Cecily Brown

British b. 1969 Egon Score: 64.8

Blue-chip

#46

Egon research · Artist market profile

The market, in context.

Explore Cecily Brown’s auction history alongside the exhibitions, collections and gallery relationships behind the market.

Research by Egon · Latest section update 2026-02-09 · Sources & research notes

Market research

Auction history & pricing

Explore the market context →

Gallery relationships

Representation & history

Explore representation →

Institutional research

Collections & exhibitions

Read holdings, exhibition history and their qualifications in context.

Read the institutional research →

Egon investment scores

Liquidity

7/10

How easily works can be bought and sold at auction

Institutional

9/10

Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition

Momentum

8/10

Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz

Market position

Research updated 2026-02-09

Auction record context

$9,810,000 for 'High Society' (1997-98) at Sotheby's New York, November 18, 2025

Pricing

Market note

Contact Paula Cooper Gallery, Thomas Dane Gallery, or Gladstone Gallery for current primary market pricing; strong gallery control indicates selective market access

Works on paper

Drawings: $10,000-$100,000

Monotypes: $15,000-$275,000

Prints multiples: $5,000-$50,000

Paintings medium: $500,000-$1,500,000 for strong secondary works

Paintings large scale

Current range: $3,000,000-$10,000,000 for major works (2023-2025)

Mid career works: $1,000,000-$3,000,000 (2015-2020 works)

Historical context: Pre-2018 range: $400,000-$2,200,000; Post-2018: $1,000,000+

Liquidity

Market access: Limited primary market access due to gallery waiting lists; secondary market active but selective

Sell through rate: 67% in recent database (2025); historically 77.5% (2021)

Geographic distribution: Strong markets in New York, London, Hong Kong; appearing in all three major houses' sales

Annual transaction volume: 12+ auction lots annually at major houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips)

Comparables

Market peers: Julie Mehretu ($10.7M record), Jenny Saville, Vija Celmins ($7.7M), Cindy Sherman ($6.8M)

Stylistic peers: John Currin, Lisa Yuskavage (figurative contemporaries); Jenny Saville (female painter market comparisons)

Historical influences market: Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Francis Bacon - Brown positioned as feminist revision of male Abstract Expressionism

Collector base

Collector profile

Major institutional collectors, established contemporary art collectors, museums acquiring for permanent collections; recent interest from younger, diverse collectors supporting women artists

Notable collectors

The Broad, Los Angeles (Black Painting No. 1, 2002)
Rubell Museum
Marguerite Hoffman (Dallas)
Cindy and Howard Rachofsky (Dallas)
Michael Ovitz (recent abstraction acquisitions including Brown)
The Labora Collection
Shah Garg Collection
Gale Neeson and Stefan Edlis Collection
Mo Ostin Collection (Free Games for May)
Douglas S. Cramer Collection

Auction history

Early record: $2,200,000 for 'Sick Leaves' at Christie's, March 2017

Record price: $9,810,000 for 'High Society' (1997-98) at Sotheby's New York, November 18, 2025

Previous record: $6,780,000 for 'Suddenly Last Summer' (1999) at Sotheby's New York, May 2018

Record increase: 44% jump in auction record (November 2025)

Market evolution

Significant appreciation since 2017 when named among ten most expensive living women artists; majority of top 20 sales occurred in past five years

Historical performance 2021: 31 lots sold, 9 bought in, 77.5% sell-through rate, average sale price $1.1 million, total sales $35.5 million

Market position

Status: Blue-chip contemporary painter; ranked among top 10 most expensive living female artists

Hiscox ranking: Joined top 10 of Hiscox Artist Top 100 in 2025 (32 women total in top 100)

Market segment: Museum-quality contemporary figurative-abstract painting; intersection of Abstract Expressionism revival and feminist reclamation

Peer comparisons: Grouped with Jenny Saville, Julie Mehretu, Lisa Yuskavage, Marlene Dumas, Vija Celmins as leading female painters at auction

Institutional vs market: Strong institutional validation paired with robust secondary market; works appear regularly in evening sales at major houses

Investment outlook

Risks

Subject to 'volatile swings' per market analysis - 'one season up, next season out of favor'
November 2025: One work bought-in at Christie's (It's Not Yesterday Anymore at $3M, estimated $4-6M)
Market speculation risk around female artists can create price bubbles
Some critical controversy regarding necessity and depth in early reviews (though Roberta Smith recanted)

