John 1971

Elizabeth Peyton

(1997)

A small watercolor on paper portrait in which Elizabeth Peyton distills a remembered likeness into spare, lyrical washes to evoke intimacy and feeling rather than photographic detail.

What strikes you is the pale, almost mask-like face punctuated by intense green eye-shapes and a red mouth, set against dark, enveloping clothing and loose, rhythmic brushstrokes that make the hands and a small green object feel immediate yet quietly mysterious.

Working in a modest scale and the immediacy of watercolor, Peyton helped renew intimate, diaristic portraiture in the 1990s, showing how quick, expressive washes can translate memory, celebrity and emotion into contemporary art.

Palette

Art Terms

Watercolor Drawing Portrait Figurative Contemporary art Gestural Investigating identity

Exhibitions

American Drawings and Watercolors: A Selection from the Collection

1969

Handmade Paper Prints and Unique Works

1976

Frank O'Hara/In Memory of My Feelings

1967

New Art for the New Year

1977