Somaya Critchlow
Value#60
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
2/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
7/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
7/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
3/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
4/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Note on Scale
- Known primarily for small-scale works (often under 10 inches); larger commissioned pieces (as at Dulwich) represent a premium tier
- Primary Market
- Contact Maximillian William gallery for current pricing. Gallery-controlled primary market with limited availability.
- Price Trajectory
- Upward — 16% increase between first and second auction result within 7 months
- Current Auction Range USD
- 76,200 – 88,900 (based on 2 auction results, 2025-2026)
- Liquidity
- Depth
- Shallow — very few works available on secondary market
- Assessment
- Very low liquidity — only 2 auction transactions to date; market is nascent
- Annual Volume
- Approximately 1-2 lots per year currently appearing at auction
- Comparables
- Peer Artists
- Comparable to other young British figurative painters gaining rapid international recognition, such as Rachel Jones (b. 1991), Jadé Fadojutimi, and other artists exploring identity through figurative painting. Market trajectory shares similarities with young artists who transition quickly from gallery-only to auction markets.
- Relative Positioning
- Strong institutional validation relative to auction price levels suggests potential undervaluation compared to market peers
- Collector Base
- Known Collectors
Name Context Arthur Lewis and Hau Nguyen ARTnews Top 200 Collectors (2021); acquired Critchlow's 'Disjunctive (Wig)' (2020) among recent additions to their collection Brett Frankle Supported acquisition of Critchlow's 'Untitled' (2022) for Pallant House Gallery - Collector Profile
- Attracts serious institutional and private collectors interested in contemporary figurative painting and representation of Black womanhood
- Primary Market
- Access
- Primary market remains gallery-controlled; works are in high demand with likely waitlists
- Gallery
- Maximillian William, London
- Secondary Galleries
- Works occasionally appear through secondary channels
- Auction History
- Sold Lots
- 2
- Upcoming Lots
- 1
- Auction Record
- Date
- May 20, 2026
- Work
- Count Me Out (2022)
- Venue
- Christie's New York
- Price USD
- $88,900
- Detailed Results
Title Date Created Auction House Notes Hammer Price USD Outcome Sale Date Disjunctive (Wig) 2020 Christie's London First ever auction appearance; set initial auction record $76,200 Sold October 16, 2025 Count Me Out 2022 Christie's New York First work by Critchlow at a Christie's evening sale; new auction record, 16% above previous record. Previously exhibited at Maximillian William (2022) and FLAG Art Foundation (2023) $88,900 Sold above low estimate May 20, 2026 - Sell Through Rate
- 100% (2 for 2 sold to date)
- Total Lots at Auction
- 3
- First Auction Appearance
- Christie's London, October 16, 2025
- Market Position
- Segment
- Emerging contemporary figurative painter with rapidly growing institutional and auction profile
- Market Stage
- Early secondary market — first auction results only emerged in late 2025, indicating transition from purely gallery-controlled primary market
- Demand Indicators
- 100% sell-through at auction; both results exceeded estimates; inclusion in Christie's evening sale signals rising market confidence
- Investment Outlook
- Positive — very early in secondary market development with strong upward trajectory. Institutional backing (British Museum, Stedelijk, ICA Miami) provides solid foundation. Key risk is thin liquidity; key opportunity is early entry into what appears to be a rising trajectory supported by major curators (Hilton Als) and institutions.
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Solo Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Notes Type The Chamber 2025 Dulwich Picture Gallery, London First solo show in a UK public institution; featured six new commissioned works including three large figurative paintings responding to Old Master collection; curated by Helen Hillyard Institutional Solo Triple Threat 2024 Maximillian William, London Curated by Hilton Als Gallery Solo Somaya Critchlow: Paintings and Drawings 2023 FLAG Art Foundation, New York First institutional solo exhibition in North America; featured over 30 works from 2018-2022; curated by Hilton Als (co-organized); institutional loans from Henry Art Gallery, ICA Miami, Pallant House Gallery, RISD Museum Institutional Solo (US) Afternoon's Darkness 2022 Maximillian William, London Shifted from signature small-scale to mid-scale works; reviewed in Frieze Gallery Solo Blow-Up 2021 Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich — Gallery Solo - Significant Group Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Notes The Woman Question: 1550–2025 2025 Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw Major group exhibition Postures: Jean Rhys in the Modern World 2024-2025 Maximillian William, London Curated by Hilton Als; alongside Kara Walker and Celia Paul Woman in a Rowboat 2025 The Olivia Foundation, Mexico City — Women Painting Women 2022 Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX Major group exhibition at Tier 1 US museum The Story of Art as it's Still Being Written 2022 Victoria Miro, London — Drawing Attention: Emerging British Artists 2022 British Museum, London — Fire Figure Fantasy 2022 ICA Miami —
- Museum Collections
