Elizabeth Peyton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elizabeth Peyton
Born	Elizabeth Joy Peyton 1965 (age 59–60) Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	School of Visual Arts, New York City
Known for	Painting

Elizabeth Joy Peyton is an American artist born in 1965. She is famous for her paintings, drawings, and prints. Elizabeth Peyton is best known for her portraits of people. She paints her friends, historical figures, and famous people from today's world. Her artwork often shows artists, writers, musicians, and actors.

Early Life and Art Training

Elizabeth Peyton was born in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1965. She was the youngest of five children. From a young age, she loved drawing and painting people. She studied fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. This was between 1984 and 1987.

Elizabeth Peyton's Art Style

Peyton's art is mostly about people. Her paintings show a mix of calm and strong feelings. She paints subjects from her own life and from history. Her work has a special look with rich, textured surfaces.

Peyton gets ideas from many creative people. She looks at works by historical figures like Gustave Flaubert and John Singer Sargent. She feels connected to artists and writers who show subjects simply. They aim to combine quiet feelings with strong emotions.

How Elizabeth Peyton Creates Art

Peyton works from real life and from photographs. She mainly uses painting, drawing, or printmaking. Sometimes, she creates art from other art. For example, she painted pictures of Camille Claudel's sculptures. She would paint from photographs of these sculptures.

Peyton explained that painting another artist's work helps her. It lets her explore "harder-to-reach things inside herself." This is because the basic design is already set. She also reuses images she has painted before. She might crop them differently. This changes how much of the background is shown. Changing the background affects how close or personal the artwork feels.

Prints and Still Life Art

Since 1998, Peyton has made many prints. These include monotypes, lithographs, and woodcuts. She started making prints after Parkett magazine asked her to create one. She likes to try different printing methods. She also uses various handmade papers. She uses many colored and plain inks.

Besides portraits, Peyton also creates still-life art. These works often show parts of portraits. They are mixed with flowers, statues, and other objects. This type of art started around 2007. It showed a shift from focusing only on people. She began to explore the environment around a person. This helped her express feelings in new ways.

Some examples of her still-life works include Pati (2007) and Balzac + Roses (2008). Other pieces are Flaubert + Madame Bovary (Elephants) (2008) and Camille Claudel and Flowers (Still Life) (2009). She also created Actaeon, Justin Bieber and Grey Roses (2010).

Art Collaborations

In 2009, Peyton worked with Matthew Barney. They created Blood of Two, an art project. It was on the Greek island of Hydra. Later, she worked with Jonathan Horowitz. They made a series of monotypes. These works explored plants and flowers as symbols of love and death. This led to paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and photos. They also made a book together.

Art Exhibitions

One of Peyton's first shows in New York City was in 1993. It was held in a room at the Hotel Chelsea. She mainly showed drawings there. People would ask the hotel for the key to Room 828. About 50 people saw her drawings. These included portraits of Napoleon and Marie Antoinette. This show helped her become known to the public.

Major Exhibitions

A big exhibition of her work began in October 2008. It was at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. The show then traveled to other places. These included the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Whitechapel Gallery in London. It also went to the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht. This was the first large show of her work in an American museum. It included her newest portraits. These showed more about the feelings of people like Matthew Barney and John Giorno.

After Barack Obama was elected president, a new painting was added to the show. It was created in August 2008. It showed Michelle Obama and her daughter at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Her art has also been shown in solo exhibitions. These include the Royal Academy in London (2002) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (2009). Her work was also displayed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (2011 and 2016). In 2011, her show Wagner featured works inspired by the composer's Ring cycle. In 2014, she contributed to another show about Alexander Borodin's Prince Igor.

In 2017, the Villa Medici in Rome had a special exhibition. It was called Elizabeth Peyton & Camille Claudel: Eternal Idol. It showed works by both artists. They were born a century apart. Their art was displayed together to show how they approached portraits differently. The same year, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan presented Elizabeth Peyton: Still Life. This was her first major art survey in Japan.

Most recently, a large show of her portraits was held. It was called Aire and Angels. It was at the National Portrait Gallery in London. This show ran from October 2019 to January 2020. Her first solo show in China was at UCCA Beijing. It was from June to October 2020. It was called Elizabeth Peyton.

Peyton's work was also part of the 2022 exhibition Women Painting Women. This show was at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Art Collections

Elizabeth Peyton's artworks are part of many important collections. These include the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Her art is also at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Other places include the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has about 30 of her drawings and paintings. These were collected over 25 years.

Her works are also in private collections. These include those of businessman Peter Brant and artist Isa Genzken.

Awards and Recognition

In 2006, Peyton received the 14th Annual Larry Aldrich Award. This award honors artists who have made a big impact on visual culture. In 2007, she was honored by amfAR. She received their Award of Excellence for Artistic Contributions. In 2011, Guild Hall's Academy of the Arts gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award. This was for her contributions to Visual Arts. In 2018, the New Museum honored Peyton at their yearly Spring Gala.

Personal Life

Elizabeth Peyton was married to fellow artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. She has also been in relationships with artist Klara Lidén and lawyer Pati Hertling. She lives in New York City’s West Village.

See also

In Spanish: Elizabeth Peyton para niños