Last updated: 28 October 2026
Natalie Wadlington is the Brooklyn-based American artist who paints wide-eyed people and animals in tightly framed, brightly coloured scenes about how we live alongside other species. Here you will find our take on her work, her recent shows, how to buy her paintings and book, and her small oil in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Natalie Wadlington
Wadlington paints people and animals sharing small, crowded spaces: back yards, kitchens, pools and gardens. The scenes look playful, but they are about how badly we often understand other species. Nobody in them is simply the hero. “Hierarchies in the narratives are leveled so that the actors in the scenes are simultaneously storyteller, protagonist, and antagonist,” she explains on Library Street Collective’s site.
Her War Child piece, Sparrow Near Window, is a small oil that fits that idea neatly. A plump brown sparrow grips a twig in the foreground, so close that it fills half the picture. Around it, branches of dark green leaves carry clusters of pink-red berries. Behind, through a window with a lilac interior, a person’s bare legs and feet lie crossed. The bird gets the starring role, and the human is the one glimpsed through the frame.
She has had a museum solo show at Dallas Contemporary and has work in the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, but she has shown little in the UK. She spent part of 2026 on a residency in Norwich, which makes this lot one of the few ways to see her work in London.
Natalie Wadlington: the essentials
- Born in Modesto, California, in 1992; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, according to her own site.
- BFA from California State University, Stanislaus (2017), and an MFA in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan (2020).
- Her first museum solo show, Places That Grow, was at Dallas Contemporary in 2022.
- Residencies include Ox-Bow, Anderson Ranch, High Desert Test Sites and, in 2026, the Moosey Artist Residency in Norwich.
- Her work is in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, and the Today Art Museum, Beijing.
- Works with Library Street Collective in Detroit, which has given her three solo shows, and has also shown with Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles and Albertz Benda in New York.
Where to see Natalie Wadlington now
- Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The piece is Sparrow Near Window (2026), oil, 21 x 15 cm (8.3 x 5.9 in), lot page.
- Pot-Bound (solo), Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, 2025.
- Self Portrait (group), Flowers, Los Angeles, 2025.
- Pollards (solo), Library Street Collective, Detroit, 20 January to 21 February 2024.
- Places That Grow (solo), Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, 16 April to 21 August 2022.
How to buy a Natalie Wadlington painting
There are no Natalie Wadlington prints or editions on sale. Her paintings sell through her galleries, and there is a book and a small painting in a charity auction:
- Places That Grow: the softcover book of her Dallas Contemporary show, 109 pages, 22.9 x 22.9 cm (9 x 9 in), $40 (about £30) from Library Street Collective, which ships from Detroit.
- Sparrow Near Window, 2026: a small oil in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- Paintings: through Library Street Collective, price on request.
Natalie Wadlington FAQs
Where is Natalie Wadlington from?
Modesto, California. She was born in 1992 and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
What does Natalie Wadlington paint?
Brightly coloured, tightly framed scenes of people and animals together, which explore how we project human feelings onto other species.
Which gallery represents Natalie Wadlington?
She works with Library Street Collective in Detroit, which has given her three solo shows.
Where can I see her work in London?
Her War Child piece is on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026.
More from CoolCuration
- Louis Fratino at David Zwirner review: more warm, figurative painting.
- Great Women Artists: a big, useful survey of women artists.
- Hospital Rooms poster sale: charity prints by big-name artists at £100.
- Best affordable art in the UK: prints and originals under £500.
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Main image: Natalie Wadlington in her studio. Courtesy Library Street Collective. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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