Last updated: 28 October 2026
Charlie Billingham is the London artist who turns Georgian and Regency satirical prints into bold, cropped paintings and hand-printed walls. Here you will find our take on his work, where to see Charlie Billingham now, the screenprint you can buy, and his two small paintings in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Charlie Billingham
Billingham paints from the comic prints of James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson. He crops a detail, blows it up and repaints it in thick black outlines and flat colour, so the original joke falls away. Instead, a gesture or a frilly cuff becomes the subject. “I’m interested in these very politicised images and the way in which the politics becomes obsolete over time,” he said for his 2023 Brussels show, in the Bernier/Eliades press release.
He has two panels in the War Child sale, and they work as a pair. A Mighty Crash shows a pink hand reaching up from the bottom left, holding a large pink leaf against a mass of green foliage and a pale blue sky. Meanwhile, We Fell into the Sun puts a yellow sun behind a knot of black, scribbled cloud, with black rays bursting out to the edges.
The habit goes back a long way. “I first encountered these satirical prints when I was a child,” he told Galerie, recalling his parents’ Cruikshank etchings. He had a solo show at the Royal Academy this year, so these small panels are an easy way into a body of work that is usually sold through galleries in Madrid, Mexico and Brussels.
Charlie Billingham: the essentials
- Born in London in 1984, according to Travesía Cuatro; he grew up in the city and, in 2022, told ArtDrunk he works from a studio at the Penarth Centre in South Bermondsey.
- Studied Fine Art and History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art (MA, 2008), then the Royal Academy Schools, London (postgraduate diploma, 2013).
- Often hangs his paintings on walls he hand-prints himself, using stamps cut from his own watercolour drawings.
- Solo museum shows include Cornucopia at MAZ, Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Mexico (2019) and A Rake’s Progress at the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2020). He was also in Les Métamorphoses at the Fondation Cartier, Paris, in 2019.
- Won the Jealous Prize in 2014. The prize screenprint, Promenade, is still on sale.
- Represented by Travesía Cuatro (Madrid and Mexico) and shown by Bernier/Eliades in Brussels. His work is in the Saatchi Collection and the Cini Foundation collection.
Where to see Charlie Billingham 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 pieces are A Mighty Crash (2026), oil on panel, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page, and We Fell into the Sun (2026), oil on panel, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page.
- Let Your Dinner be a Poem (solo), Royal Academy of Arts, Shenkman Bar, Keeper’s House, London, 24 March to 4 October 2026.
- Solitaire (solo), Travesía Cuatro, Mexico City, 18 September to 9 November 2024.
- Habillé pour le Week-End (solo), Bernier/Eliades, Brussels, 19 January to 25 February 2023.
- Swell (solo), Travesía Cuatro, Madrid, 8 September to 5 November 2022.
How to buy a Charlie Billingham print or painting
There is one Charlie Billingham screenprint on sale in the UK, plus two small paintings in a charity auction:
- Promenade, 2014: a four-colour screenprint on Somerset paper with deckled edges, 70.2 x 55 cm (27.6 x 21.7 in), signed and numbered, edition of 25, £660 from Jealous Gallery.
- A Mighty Crash, 2026: a small oil on panel in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- We Fell into the Sun, 2026: a small oil on panel in the same auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- Paintings: through Travesía Cuatro or Bernier/Eliades, price on request.
Charlie Billingham FAQs
What does Charlie Billingham paint?
Cropped, enlarged details from British satirical prints of roughly 1780 to 1830, mostly by James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, repainted in bold outlines and bright colour.
Which gallery represents Charlie Billingham?
Travesía Cuatro, which has spaces in Madrid, Guadalajara and Mexico City. He also shows with Bernier/Eliades in Brussels.
Can I buy a Charlie Billingham print?
Yes. Promenade (2014), a screenprint in an edition of 25, costs £660 from Jealous Gallery.
Where can I see Charlie Billingham’s work in London?
His two War Child panels are on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026. His Royal Academy show closed on 4 October 2026.
More from CoolCuration
- This Is Still Not a Pipe review: Magritte at Gagosian, another painter who plays games with older images.
- Hospital Rooms poster sale: charity prints by big-name artists at £100.
- Best affordable art in the UK: prints and originals under £500.
- Great Art Explained: a lively book on the stories behind famous paintings.
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Main image: Charlie Billingham, 2022. Via ArtDrunk. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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