10 Portrait Painters Today You Need To Know

The decorum of portrait painting is rooted in the works of historical masters, depicting the sitter in three quarters, head and shoulders, sitting on a chair, or sometimes in a more dynamic pose. In contrast to some other historical genres—think of landscape painting or still life painting—portrait painting has remained a pertinent genre throughout the entire history of painting to this very day. As a result, in this article, we have carefully selected ten of the most important portrait painters today you simply need to know.

Despite losing its traditional role of depicting individuals with the advent of photography, as the camera can efficiently and effectively capture the likeness of a person with mechanical precision, portrait painting has retained its status as the privileged medium to capture something deeper beyond documenting reality. Through the artist’s hand, portrait painting reveals something beyond the sitter’s physical characteristics, offering insight into their psychology, identity, inner world, or the human experience in general.

This article presents a curated selection of ten contemporary painters who have dedicated a vast part of their oeuvre to this genre. Arranged in alphabetical order, the list highlights established figures who are actively shaping the field today. In doing so, we have excluded some of the usual suspects who are being repeated over and over again, from list to list, such as Gerhard Richter (b. 1932), Chuck Close (1940-2021), David Hockney (b. 1937), Alice Neel (1900-1984), Alex Katz (b. 1927), and Lucian Freud (1922-2011). Their legacies endure—and are almost tangible throughout this selection—yet their achievements and relevance lie mainly in the second half of the 20th century. Instead, this article focuses on ten artists with both feet in the 21st century.

1. Michaël Borremans

We start with Michaël Borremans, born in 1963 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, who resides and works in Ghent. Borremans is an internationally acclaimed artist known for his innovative approach to painting, combining technical precision reminiscent of Old Master painting with complex subject matter that resists straightforward interpretation, often addressing universal themes with a contemporary edge. Borremans’ paintings evoke a sense of introspection and silence, blending beauty with elements of discomfort or irritation to create images that linger with the viewer. The portrait is an utmost important genre within his oeuvre, exemplified by his latest exhibitions at David Zwirner; The Acrobat (2022) and The Monkey (2024). His enigmatic portraiture explores the complex relationship between surface, artifice, and his subjects’ psychological depth. Borremans’ portraits both honor and subvert the genre’s historical traditions, often placing his figures in meticulously staged yet unsettling scenes.

Borremans has exhibited extensively at major institutions worldwide. His works have been the subject of prominent solo exhibitions such as Michaël Borremans: The Duck at Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague (2020) and Michaël Borremans: Fixture at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (2015–2016). His 2014 survey Michaël Borremans: As Sweet as It Gets was shown at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels before traveling to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art. Borremans’ work is included in numerous international public collections, such as The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.¹

2. Kaye Donachie

Kaye Donachie, born in 1970 in Glasgow and residing and working in London, is a contemporary painter best known for her dreamlike paintings exploring the intersection between outer appearance and inner experience. Although her works are often rooted in reality, they evoke fleeting thoughts and emotions rather than portraying a specific individual or moment in time. Drawing inspiration from archival photographs and the art and writings of twentieth-century women modernists, Donachie refers to her paintings as “ciphers of ideas and emotions.” Her portraits are not literal representations of the figures they depict. Instead, she reclaims these figures as her own, constructing them through a combination of compositional studies, color alterations, and personal interpretation.

Her recent solo exhibitions include Song for the Last Act at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK (2023); Into the Thousand Mirrors at Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland (2021); and Silent As Glass at Maureen Paley, London (2018). Donachie’s work is held in notable collections such as The British Council, London; Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain (FRAC), Paris; and the University of Warwick Art Collection, UK. In 2023, a monograph of her work, Song for the Last Act, was published to accompany her exhibition at Pallant House Gallery. She has been awarded the John Moores Award, the Deloitte and Touche Award, the Christie’s Award, and the Princes Trust Award, among others.²

3. Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas, born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa, residing and working in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary painters. Over the past four decades, her work has consistently explored the complexities of identity and representation, often focusing on the human form—and, thus, the portrait in particular. Drawing from a vast archive of images, including art historical references, mass media, and personal photographs, Dumas creates paintings and drawings that are gestural, fluid, and often spectral. Her works reframe and re-contextualize her subjects, probing the shifting boundaries between public and private identities. Dumas portrays the living, the dead, newborns, or the old. Criminals, celebrities, or the unknown. Her friends, her family, or herself.