Strengths

Museum-quality institutional validation across Tier 1 institutions
Recent auction record jump of 44% demonstrates strong momentum
Sustained museum exhibition activity (2023-2025 major retrospectives)
Limited primary market supply creates scarcity value
Growing market for female artists and historical undervaluation correction
Strong critical re-evaluation and institutional support

Trajectory

Blue-chip trajectory confirmed by recent record; positioned for continued appreciation given museum validation, market correction for female artists, and scarcity

Institutional presence

Research updated 2026-02-09

Exhibitions

Solo museum shows

Venues
Dallas Museum of Art (Sept 2024 - Feb 2025); Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia (March 9 - May 25, 2025)
Exhibition
Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations
Significance
Largest US exhibition to date; career-spanning 30 works from 30 years
Dates
2023
Venue
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Exhibition
Cecily Brown: Death and the Maid
Significance
First full-breadth museum survey in New York; 50 paintings, drawings, sketchbooks, monotypes
Dates
2023
Venue
Museo Novecento, Florence
Exhibition
Cecily Brown: Temptations, Torments, Trials and Tribulations
Dates
2022
Venue
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Dates
2022
Venue
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples
Exhibition
The Triumph of Death

View 13 more records

Dates
2020-2021
Venue
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, UK
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Dates
2018
Venue
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
Exhibition
Where, When, How Often and with Whom
Dates
2018-2019
Venue
Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo; Museo Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil
Exhibition
If Paradise Were Half as Nice
Dates
2018
Venue
Metropolitan Opera House, New York
Exhibition
Triumph of the Vanities II
Dates
2016
Venue
The Drawing Center, New York
Exhibition
Cecily Brown: Rehearsal
Significance
First solo museum show in New York devoted to works on paper; ~80 drawings
Dates
2014
Venue
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Significance
First major Italian museum presentation
Dates
2012
Venue
Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Dates
2010
Venue
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover; GEM Museum, The Hague
Exhibition
Based on a True Story
Dates
2009
Venue
Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Dates
2006-2007
Venue
Des Moines Art Center; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Significance
Mid-career retrospective
Dates
2005
Venue
Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany; Modern Art Oxford, UK
Exhibition
Cecily Brown: Paintings
Dates
2004
Venue
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Exhibition
Cecily Brown
Dates
2002
Venue
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Exhibition
Directions - Cecily Brown

Exhibition frequency: Consistent major museum solo exhibitions every 1-2 years since 2002; intensified activity 2022-2025

Major group exhibitions

Whitney Biennial (2004)
All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life, Tate Britain (2018)
Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020)
Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World, MoMA, New York (2014-2015)
Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1997) - not included but contemporary
Greater New York: New Art in New York Now, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (2000)

Publications

Monographs

Courtney J. Martin, Jason Rosenfeld, and Francine Prose, 'Cecily Brown', Phaidon Press, 2020 (first major monograph)
Ealan Wingate, ed., 'Cecily Brown', Rizzoli, 2008
Dore Ashton, 'Cecily Brown', Rizzoli, 2008
Jeff Fleming, 'Cecily Brown', Des Moines Art Center, 2007

Critical essays: Extensive coverage in Artforum (Barry Schwabsky, David Rimanelli, Rachel Churner), Flash Art, Art in America, Vogue, The New York Times

Exhibition catalogues

'Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations', Dallas Museum of Art/Barnes Foundation, 2024-2025
'Cecily Brown: Where, When, How Often and with Whom', Louisiana Museum, 2018-19
'Cecily Brown: Paintings', Modern Art Oxford, 2005

Museum collections

Note: Exceptionally strong Tier 1 representation across US and European institutions; holdings span career from 1995 to present

Tier 1 us

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (43 works confirmed via museum API)
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (including Four Letter Heaven, 1995)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (including Puttin' on the Ritz, 1999-2000)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
The Broad, Los Angeles (Black Painting No. 1, 2002)
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Smithsonian Institution (confirmed via API)
Cleveland Museum of Art (confirmed via API)
Dallas Museum of Art
Glenstone Museum, Maryland

