ART CITIES:N.York-Elizabeth Peyton

Often focused on the head and shoulders of an individual, a portrait typically seeks to convey something of a person’s personality and inner life through the treatment of their form and environment. In ink, pencil, charcoal and paint, the artist captures the subtleties of their subject’s facial features and expressions to lay bare the interior landscape of the individual, as well as their own relationship to them, whether informed by lived experience or imagined encounters.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: David Zwirner Gallery Archive

Elizabeth Peyton (b. 1965) presents “mountains in my heart (the death of Sarpedon)”. This marks her first solo show with this gallery in New York, following recent exhibitions in London (2023) and Paris (2025). The show features new portraits and allegorical works, including «The Death of Sarpedon» (2025) and others. Peyton is known for her small, luminous portraits of cultural icons and friends. The title nods to the Greek myth of Sarpedon – a Trojan War hero and Zeus’s son – who dies in battle. Peyton’s Louvre residency and past Kyoto temple project inform the show’s themes of attention, grief, and the sacred. The article below explains the exhibition context, Peyton’s style, the Sarpedon myth in simple terms, and highlights key works. In 2023 she became one of two Hôtes du Louvre, artists granted a studio in the Louvre Palace for its 230th anniversary, reflecting her close ties to art history.

Elizabeth Peyton is celebrated for small-scale, intimate portraits of friends, famous musicians, actors, and historical figures. In these paintings she often uses oil, pastel, or other media on paper or board. Her style features layered, painterly strokes and bright, often pastel colors. Critics note she captures her subjects with “unbridled, luminous energy,” favoring mood over exact likeness. For example, in her 2023 “Angel” exhibition Peyton painted Elvis Presley in soft lilacs and greys, giving the rock icon a dreamy, otherworldly look. The Guardian called her shows “heart-swelling” and praised their “freshness [and] vivid colour,” observing that Peyton’s art exudes “unabashed, rapturous admiration and desire” for her subjects.

Peyton’s «Elvis Angel (Elvis’ Eyes)» (2023) is an oil portrait that exemplifies her style: intimate scale, luminous color, and a romantic feel. Peyton’s influences range from pop culture to art history. She has painted Hollywood and music stars (from Leonardo DiCaprio to Kurt Cobain) but also quotes classical themes and opera plots in her work. She once said she was drawn to portraiture because “history is really contained within people,” making faces powerful carriers of emotion. Indeed, Peyton has noted that paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and other masters in the Louvre have inspired her vision. Her recent work often mixes media – oil, colored pencil, monotype, linocut – and she describes drawing as a way of contemplation.

The exhibition’s subtitle, “the death of Sarpedon”, points to a story from Greek mythology. In the Iliad, Sarpedon is a prince (the son of Zeus) who fights for the Trojans in the war. When he is killed in battle by Patroclus, Zeus is deeply saddened – even crying tears of blood. Zeus instructs Apollo to take care of Sarpedon’s body. Apollo cleans and honors the corpse, then gives it to Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos), mythical brothers who carry Sarpedon’s body away from the battlefield back to his homeland for burial. This scene – the gods respectfully carrying a fallen hero – is famous in art and literature. Peyton’s title suggests she is referencing this moment of loss and honor. (The phrase “mountains in my heart” is poetic but not from the ancient texts; it likely signals deep emotion or memory.) In short, Peyton is evoking a tragic hero of antiquity to give her show a mythic dimension.

In this exhibition Peyton continues themes from her recent projects. The Louvre residency encouraged her classical turn – she’s spoken about Louvre masters inspiring her. Her 2024 Kyoto temple installation (“daystar hakuro”) involved meditative use of space and materials, and gave her wooden shrine plaques for frames. Similarly, her 2025 Paris show “La pesanteur et la grâce” was built around a portrait session with filmmaker Atesh Atici and reflections on philosopher Simone Weil. Simone (Attention) (pictured above) came from that project; it shows Weil in expressive strokes and connects to Weil’s idea of attention as a form of love. All this background explains the spiritual, attentive quality of Peyton’s work right now.

While Peyton’s earlier work often fixated on 1990s pop and youth culture, her “mountains in my heart” show blends that intimacy with myth and introspection. She invites viewers into portraits that feel like private prayers or memories. By referencing Sarpedon, she gives her paintings an epic weight: even a single face can suggest the universal themes of love, loss, and loyalty.

Photo: Elizabeth Peyton , Elvis Angel (Elvis’ Eyes), 2023, Oil on linen board, 9 x 12 inches (22.9 x 30.5 cm), Signed, titled, and dated verso, © Elizabeth Peyton, Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner Gallery

Info: David Zwirner Gallery, 533 West 19th Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 19/3-2/5/2026, Days & Hours: Tue-sat 10:00-18:00, www.davidzwirner.com/