Institution Details Tier British Museum, London Included in permanent collection; featured in 'Drawing Attention: Emerging British Artists' group exhibition (2022) Tier 1 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Work held in permanent collection Tier 1 ICA Miami (Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami) Work in permanent collection; included in group exhibition 'Fire Figure Fantasy' (2022); institutional lender to FLAG Art Foundation show (2023) Tier 2 RISD Museum (Rhode Island School of Design) Work in permanent collection; institutional lender to FLAG Art Foundation show (2023) Tier 2 Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington Work in collection; institutional lender to FLAG Art Foundation show (2023) Tier 2/Regional Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK Acquired 'Untitled' (2022) with support of Brett Frankle and Maximillian William gallery; now on display in Room 8 of historic house Regional/Specialist Arts Council Collection, London Work held in permanent collection National Collection (UK) Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, UK Work held in permanent collection Regional/University - Upcoming Exhibitions
- Dulwich Picture Gallery 'The Chamber' was ongoing in early 2025; Museum of Modern Art Warsaw 'The Woman Question' (2025); continued gallery programming at Maximillian William expected
- Awards and Recognition
- Year
- 2021
- Award
- Dazed 100
- Notes
- Named to Dazed magazine's annual list of creatives shaping culture
Career & Biography
- Identity
- Gender
- Female
- Full Name
- Somaya Critchlow
- Birth Year
- 1993
- Birth Place
- London, United Kingdom
- Nationality
- British
- Current Location
- London, United Kingdom
- Education
Institution Year Degree University of Brighton c. 2015 BA in Painting The Royal Drawing School, London 2017 Postgraduate Diploma - Career Timeline
Year Event 2017 Completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Drawing School 2018-2020 Early exhibitions and growing recognition; joined Maximillian William gallery, London 2021 Solo exhibition 'Blow-Up' at Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zürich; named to Dazed 100 list 2022 Solo exhibition 'Afternoon's Darkness' at Maximillian William, London; included in major group shows including 'Women Painting Women' at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and 'Drawing Attention: Emerging British Artists' at the British Museum; work acquired by Pallant House Gallery 2023 First institutional solo exhibition in North America: 'Somaya Critchlow: Paintings and Drawings' at FLAG Art Foundation, New York (April–June 2023) 2024 Solo exhibition 'Triple Threat' curated by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Hilton Als at Maximillian William, London 2025 First UK institutional solo show: 'The Chamber' at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London (opened February 2025); first auction appearance at Christie's London, 'Disjunctive (Wig)' sold for $76,200 (October 2025); included in group show at Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw 2026 New auction record set at Christie's New York: 'Count Me Out' sold for $88,900 (May 20, 2026), a 16% increase over previous record - Studio Practice
- Works primarily in oil on linen, known for intimate, mostly small-scale paintings. Her work at Dulwich Picture Gallery's 'The Chamber' included three large figurative paintings commissioned by the gallery, representing a notable shift in scale from her signature small canvases.
- Artistic Context
- Influences
- Renaissance and Rococo painting traditions (Velázquez, Rubens, Titian), pop culture and reality television (Love & Hip Hop, Lil' Kim, Cardi B), European Old Master painting from Dulwich Picture Gallery collection
- Contemporaries
- Part of a generation of young British figurative painters gaining international attention, alongside artists like Rachel Jones and others shown at Maximillian William
- Key Relationships
- Close curatorial relationship with Hilton Als (Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and New Yorker staff critic), who has curated multiple exhibitions of her work
Artistic Profile
- Style
- Intimate, often small-scale figurative paintings characterized by rich, dark palettes and a 'sombre sexiness.' Her figures — primarily Black women — occupy domestic interiors and are depicted with a formal grandeur drawn from Old Master traditions while maintaining a distinctly contemporary sensibility informed by pop culture and hip-hop aesthetics.
- Evolution
- Recent
- Commission of large-scale figurative paintings for Dulwich Picture Gallery's 'The Chamber' (2025) represents significant expansion of scale; deeper engagement with Old Master traditions through direct response to museum collection
- Early Career
- Small-scale, intimate paintings and drawings; postcard-sized works on linen
- Mid Development
- Shift to mid-scale canvases noted in 'Afternoon's Darkness' (2022); described by Frieze as a move toward more 'seductive, compelling and strange' works
- Influences
- Art Historical
- Diego VelázquezPeter Paul RubensTitianRococo painting traditionsEuropean Old Masters at Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Contemporary Cultural
- Hip-hop and R&B aestheticsReality televisionContemporary Black feminism
- Possible Artistic Peers
- Noted in context with Kara Walker, Celia Paul (in Hilton Als exhibitions); Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Frank Bowling, Käthe Kollwitz (in gallery group show context)
- Visual Language
- Dark, atmospheric palette; intimate scale that draws viewers in close; figures with direct gazes that assert subjectivity; compositions referencing classical portraiture and history painting formats; rich textural surfaces
- Signature Series
- Small Scale Portraits
- Intimate portraits of Black women, often under 10 inches, which have become her signature format
- The Chamber Commission
- Large-scale figurative paintings created in response to Dulwich Picture Gallery's Old Master collection (2025)
- Themes and Subjects
- Primary Themes
- Black womanhood and femininityThe female nude and the politics of the gazeReclamation of European painting traditions for Black female subjectivityDomesticity and interior spacesGlamour, sexuality, and self-presentation
- Subject Matter
- Figurative paintings of Black women, often partially clothed or nude, in domestic interiors. Figures are depicted with agency and self-possession, challenging historical depictions of the female nude in Western art.