Her work has been the subject of numerous significant solo exhibitions, including Marlene Dumas: open-end at Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2022) and Le Spleen de Paris at Musée d’Orsay, Paris (2021). A major retrospective, Marlene Dumas: The Image as Burden, was presented at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in 2014, traveling to Tate Modern, London, and the Fondation Beyeler, Basel. Earlier retrospectives include Measuring Your Own Grave at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2008), which toured to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and The Menil Collection, Houston. Her works are held in prominent museum collections worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Tate, London. Dumas has received numerous awards, including the Rolf Schock Prize in the Visual Arts (2011) and the Johannes Vermeer Award (2012).³

4. Y.Z. Kami

Y.Z. Kami, born in 1956 in Tehran, Iran, residing and working in New York, is an artist known for his exploration of the tension between material and spiritual realms, as well as the interplay between external appearance and inner life. Working across painting, drawing, collage, and sculpture, Kami creates contemplative portraits and abstract works that engage with themes of identity, presence, and transcendence. His large-scale portraits, rendered in matte oil paint on linen, are based on his own photographs and depict family, friends, and strangers. These meditative images, often featuring figures with their eyes closed or downcast, evoke a sense of intimacy and timelessness, drawing parallels to Byzantine frescoes and Fayum funerary portraits.

Kami’s work has been exhibited globally, including in major solo exhibitions such as The Watchful Portraits of Y.Z. Kami at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (2003), and Endless Prayers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2016–17). He participated in the 52nd Biennale di Venezia in 2007 and has held solo exhibitions at venues such as the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London. His midcareer survey, De forma silenciosa/In a Silent Way, was presented at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain (2022–23), and in 2023, his exhibition Light, Gaze, Presence was shown across multiple venues in Florence, Italy. His work is held in prestigious collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the British Museum in London.⁴

5. Yan Pei-Ming

Born in 1960 in Shanghai, China, residing and working in Dijon, France, Yan Pei-Ming is internationally renowned for his expressive portraits, which feature a wide array of subjects, from prominent figures like Mao Zedong, Bruce Lee and Barack Obama to deeply personal depictions of his family and self-portraits. The artist is also known for his reinterpretations of historical events and iconic works from art history. Central to his practice is an exploration of power and status, as seen through the lens of traditional European portraiture, yet drawing on his Chinese cultural heritage. His artistic approach is characterized by his use of monochrome palettes, primarily in black and white or red and white, which sharpens the focus on his subjects and compositions. In recent years, his palette has expanded to include a broader range of colors, such as blue and green, while his distinctive, energetic brushstrokes lend his works a near-abstract quality when viewed closely, becoming more defined from a distance.

His breakthrough on the international stage came at the 2003 Venice Biennale, and his work has since been exhibited in leading institutions worldwide. Notable exhibitions include his presentation at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, China; CAC Malaga, Spain; Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France; Villa Medici in Rome, Italy; Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Austria; and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, France, to name just a few. His works are part of prestigious collections, including the Louvre, where he presented a series of portraits in dialogue with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Yan Pei-Ming continues to explore the tension between representation and abstraction, infusing his portraits with both cultural reflection and contemporary relevance. Recent exhibitions have focused on his self-portraits, such as those at the Musée Unterlinden, Colmar (2021), and Schlossmuseum Linz, Austria (2022).⁵

6. Elizabeth Peyton

Elizabeth Peyton, born in 1965 in Danbury, Connecticut, the United States of America, residing and working in New York, is renowned for her portraits, which capture friends, lovers, and figures from a wide range of backgrounds, including artists, activists, athletes, musicians, and political figures. Her subjects, drawn from life, memory, literature, and found images, express themes of love, beauty, and the passage of time. With a distinctive approach to light and emotion, Peyton’s work conveys universal feelings through the specificity of each individual, creating a painted world that connects the viewer to the larger human experience.

Peyton’s work has been exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions at institutions like the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2008), Whitechapel Gallery, London (2008), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2009), Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2017), and the National Portrait Gallery, London (2019). She has received several awards, including the Larry Aldrich Award from The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut (2006), and was honored at the New Museum Gala in 2018. Peyton’s works are held in major public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, United Kingdom; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the National Portrait Gallery, London.⁶

7. Jenny Saville

Jenny Saville, born in 1970 in Cambridge, England, residing and working in Oxford, is known for her groundbreaking depictions of the human form, which blend elements of classical figuration with modern abstraction. Her large-scale paintings are distinguished by the thick application of oil paint, where pigment becomes as visceral and dynamic as flesh itself. As Saville layers, smears, and scrapes the paint across her canvases, the boundary between physical bodies and their painted representations begins to blur, creating an intense sensory experience. In her portraits and self-portraits, Saville engages in an art historical dialogue about virtuosity in the depiction of flesh, the self, and the decorum of the genre, referencing artists such as Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) or Rembrandt Van Rhijn (1606-1669).

As a member of the Young British Artists (YBAs), Saville emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a leading figure in contemporary figurative painting. Notable exhibitions include solo or ⁷two-person shows at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, Scotland; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy; and group exhibitions at the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden; the Courtauld Gallery, London, England; the name just a few. Her works are featured in renowned public and private collections, encompassing The Broad, Los Angeles, the United States of America; The George Economou Collection in Athens, Greece; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the United States of America; and Tate in London, England; among others.

