertines and Babyshambles. At the time Peyton painted him, Doherty was a regular feature in the British tabloids due to his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss. He describes this period in his autobiography, A Likely Lad, published in 2022.
Born in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1965, Elizabeth Peyton showed an early interest in portrait painting. Interestingly, her initial subjects were historical figures, such as Napoleon and members of the British royal family, rather than contemporary musicians. One of her first exhibitions, held in Room 828 of the legendary Chelsea Hotel in 1993, did not feature any portraits of the many famous cultural figures who had stayed there; instead, it featured literary and political figures from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Peyton’s choice of subjects is deliberate and personal. Rather than depicting celebrities at random, she selects individuals with whom she feels a strong personal connection, transforming glossy press photographs into tranquil, introspective portraits. The small, intimate format plays down the model’s elevated status in society. At the same time, she reinforces themes of idol worship, desire, and identification through her motifs, which are created using transparent layers of colour.
The exhibition at the Chelsea Hotel marked her breakthrough. She attracted widespread attention from both collectors and critics as early as her second solo exhibition in 1995 at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in retrospectives at the New Museum in New York in 2008 and an exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis. In 2019, the National Portrait Gallery in London organised an exhibition entitled “Elizabeth Peyton: Aire and Angels”, in which the artist’s paintings were displayed alongside historical portraits from the museum's permanent collection. Peyton is currently featured in an exhibition at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York from 19 March to 2 May 2026, which includes a portrait of Greta Thunberg among other works.

Work by the artist is held in international public collections, such as the Art Institute of Chicago; Boros Collection, Berlin; The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, Connecticut; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Kultur123 Stadt Rüsselsheim, Germany; Kunstmuseum Basel; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Portrait Gallery, London; Orlando Museum of Art, Florida; Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Rubell Museum, Miami; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Seattle Art Museum; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Saint Louis Art Museum; Tate, United Kingdom; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.