- Cultural References
- Draws equally on Renaissance/Rococo masters (Velázquez, Rubens, Titian) and contemporary pop culture (Lil' Kim, Cardi B, Love & Hip Hop). This fusion of high and low culture is central to her artistic project.
- Movements and Periods
- Contemporary figurative painting; Post-Black art / contemporary Black British art; engaged with Renaissance and Rococo traditions through a contemporary lens
- Techniques and Mediums
- Scale
- Predominantly small-scale works (some as small as 8 x 6 inches / postcard-sized), which is a distinctive and deliberate choice. Recent institutional commissions (Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2025) have included larger-scale figurative paintings, marking a notable evolution.
- Primary Medium
- Oil on linen
- Technique Notes
- Painterly technique indebted to Old Master methods; rich handling of flesh tones and fabric; atmospheric, moody interiors
- Secondary Mediums
- Drawing (pencil, charcoal — evidenced by works at Royal Drawing School and inclusion in British Museum drawing exhibition)
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Summary
- Critchlow has received strong critical attention from major art publications. Her work is praised for its sophisticated fusion of Old Master painting traditions with contemporary representations of Black womanhood. The involvement of Hilton Als (Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and New Yorker staff writer) as curator of multiple exhibitions significantly elevates her critical profile.
- Major Reviews
Year Notes Exhibition Publication 2022 Reviewed favorably; noted her shift from signature small-scale canvases to mid-scale works described as 'more seductive, compelling and strange' Afternoon's Darkness, Maximillian William Frieze 2025 Reviewed the Dulwich exhibition; drew comparisons to Titian The Chamber, Dulwich Picture Gallery Studio International 2021 — — Dazed Digital 2026 Described Critchlow as standing 'at the forefront' of artists reconfiguring the Black female nude in Western art — Christie's catalogue essay / lot notes - Curatorial Endorsements
- Curator
- Hilton Als
- Credentials
- Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, staff critic at The New Yorker
- Significance
- Repeated curatorial engagement by a figure of Als's stature is a strong critical validation signal
- Exhibitions Curated
- Triple Threat (2024, Maximillian William)Postures: Jean Rhys in the Modern World (2024-2025, Maximillian William)Co-organized FLAG Art Foundation exhibition (2023)
- Publications and Media
- Catalogues
- Exhibition catalogues for FLAG Art Foundation show and Dulwich Picture Gallery 'The Chamber'
- Media Coverage
- Featured in Artsy, Artnet, MutualArt, HENI, ARTnews (Top 200 Collectors feature mentioning her work), Frieze, Studio International, Dazed
- List Inclusions
- List
- Dazed 100
- Year
- 2021
- Publication
- Dazed
- Art Historical Positioning
- Critchlow is positioned within a broader movement of young artists — particularly Black women — reclaiming and recontextualizing the European figurative painting tradition. Her work explicitly engages with the canon (Velázquez, Rubens, Titian) while centering Black female subjectivity in spaces historically reserved for white bourgeois subjects. She is part of a critical conversation about representation, the gaze, and the politics of the female nude in Western art history.
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Maximillian William participates in international art fairs; Critchlow's work has been shown in London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Zürich contexts
- Representation
- Primary Gallery
- Name
- Maximillian William
- Tier
- Emerging/Mid-tier London gallery
- Website
- https://www.maximillianwilliam.com/artists/somaya-critchlow
- Location
- London, UK
- Relationship
- Primary representation; long-standing relationship; gallery has supported institutional loans and museum acquisitions
- Previous Galleries
- Name
- Galerie Gregor Staiger
- Notes
- Solo show 'Blow-Up' in 2021; may have been secondary or project-based relationship
- Location
- Zürich, Switzerland
- Secondary Market Presence
- Works have appeared through Artsy and secondary dealers; very limited secondary market supply
- Geographic Reach
- Primary Markets
- LondonNew York
- Secondary Markets
- ZürichAmsterdamMiamiFort WorthMexico CityWarsaw
- International Scope
- Strong and growing international presence across UK, Continental Europe, and North America
- Gallery History Notes
- Maximillian William is a younger London gallery that has built a strong roster. The gallery has been instrumental in placing Critchlow's work in major institutional collections and facilitating curatorial relationships (notably with Hilton Als). Gallery exhibitions alongside artists like Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud references, and Frank Bowling indicate ambitious programming.
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