Last updated: 27 October 2026
Glenn Brown is the London painter who remakes Rembrandt, Dalí and sci-fi book covers into smooth, swirling oil paintings. Here you will find our take on his work and the London museum he opened.
Our take on Glenn Brown
Brown works from reproductions of other artists’ work, from Rembrandt and Adolph von Menzel to Dalí, Frank Auerbach and the sci-fi illustrator Chris Foss, according to Galerie Max Hetzler. His paint looks thick and impastoed, but the surfaces are smooth.
“I like my paintings to have one foot in the grave, to be not quite of this world,” he says on Gagosian’s artist page.
In 2022 he opened The Brown Collection in London, showing his own work alongside artists he chooses.
Glenn Brown: the essentials
- Born in 1966; studied at Goldsmiths College, London, in the 1980s.
- Paints in oil, and makes drawings and sculptures layered with paint.
- Founded The Brown Collection in London in 2022.
- Showed Historical Baggage: Glenn Brown and His Sources at the British Museum in 2018.
- Represented by Gagosian and Galerie Max Hetzler.
Glenn Brown exhibitions
- Studio presentation with Gagosian, Frieze Masters, London, 2025.
- Historical Baggage: Glenn Brown and His Sources, British Museum, London, 2018.
- His own museum, The Brown Collection, shows his work in London.
Where to buy a Glenn Brown work
- We found no Glenn Brown print on sale in the UK. Paintings, drawings and sculptures go through Gagosian and Galerie Max Hetzler, with prices on request.
Glenn Brown FAQs
What is The Brown Collection?
A museum in London that Glenn Brown founded in 2022 to show his work alongside works he chooses.
Which artists does Glenn Brown borrow from?
Rembrandt, Adolph von Menzel, Salvador Dalí, Frank Auerbach and the sci-fi illustrator Chris Foss, among others.
Where did Glenn Brown study?
Goldsmiths College, London, in the 1980s.
Which galleries represent Glenn Brown?
Gagosian and Galerie Max Hetzler.
More from CoolCuration
- Frieze Masters review: old and modern art at the fair.
- Cecily Brown at the Serpentine review: another painter of flesh and paint.
- Great Art Explained: James Payne on how famous works were made.
- Frieze London review: what we saw at the fair this year.
Think we’re missing something, got something wrong, or want to be featured? Contact us.
Main image: Glenn Brown, 2022. Photo: Justinakiskyte via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates and prices last checked: 27 October 2026.
No Comments.