Jonathan Yeo (born 18 December 1970) is a British contemporary artist who specializes in both traditional and experimental forms of portraiture. His most celebrated paintings include King Charles III, Malala Yousafzai, Sir David Attenborough, Dennis Hopper, and Cara Delevingne, among others. GQ described him as "one of the world's most in-demand portraitists."
Yeo's work has been the subject of mid-career retrospectives at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 2013, The Lowry, Manchester in 2014, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 2015, the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark in 2016 and The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle in 2018.
In 2007, his unauthorised portrait of American president George W. Bush, created from cuttings of pornographic magazines and shown in London, New York and Los Angeles, brought him worldwide notoriety.
Yeo was the subject of a BBC Culture Show Special in September 2013, and a BBC Maestro course in 'Portrait Painting' in 2024 The monograph The Many Faces of Jonathan Yeo, featuring works from throughout his career, was published by London-based publisher Art/Books in the same month. His paintings are included within the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Collection.
In 2018 Yeo was appointed as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, London for four years and was reappointed in 2022 for a second term.
He was also awarded GQ Artist of the Year in 2018 which was presented to him by Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
Yeo was born in London in 1970, to Tim Yeo, a Conservative MP and was educated at Westmisnster School. He first tried oil painting at the age of 14, encouraged by his grandmother.
Prior to beginning his career as an artist he studied English & Film Studies at the University of Kent. In his third year he received treatment for Hodgkin's disease.
Yeo is a self-taught artist whose earliest influences stemmed from the work of cubist painters Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque and British artists, David Bomberg, Graham Sutherland, Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud and Euan Uglow.
In 2017 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Art from the University of Kent.
In 1993, while undergoing chemotherapy, he made his first significant career breakthrough completing a portrait commission of Trevor Huddleston, the famous anti-apartheid campaigner.
Yeo was commissioned by the House of Commons as the official Election Artist for the 2001 general election, and he painted the leaders of the three largest parties. His triptych of Tony Blair, William Hague, and Charles Kennedy, entitled, 'Proportional Representation', had a conceptual element being made up of canvases sized according to the subjects' share of the vote. “Proportional Representation was his political debut and a response to the media-saturated general election of 2001.” Tim Marlow
Through the 2000s, he became known for his contemporary realist portraits of well-known figures. His subjects include the artists Sir Peter Blake and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry, Savile Row taylor Ozwald Boateng, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Camilla, Former Apple Chief Design Officer Sir Jony Ive, actors Helena Bonham Carter, Jude Law, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily Cole, Nicole Kidman, Giancarlo Esposito, Taron Egerton and Sophia Loren, the former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. In 2005, his portrait of Erin O'Connor was used to advertise London's National Portrait Gallery around the world. The painting was used as the front cover of '500 Portraits', a survey of the BP Portrait prize published in 2011.
In January 2008, Yeo's official portrait of former prime minister Tony Blair was unveiled and struck a public chord with its clear Iraq war reference. It showed an older and wearier-looking Blair wearing a red poppy – a symbol of war remembrance for the British. In line with the political subjects that have featured throughout his work, in 2009, Yeo painted a full-length portrait of David Cameron just before his election to Prime Minister, which was sold at auction in 2010 for £200,000.
In April 2011, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned Yeo to paint a portrait of David Attenborough for the Royal Collection.
'Jonathan Yeo Portraits' at the National Portrait Gallery, London (2013–2014) included a selection of new and older works by Yeo. The new portraits included individuals who have made a significant mark on their field of expertise, including: the arts, theatre, and politics. Sitters include Doreen Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Damien Hirst, Malala Yousafzai, and Grayson Perry and Idris Elba.
Between 2010 and 2012, Yeo created works based on cosmetic surgery procedures. He presents the faces of women in pre and post-operative states, as a counterpoint to the traditional portrait. This collection of paintings was the subject of two solo exhibitions, 'You're Only Young Twice' at Lazarides in London and ‘(I’ve Got You) Under My Skin' at Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
'Jonathan Yeo Portraits' at the National Portrait Gallery, London (2013–2014) included a selection of new and older works by Yeo. The new portraits included individuals who have made a significant mark on their field of expertise, including: the arts, theatre, and politics. Sitters include Doreen Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Damien Hirst, Malala Yousafzai, and Grayson Perry.