Elizabeth Peyton

Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2007

Los Angeles, Regen Projects, Elizabeth Peyton, 2007
London, Hayward Gallery, The Painting of Modern Life, 2007, p. 136, no. 81, illustrated in colour

Colours: The colours In the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Upon extremely close inspection, there is a very short hairline crack in the lower right corner. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
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Elizabeth Peyton is one of the most versatile and popular portrait painters of the twenty-first century, her choice of subject matter – usually celebrities or familiar figures – rendering her work instantly approachable and accessible. Although historical personages have frequently featured within her body of work, more recent paintings have tended to focus on contemporary personalities whom are in some way notable, including the Gallagher brothers, Eminem and Princes William and Harry amongst a diverse range of others.

 Klose, Podolski and Frings (German Team Stretching), July 8, 2006 highlights the achievements of three German footballers who all played key roles in Germany’s quest for World Cup Glory as host nation in 2006 (a respectable third place was their final position). Miroslav Klose was Germany’s top scoring player during the tournament, with five goals altogether, whilst Lukas Podolski tied for second most successful player with three goals in total: Podolski worked in highly effective tandem with Klose as his ‘strike partner.’ Torsten Frings completes the trio. The three sportsmen are depicted preparing for their final match of the World Cup: utterly focussed on the task in hand, they perform their pre-match exercises with such vigour that their outstretched legs almost seem to leap off the canvas. The crowd in the background is cleverly suggested through sketchy daubs of the brush, creating a pattern that is close to abstraction in its delineation. Vibrant expanses of green and yellow indicate the pitch and the edge of the stands, yet Peyton ensures that our primary focus remains on the players as the rightful subjects of the painting through her careful rendering of appearance and close attention to the details of kit and posture. The result is a magnificent recreation of a relatively ordinary moment, a celebration of unbridled sporting prowess immortalised by Peyton’s extraordinary ability to mythologize celebrated figures of our time.