Tier 1 international

Tate Modern/Tate Gallery, London
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Albertina Museum, Vienna

Additional institutions

British Museum
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria
Essl Museum, Austria
National Gallery of Norway, Oslo
Rubell Museum, Miami/Washington D.C.
Des Moines Art Center
Museo Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil

Awards and recognition

Honors

Named among ten most expensive living women artists by Artnet (2017)
Board member, Foundation for Contemporary Arts (since 2014)
Featured in Hiscox Artist Top 100 (2025)
Vanity Fair photo spread (February 2000)
New Yorker photo spread (2000)

Critical milestones

Roberta Smith's 'I Was Wrong About Cecily Brown' (New York Times) - major critical re-evaluation
Grouped with leading contemporary female artists by NY Times (2000)
Breakthrough 'Spectacle' exhibition at Deitch Projects (1997)

Career & Biography

Research updated 2026-02-09

Identity

Personal: Married to architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff; one daughter

Full name: Cecily Brown

Birth year: 1969

Birth place: London, England

Nationality: British

Current location: New York, NY

Family background: Daughter of novelist Shena Mackay and influential art critic David Sylvester

Education

Mentors: Studied under painter Maggi Hambling

Institutions

Epsom School of Art, Surrey, England (1985-87) - B-TEC Diploma in Art and Design
Slade School of Fine Art, London - BA in Fine Arts (1993)
Exchange semester in New York (1992)

Career timeline

1992: Six-month exchange program in New York from Slade

1993: Graduated from Slade School of Fine Art

1994: Permanently relocated to New York, distancing herself from Young British Artists movement

1997: Breakthrough solo show 'Spectacle' at Deitch Projects, featuring orgiastic rabbit paintings

2000

Featured in photo spread in New Yorker magazine and grouped with leading female contemporary artists (Sue Williams, Lisa Yuskavage) by New York Times; first solo exhibition with Gagosian Gallery

2002: Solo exhibition at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.

2004: Participated in Whitney Biennial; solo exhibition at Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

2014: Appointed to board of directors of Foundation for Contemporary Arts

2015: Left Gagosian after 15 years; joined Paula Cooper Gallery (New York) and Thomas Dane Gallery (London)

2018: Major exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark

2023: First full-fledged museum survey in New York: 'Death and the Maid' at Metropolitan Museum of Art

2006-2007: Mid-career retrospective at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2024-2025: 'Themes and Variations' major retrospective at Dallas Museum of Art and Barnes Foundation

Artistic philosophy

Describes painting as 'a kind of alchemy' where paint transforms into image, creating a 'third and new thing'; interested in 'where the mind goes when it's trying to make up for what isn't there'; works using non-linear approach with multiple canvases simultaneously

Artistic Profile

Research updated 2026-02-09

Style

Palette

Initially luscious reds and fleshy pinks; later expanded to greens, greys, yellows; rich saturated colors; chromatic range from bright hues to deep blacks

Brushwork: Gestural, vigorous, tactile; heavy application of paint; sweeping strokes; varied between dense clusters and open atmospheric passages

Composition: Kaleidoscopic, fragmented; figures emerging and dissolving within turbulent fields of color; crowded with stylistically diverse anonymous figures

Surface treatment: Polished varnish surfaces contrasted with gestural handling; material ballet of paint states; juicy, impassioned, impetuous application

Signature approach

Work oscillates between abstract and figurative modes; paint in continual flux between liquid and solid, transparent and opaque states; 'messy control' and audacious execution

Evolution

1995-1997: Rabbit paintings; orgiastic scenes; breakthrough 'Spectacle' show

1998-2005: Large-scale figurative works with explicit sexuality; pink and red palette; High Society and contemporaneous works

2006-2015

Increased complexity and layering; landscape paintings; shipwreck series; 'Neurotic paintings' / 'English Garden' small works exploring self-control

2016-2020: Major works oscillating between dense figuration and open abstraction; continued Old Master engagement

2021-2025: Still life tradition; The Five Senses series; mortality themes; singular female nudes with agency; darker tones and vanitas

Influences

Old masters

Peter Paul Rubens
Paolo Veronese
Nicolas Poussin
Francisco Goya
Edgar Degas
Édouard Manet
William Hogarth
Jan Brueghel the Elder
Piero della Francesca

