Julian
Signed Print

Opie creates this print through the visual language of classical portraiture, producing a simple composition with the subject centred in the image and facing outwards. Synthesising historic modes of portraiture composition with distinctly modern and concise abstracted forms, Opie produces a unique and eye-catching image. Curator at the National Portrait Gallery Catherine MacLeod has remarked, ‘Julian Opie’s work references historical portraiture, and has often used compositional devices employed by seventeenth-century artists.’

Unusual for Opie’s work, this image shows the sitter intently looking at the viewer, his eyes rendered in a detailed style that catches the viewers’ attention. The closely cut composition further emphasises the intensity of the sitter’s stare. Rendered in Opie’s highly recognisable style, Julian works a form of self-promotion, as with many self-portraits in the art historical tradition and is rare in its depiction of the artist himself.