Jonathan Yeo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jonathan Yeo
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Yeo in 2012
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| Born | 18 December 1970 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Portraiture |
Jonathan Yeo (born 18 December 1970,) is a British artist of contemporary portraiture who was educated at Westminster School. He rose to prominence for having painted Kevin Spacey, Dennis Hopper, and Cara Delevingne, among others. GQ described him as "one of the world's most in-demand portraitists."
In 2007, his unauthorised portrait of American President George W. Bush brought him worldwide notoriety. Yeo's 2016 mid-career survey at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle followed a retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 2013 and the Lowry in Manchester in 2014.
Yeo was the subject of a BBC Culture Show Special in September 2013. The monograph The Many Faces of Jonathan Yeo, featuring works from throughout his career, was published by London-based publisher Art/Books in the same month. His paintings are included within the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark, and the Royal Collection.
Early life and career
Yeo was born in London in 1970, to Tim Yeo, a Conservative MP. As a child, he suffered Hodgkin's disease. He lives with wife Shebah Ronay and two daughters in London, where he originates. In the early 2000s, he became known for his contemporary realist portraits of well-known figures. His subjects include actors Dennis Hopper, Jude Law, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily Cole, Nicole Kidman, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, the former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. In 2005, his portrait of Erin O'Connor was used to advertise London's National Portrait Gallery around the world. The painting was used as the front cover of '500 Portraits', a survey of the BP Portrait prize published in 2011.
Yeo was commissioned by the House of Commons as the official Election Artist for the 2001 general election, and he painted the leaders of the three largest parties. His triptych of Tony Blair, William Hague, and Charles Kennedy, entitled, 'Proportional Representation', was made up of canvases sized according to the subjects' popularity.
In January 2008, Yeo's official portrait of former Prime Minister Tony Blair was unveiled and struck a public chord with its clear Iraq war reference. It showed an older and wearier-looking Blair wearing a red poppy - a symbol of war remembrance for the British. In line with the political subjects that have featured throughout his work, in 2009, Yeo painted a full-length portrait of David Cameron just before his election to Prime Minister, which was sold at auction in 2010 for £200,000.
Between 2010 and 2012, Yeo created works based on cosmetic surgery procedures. He presents the faces of women in pre and post-operative states, as a counterpoint to the traditional portrait. This collection of paintings was the subject of two solo exhibitions, 'You're Only Young Twice' at Lazarides in London and ‘(I’ve Got You) Under My Skin' at Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin [1].
'Jonathan Yeo Portraits' at the National Portrait Gallery, London (2013-2014) included a selection of new and older works by Yeo. The new portraits included individuals who have made a significant mark on their field of expertise, including: the arts, theatre, and politics. Sitters include Doreen Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Damien Hirst, Malala Yousafzai, and Grayson Perry.
In 2014, the exhibition was shown at The Lowry Gallery in Salford and in 2015, it was on display at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark in honour of Yeo having painted the first official portrait of the former Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Yeo is art consultant at Soho House group. Jonathan Yeo was a judge for the 2010 Art Fund Prize for museums. In 2014 Yeo was on the panel of judges for the BP Portrait Prize.
In April 2011, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned Yeo to paint a portrait of David Attenborough for the Royal Collection.
In February 2016, Yeo's portrait of the actor Kevin Spacey in the role of President Francis J. Underwood, from the Netflix series House of Cards, was unveiled at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Spacey unveiled the painting in character as the fictional President Underwood, joking "I'm pleased the Smithsonian continues to prove itself as a worthwhile institution. I'm one step closer to convincing the rest of the country that I am the president." Netflix made a short film of the collaboration between the museum, actor, and artist to promote the fourth season of House of Cards, which premiered that same evening.
In March 2016, Yeo's largest retrospective to date opened at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark. A new series of paintings of the actor and model Cara Delevingne was unveiled at the museum as part of the exhibition. This series of portraits was made over an eighteen-month period and is concerned with image making and performed identity. Yeo said: "the way we manipulate and read self-portrait images, or 'selfies', in the last five years has far more in common with the activity of the 16th-century portrait artists and audiences than any art movement since the birth of photography". A portrait of the former Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, was also unveiled at the opening of this exhibition and will remain at the museum as part of its permanent collection. A new monograph, titled 'In The Flesh', was published by the museum to accompany the show.
In May 2024, Yeo's portrait of King Charles III, His Majesty King Charles III, was unveiled; the portrait, which was painted between June 2021 and November 2023, a period encompassing Charles' accession to the throne, was the first official portrait of the King since his coronation. Measuring about 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) by 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m), the work is in a vivid red and shows Charles in the uniform of the Welsh Guards. The BBC described it as "a vibrant painting", and Queen Camilla reportedly told Yeo approvingly: "Yes, you've got him."
See also
In Spanish: Jonathan Yeo para niños
