Elizabeth Peyton

American artist Elizabeth Peyton is one of the outstanding painters of her generation, a painter known for her intimate figurative portraits of youthful, romantic people, ranging from friends, to historical figures, to music world celebrities. Her work is intensely personal, but the subject becomes an intimate of both audience and artist. Peyton's ability to draw the viewer in is a result of her own fascination and curiosity about the figures she chooses. They are stylish in a timeless way and are at moments in their lives when they stand for their own ideals of independence, beauty, and artistry. Her manner is to paint small, devotional images in an "awkward, self-effacing way with an offhand intensity." Compiled by Peyton herself, the book chronicles ten years of inspiration, her works in many media, and her exhibitions, revealing the evolution of this exceptional artist who has been highly influential, in the words of the New York Times, in bringing "a return to beauty in art, a resurgence of figurative work, and a revival of painting."