Pop culture: Film titles (High Society, The Girl Who Had Everything, etc.); musicals; pornography; contemporary visual culture

Literary influences

Mary Webb's 'Precious Bane' (1924)
Édouard Manet's 'Nana'
Richard Dadd's 'The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'

20th century figurative

Francis Bacon
Lucian Freud
Otto Dix
George Grosz

Abstract expressionists

Willem de Kooning (primary influence)
Joan Mitchell
Arshile Gorky
Jackson Pollock (implied)

Visual language

Erotic energy: Work described as alive with erotic energy; tension within painting as desired outcome; sensuality embedded in material handling

Art historical dialogue: Constant conversation with Western painting tradition; appropriates and subverts historical sources; palimpsest construction

Figuration abstraction balance

Tightrope between abstraction and representation; spectral figures sliding into and out of focus; meanings found and instantly lost; 'just-elusive shorthand'

Themes and subjects

Early work 1990s: Hedonistic rabbits in orgiastic scenes; semi-abstracted couples mid-coitus; explicit sexual imagery

Mid career 2000s

Shift toward greater layering and fragmentation; increased references to Old Master paintings; figures, landscapes, mythological scenes emerging and dissolving

Recurring motifs

Sexuality and eroticism (explicit and implied)
The nude (individual and ensemble)
Still life and vanitas tradition
Landscape and shipwrecks
Garden scenes and hunts
Interior spaces and domestic settings
Mortality, transience, memento mori

Recent work 2020s: Darker tone meditating on mortality (Death and the Maid); still life tradition; emphasis on The Five Senses; singular female nudes with agency

Movements and periods

Classification: Contemporary figurative-abstract painter; Neo-Abstract Expressionism; Feminist revisionist painting

Relationship to movements

Distanced herself from Young British Artists (YBAs) despite being contemporary; aligned with return to painting in 1990s New York; positioned between figuration and abstraction traditions

Techniques and mediums

Scale: Known for large-scale canvases (up to 33 feet long); also works at intimate scales

Process

Non-linear approach working on multiple canvases simultaneously (up to 20 at once); organic process allowing layers to dry between applications; continual spontaneity

Primary medium: Oil on linen/canvas

Additional media

Works on paper: watercolor, pastel, ink, colored pencil
Monotypes in oil paint (major body of work since 2002 with Two Palms)
Etchings
UV-curable pigment on linen (recent works)

Critical Reception

Research updated 2026-02-09

Critical reception

Debate points

Question of whether work is overtly feminist or simply female perspective on traditionally male genre
Tension between critical acclaim and accusations of style over substance
Discussion of appropriation vs. homage regarding historical sources
Debate over illustrational vs. conceptual qualities

Early reception

Roberta Smith, New York Times (2000): Initially called Gagosian exhibition 'lackluster' and suggested 'career is ahead of her artistic development'
Smith later wrote 'I Was Wrong About Cecily Brown' - major critical reversal
Adrian Searle, The Guardian (2011): Criticized work as lacking 'character' and 'sense of necessity'
Leah Ollman, LA Times (2013): 'Instead of powerful and passionate, her voice comes across as detached. The volume is turned up, but the verve is on low.'

Feminist discourse

Positioned as feminist redux of Willem de Kooning's Abstract Expressionism
Characterized as challenging masculine undertones of Abstract Expressionism
Work explores power imbalances in voyeurism and sexual violence
Reclaims and redefines female subjects within art historical canon

Mature critical consensus

Barry Schwabsky (Artforum): Praised mature work, compared favorably to Joan Mitchell lineage
David Rimanelli (Artforum 2023): 'What's interesting about Cecily Brown is how from the very start her work gets positioned as a way to talk about what's good or bad in painting'
Rachel Churner (Artforum): Noted delivery of 'everything we expect from the artist: sex, violence, prurient gestural marks, and bursts of garish color'
Georg Imdahl (Artforum 2025, Barnes review): 'Brown paints with gusto, and her intricately conceived compositions—mostly tight, though on occasion surprisingly airy—are skillfully laid out'

Publications and media

Major profiles

Vogue (multiple features: 2008, 2013, 2015, 2025)
New Yorker (photo feature 2000; reviews 2008)
New York Times (extensive coverage including Smith's recantation)
Apollo Magazine interview (2018)
W Magazine studio visit (2016)
Vanity Fair profile (2000)

