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Lot Essay
Born in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1965, Elizabeth Peyton has gained wide acclaim for her paintings and works on paper of artists, a few aristocrats, writers, musicians, an occasional athlete, and lately, still lifes. Her subjects have included Napoleon, Sid Vicious, Queen Elizabeth, Gustave Flaubert, Nate Lowman, Frida Kahlo, Abraham Lincoln, Michelle Obama, Prince Harry, Georgia O'Keeffe, Isa Genzken, Kurt Cobain, among others.
Jay-Z, Glastonbury 2008 shows Jay-Z playing guitar at the Glastonbury Festival in England. Since the 1970s, the annual festival has showcased performing arts and music, in particular rock and indie bands. In 2008, Jay-Z was chosen as the headlining act and the choice was criticized, most noticeably by other musicians, including Noel Gallagher of Oasis, a regular performer at the festival. He called it "wrong," stating publicly that Glastonbury is no place for a hip-hop musician. To his critics, Jay-Z replied "it's ridiculous, if we don't embrace what is new, then how can we progress?" Brilliantly, Jay-Z opened his headlining concert by singing one of Oasis' most popular songs, Wonderwall, accompanying on guitar while the whole crowd sang along with him. His concert was one of the most successful shows ever seen at Glastonbury.
This drawing is typical of Peyton's interest in making pictures of people at a transformative moment in their lives and how people contain their time's history. Though her pictures show a deep knowledge of the tradition of portraiture, they have an instinctual knowledge of contemporary life.
Jay-Z, Glastonbury 2008 shows Jay-Z playing guitar at the Glastonbury Festival in England. Since the 1970s, the annual festival has showcased performing arts and music, in particular rock and indie bands. In 2008, Jay-Z was chosen as the headlining act and the choice was criticized, most noticeably by other musicians, including Noel Gallagher of Oasis, a regular performer at the festival. He called it "wrong," stating publicly that Glastonbury is no place for a hip-hop musician. To his critics, Jay-Z replied "it's ridiculous, if we don't embrace what is new, then how can we progress?" Brilliantly, Jay-Z opened his headlining concert by singing one of Oasis' most popular songs, Wonderwall, accompanying on guitar while the whole crowd sang along with him. His concert was one of the most successful shows ever seen at Glastonbury.
This drawing is typical of Peyton's interest in making pictures of people at a transformative moment in their lives and how people contain their time's history. Though her pictures show a deep knowledge of the tradition of portraiture, they have an instinctual knowledge of contemporary life.