Oliver Osborne
Oliver Osborne (b. 1985, Edinburgh, Scotland) lives and works in Berlin. Encompassing both figuration and abstraction, the artist uses repetition, as well as tweaks in composition and chiaroscuro, to excavate new images from sustained, often art-historical fixations. In this sense, Osborne explores painting’s malleability over time, as well as its relationship to the personal; his subjects range from recognisably appropriated figures of portraiture to his own family. Spanning such variations as silk-screen, monochromatic abstraction and photorealistic oil painting, the artist’s practice is never constrained. And although he may paint a singular subject multiple times, each rendition is never the same.
Selected solo exhibitions include: The Card Players, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, US (2026); Der Tegernseer Bauernjunge, Paulina Caspari, Munich, Germany (2026); The Sleeping Guard, Fondazione ICA Milano, Milan, Italy (2025); Ooh!, Union Pacific, London, UK (2025); Comic Sans, Francis Irv, New York, US (2025); Botticelli, Tanya Leighton, Berlin, Germany (2024); Recent Painting, Tanya Leighton, Los Angeles, US (2023); Mantegna’s Dead Christ, Union Pacific, London, UK (2022); Birth, Education, Leisure, Death, Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy (2019); and Bonnie, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (2018).
Selected group exhibitions include: Looking at Faces and Remembering Them, Jexuan Gallery, Shanghai, China (2025); The Third Perspective, The Merode, Brussels, Belgium (2025); Meet me by the lake, CLEARING, New York, US (2024); HEART – 100 artists. 1 mission, Hamburger
The Things Around You, 2026, oil on herringbone linen, 50 x 60 x 3 cm with frame
Untitled, 2024-25, oil on herringbone linen, 30.5 x 25.5 x 3 cm, 43.5 x 38.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2024, oil on herringbone linen, 25 x 20 x 3 cm
Portrait of a Youth (after Filippino Lippi) II, 2025, oil on linen, 25 x 20.2 x 3 cm, 34 x 29 x 6 cm with frame
Niemetzstraße, 2014-23, silkscreen on linen, 263 x 314 cm in two panels, 193 x 314 and 70 x 314 cm
Untitled, 2025, oil on herringbone linen, 25.5 x 20.5 x 3 cm, 38 x 33 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 30.5 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm, 43.5 x 37.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 24.5 x 26.5 x 2.5 cm, 37.5 x 39.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 48 x 42 cm, 52 x 46 x 3 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 47.7 x 41 cm, 51.7 x 45.6 x 3 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 111 x 71 x 3 cm, 123.6 x 84 x 6 cm with frame
Portrait of the Artist’s Son III, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 65 x 55 x 3 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 65.5 x 54 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Recent Painting (6 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 40.2 x 35.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Michel Majerus (from the Albrecht Fuchs photograph), 2022, oil on linen, 48.4 x 38.4 x 3 cm, 63.4 x 53.4 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2021, acrylic on linen, 185 x 145 x 2.7 cm
Mantegna's Dead Christ, 2022, sunlight on paper, 58 x 79.5 cm, 62.5 x 82 x 2.5 cm with frame
Untitled, 2022, oil on canvas, 50.4 x 40.4 x 3 cm, 65.4 x 55.4 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2022, oil on linen, 56.2 x 42.0 x 3 cm, 71.2 x 57 x 6 cm with frame
German Afternoons No. 9, 2022, oil on linen, 54.2 x 50.3 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 2, 2022, oil on linen, 45.2 x 40.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 11, 2022, oil on linen, 48.2 x 44.1 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons, 2022, machine embroidered cotton duck, 224 x 310 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 12, 2022, oil on linen, 35 x 30.3 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 6, 2021–22, oil on linen, 38.5 x 42.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Blue Sleeping Guard, 2026, oil on herringbone linen, 35 x 45 x 3 cm with frame
May Last Year, 2025, oil on herringbone linen, 110 x 70 x 3 cm, 123 x 83 x 6 cm with frame
Portrait of a Youth (after Filippino Lippi), 2025, oil on herringbone linen, 75.5 x 45.5 x 3 cm, 88.5 x 58.5 x 6 cm with frame
Ooh!, 2025, oil on herringbone linen, 155.2 x 112.2 x 3 cm
Untitled, 2025, oil on linen, 18.2 x 21 x 2.5 cm, 31.2 x 34 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled (Grund und Figur II), 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 113 x 72.5 x 6 cm, 126 x 85.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 22.5 x 28.5 x 2.5 cm, 35.5 x 41.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, carbon on paper, 30 x 24 cm, 34 x 28 x 3 cm with frame
Velázquez Boy, 2023, oil on herringbone linen, 26.5 x 22.5 x 2.5 cm, 39.5 x 35.5 x 6 cm with frame
A Portrait of a Fat Man (after Robert Campin), 2023, oil on linen, 35 x 30 x 3 cm, 48.4 x 43.2 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 130 x 82 x 3 cm, 143.5 x 96.2 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2023, oil on linen, 34 x 24 x 2 cm. Courtesy: Pelaires Gallery; photograph: David Bonet
Recent Painting (2 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 50.5 x 45.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Recent Painting (10 Leaves), 2022, oil on linen, 100.5 x 150.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Untitled, 2022, oil on linen, 26 x 28 x 3.2 cm, 41.4 x 43.4 x 6 cm with frame
Barbara Villiers, 2022, oil on linen, 35.5 x 30.5 x 3.2 cm, 50.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm with frame
Barbara Villiers, 2022, oil on linen, 35.5 x 30.5 x 3.2 cm, 50.5 x 45.5 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled, 2020-2022, oil on linen, 51 x 56 x 3.8 cm, 66 x 71 x 6 cm with frame
Untitled (Selbstbildnis), 2022, oil on linen, 45.2 x 40.2 x 3 cm, 60.2 x 55.2 x 6 cm with frame
German Afternoons No. 4, 2022, machine embroidered cotton duck, dimensions variable. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 13, 2022, oil on linen, 40.2 x 35.2 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
Untitled, 2021, oil on linen, acrylic and gesso on linen, 112 x 155 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
A Portrait of a Fat Man (After Robert Campin), 2022, oil on linen, 28 x 26 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton
German Afternoons No. 14, 2022, oil on linen, 42 x 55.5 cm. Courtesy: Tanya Leighton