8. Claire Tabouret

Claire Tabouret, born in 1981 in Pertuis, France, residing and working in Los Angeles, the United States of America, is a contemporary artist best known for her evocative paintings that explore the vulnerability of human relationships and the passage of time. Tabouret’s work features layers of paint, loose brushstrokes, and expressive use of fabrics, often merging natural and artificial tones through a palette that evokes both the hues of makeup and the earth. Her paintings frequently depict bodies in confrontation, intimate portraits, up to large assemblies of figures. Through her exploration of human connections and identity, Tabouret’s work captures the tension between the individual and the collective, as well as the complexities of emotional expression—as exemplified by her numerous portraits and self-portraits.

Tabouret exhibited at prestigious venues, including Musée Picasso in Paris, France; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, France; Collection Lambert, Avignon, France; Museo Pietro Canonica in Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, the United States of America; FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France; and more. Her works are held by renowned collections, including Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence, Italy; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, France; Collection Lambert, Avignon, France; FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France; Voorlinden Museum, The Netherlands; Los Angeles County Museum of Art – LACMA, Los Angeles, California, the United States of America; and Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, the United States of America, among others. ⁸

9. Luc Tuymans

Luc Tuymans, born in 1958 in Mortsel, Belgium, residing and working in Antwerp, is regarded as one of the most influential painters of his generation. Known for his distinctive approach to figurative painting, Tuymans explores themes of history, memory, and representation. In doing so, he often portrays historical figures or notorious personalities, emphasizing their moral and psychological dimensions, encompassing the Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa, the Nazi war criminal Reinhard Heydrich, the assassinated Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba, former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, faces of the mentally ill, up to intriguing self-portraits. In these portraits, Tuymans reduces his subjects to their social roles, allowing only the gaze to convey deeper layers of meaning. In his portraits, the gaze reflects moral qualities such as willpower, indifference, resignation, and intent. Once the social function is removed from the depiction of the face, what remains is the charged, often ambiguous, blurred, absent, direct, or inward, gaze—a vessel for the inner energies of the individual.

Tuymans has had numerous solo exhibitions with the gallery, most recently The Barn (2023). His works have been exhibited at leading institutions worldwide, including Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Menil Collection in Houston. In November 2024, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing will present The Past, a major exhibition of Tuymans’s work. Tuymans’s work is held in prominent museum collections, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Centre Pompidou, Paris, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Tate, United Kingdom. Over his career, he has received numerous accolades, including the Medal of Honor at the International Congress of Contemporary Painting (2019) and the Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation Award (2000).⁹

10. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, born in 1977 in London, the United Kingdom, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a British artist known for her figurative paintings that depict fictional characters untethered to any specific time or place. Her subjects are created from a variety of sources—people, objects, thoughts, photographs, and memories—but remain deliberately ambiguous, inviting viewers to project their own interpretations onto the work. The fluidity of her figures, combined with poetic and evocative titles, reflect Yiadom-Boakye’s interest in the intersection of fiction and reality, where neither the paintings nor their titles are required to describe or explain their meaning. As a result, her portraits of people of color are often politicized due to this decontextual intervention, suggestively questioning imposed narratives.

Yiadom-Boakye has garnered international recognition for her work, as she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2013 and received the prestigious Carnegie Prize in 2018. Her solo exhibition Fly in League with the Night, organized by Tate Britain, traveled to major institutions, including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, K20 in Düsseldorf, and MUDAM in Luxembourg. Other significant solo exhibitions have been held at the New Museum and Studio Museum in New York, Haus Der Kunst in Munich, and Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. Yiadom-Boakye’s work is included in major public collections worldwide, including the Tate Collection, London; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Kunstmuseum Basel. Recent additions to institutional collections include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.¹⁰

Notes:

1. David Zwirner, Michaël Borremans at https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/michael-borremans consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
2. Maureen Paley, Kaye Donachie at https://www.maureenpaley.com/artists/kaye-donachie consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
3. David Zwirner, Marlene Dumas at https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/marlene-dumas consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
4. Gagosian, Y.Z. Kami at https://gagosian.com/artists/yz-kami/ consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
5. Thaddaeus Ropac, Yan Pei-Ming at https://ropac.net/artists/90-yan-peiming/ consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
6. David Zwirner, Elizabeth Peyton at https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/elizabeth-peyton consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
7. Gagosian, Jenny Saville at https://gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/ consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
8. Perrotin, Claire Tabouret at https://www.perrotin.com/artists/claire_tabouret/ consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
9. David Zwirner, Luc Tuymans at https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/luc-tuymans consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎
10. Jack Shainman Gallery, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at https://jackshainman.com/artists/lynette_yiadom_boakye consulted October 23, 2024. ↩︎

Last Updated on October 26, 2024