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Biography

Cecily Brown (b. 1969, London) is one of the most celebrated artists working in painting today. Brown draws from the compositional structure, historical motifs, and virtuosic brushwork of master painters across a diverse range of genres. Using a palette ranging from bright hues to deep blacks, her works obscure singular readings as their compositions break down into restless, anfractuous, and elusive activity. Recent notable one-person exhibitions include "Cecily Brown: The 5 Senses," Paula Cooper Gallery (2024); "Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2023), “Cecily Brown,” Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2022); “The Triumph of Death,” Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples (2022); “Cecily Brown,” at Blenheim Palace, UK (2020–2021); “Where, When, How Often and with Whom” at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (2018); “If Paradise Were Half as Nice,” Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2018); and “Rehearsal,” at The Drawing Center, New York (2016). A survey of Brown’s work is currently on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. Her work is included in public collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Louisiana Museum, Denmark; the National Gallery of Norway, Oslo; the Tate Gallery, London; Glenstone Museum, Potomac; and the Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris.

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails
CECILY BROWN, Galleria Civica di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Torino, Torino, Italy, 2014-2015.

Installation view, Cecily Brown, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany, March 6 - April 9, 2022.

Cecily Brown Ladybird Nudes, 2022 oil on linen 79 x 79 in. (200.7 x 200.7 cm)

Cecily Brown
Ladybird Nudes, 2022
oil on linen
79 x 79 in. (200.7 x 200.7 cm)

Cecily Brown Those are pearls that were his eyes, 2016 oil on aluminum 43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)

Installation view, Cecily Brown, Paula Cooper Gallery, October 15 – December 12, 2020. Photo: Steven Probert.

Based on a True Story, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2010. Photo by Raimund Zakowski.

Installation view of Triumph of the Vanities II in Cecily Brown- Triumph of the Vanities, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 2018. 

 

Cecily Brown Madrepora (Shipwreck), 2016 oil on linen 97 x 151 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.9 x 3.8 cm)

Cecily Brown
Madrepora (Shipwreck), 2016
oil on linen
97 x 151 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.9 x 3.8 cm)

Cecily Brown  Hunt with Nature Morte and Blenheim Spaniel, 2019  Installation view of Cecily Brown at Blenheim Palace, Blenheim Palace, 2020.  Photograph by Tom Lindboe.  Courtesy of Blenheim Art Foundation.

Cecily Brown 
Hunt with Nature Morte and Blenheim Spaniel, 2019 
Installation view of Cecily Brown at Blenheim Palace, Blenheim Palace, 2020. 
Photograph by Tom Lindboe. 
Courtesy of Blenheim Art Foundation.

Cecily Brown Sing first that green remote Cockagne, 2016 oil on linen 109 x 113 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.5 cm)

Cecily Brown
Sing first that green remote Cockagne, 2016
oil on linen
109 x 113 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.5 cm)

Cecily Brown: Rehearsal, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2016.

Installation view of A Day! Help! Help! Another day! in Cecily Brown, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark 2018.

Cecily Brown
Little Frenchy, 2016-17
oil on linen
43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)

Cecily Brown
Little Frenchy, 2016-17
oil on linen
43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)

CECILY BROWN, Galleria Civica di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Torino, Torino, Italy, 2014-2015.

Installation view, Cecily Brown, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany, March 6 - April 9, 2022.

Cecily Brown Ladybird Nudes, 2022 oil on linen 79 x 79 in. (200.7 x 200.7 cm)

Cecily Brown
Ladybird Nudes, 2022
oil on linen
79 x 79 in. (200.7 x 200.7 cm)

Cecily Brown Those are pearls that were his eyes, 2016 oil on aluminum 43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)

Installation view, Cecily Brown, Paula Cooper Gallery, October 15 – December 12, 2020. Photo: Steven Probert.

Based on a True Story, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, 2010. Photo by Raimund Zakowski.

Installation view of Triumph of the Vanities II in Cecily Brown- Triumph of the Vanities, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 2018. 

 

Cecily Brown Madrepora (Shipwreck), 2016 oil on linen 97 x 151 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.9 x 3.8 cm)

Cecily Brown
Madrepora (Shipwreck), 2016
oil on linen
97 x 151 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.9 x 3.8 cm)

Cecily Brown  Hunt with Nature Morte and Blenheim Spaniel, 2019  Installation view of Cecily Brown at Blenheim Palace, Blenheim Palace, 2020.  Photograph by Tom Lindboe.  Courtesy of Blenheim Art Foundation.

Cecily Brown 
Hunt with Nature Morte and Blenheim Spaniel, 2019 
Installation view of Cecily Brown at Blenheim Palace, Blenheim Palace, 2020. 
Photograph by Tom Lindboe. 
Courtesy of Blenheim Art Foundation.

Cecily Brown Sing first that green remote Cockagne, 2016 oil on linen 109 x 113 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.5 cm)

Cecily Brown
Sing first that green remote Cockagne, 2016
oil on linen
109 x 113 x 1 1/2 in. (246.4 x 383.5 cm)

Cecily Brown: Rehearsal, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2016.

Installation view of A Day! Help! Help! Another day! in Cecily Brown, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark 2018.

Cecily Brown
Little Frenchy, 2016-17
oil on linen
43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)

Cecily Brown
Little Frenchy, 2016-17
oil on linen
43 x 53 in. (109.2 x 134.6 cm)