Media appearances

Positioned as glamorous artist figure - fashion magazine photo shoots
Known for paint-splattered clothes, barefoot studio work, cigarette aesthetic
Featured in discussions of market economics and contemporary art valuation

Scholarly attention

Artforum (regular coverage since 2000)
Flash Art (Nicola Trezzi, Odili Donald Odita essays)
Art in America (multiple reviews)
Eleanor Heartney et al., 'The Reckoning: Women Artists in the New Millennium' (2013)
Don Thompson, 'The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art' (2008)

Gallery & Representation

Research updated 2026-02-09

Fair presence

Market strategy: Selective primary market placement with waiting lists; gallery-controlled distribution to prevent flipping

Documented activity

Art Basel Miami Beach (2019 - Faeriefeller scandal with Paula Cooper Gallery)
Art Basel (regular exhibitor through gallery partners)
Frieze (through gallery representation)

Representation

Print publisher: Two Palms Press (since 2002) - monotypes and etchings

Primary galleries

Paula Cooper Gallery
Tier
Tier 1
Since
2015
Location
New York
Recent shows
- The 5 Senses (October-December 2024)
- Bathers, Palm Beach (March-April 2023)
- Solo show October-December 2020
Thomas Dane Gallery
Tier
Tier 1
Since
2015
Location
London
Gladstone Gallery
Tier
Tier 1
Locations
- New York
- Brussels
- Seoul
Recent shows
- Nana and other stories, Seoul (April-June 2024)

Former representation

Gagosian
Period
2000-2015 (15 years)
Significance
Major career development with blue-chip gallery; numerous solo shows in New York, London, Beverly Hills, Paris, Rome
Deitch Projects
Period
1990s
Significance
Breakthrough 'Spectacle' show (1997)

Geographic reach

Primary markets: New York, London

Secondary markets: Seoul, Brussels, Los Angeles, Hong Kong

Exhibition history: US, UK, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Brazil, Austria, Spain, France, South Korea

Sources & research notes

Egon’s artist research combines historical auction records, recent sales, institutional history, critical reception and gallery information. Researched auction records and auction highlights are identified separately.

Read prices with their work, sale date, currency and stated basis. Egon’s market assessments are distinct from reported auction results.

Reference: Egon, “Cecily Brown: Market Intelligence & Investment Profile.”

Research bibliography · 41 sources

Sources recorded for this artist’s research. This bibliography does not assign every source to an individual claim.

Research updates by section

These dates show when Egon’s research sections were updated. Source retrieval dates, where supplied above, refer to individual evidence notes.

Market position · 2026-02-09
Institutional presence · 2026-02-09
Career & biography · 2026-02-09
Artistic profile · 2026-02-09
Critical reception · 2026-02-09
Gallery & representation · 2026-02-09

Ranking updated 2026-10-01. Research sections follow their own update dates.

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Cecily Brown

Egon investment scores

Market position

Auction record context

Pricing

Market note

Works on paper

Paintings large scale

Liquidity

Comparables

Collector base

Collector profile

Notable collectors

Auction history

Market evolution

Market position

Investment outlook

Risks

Strengths

Trajectory

Institutional presence

Exhibitions

Solo museum shows

Major group exhibitions

Publications

Monographs

Exhibition catalogues

Museum collections

Tier 1 us

Tier 1 international

Additional institutions

Awards and recognition

Honors

Critical milestones

Career & Biography

Identity

Education

Institutions

Career timeline

2000

Artistic philosophy

Artistic Profile

Style

Palette

Signature approach

Evolution

2006-2015

Influences

Old masters

Literary influences

20th century figurative

Abstract expressionists

Visual language

Figuration abstraction balance

Themes and subjects

Mid career 2000s

Recurring motifs

Movements and periods

Relationship to movements

Techniques and mediums

Process

Additional media

Critical Reception

Critical reception

Debate points

Early reception

Feminist discourse

Mature critical consensus

Publications and media

Major profiles

Media appearances

Scholarly attention

Gallery & Representation

Fair presence

Documented activity

Representation

Primary galleries

Recent shows

Locations

Recent shows