Richard Butler is a self-proclaimed “painter who sings” versus a “singer who paints” (when he is not painting you can find him as the front man of The Psychedelic Furs). His oil on canvas paintings often take note from Northern European old masters such as Rembrandt and Van Eyck, while the color palette and subject matter bring the paintings back into the contemporary. In most cases, the illustrated subject is his daughter Maggie, as she represents the “everyman or everywoman” to him, but upon completion of the work, Butler will find his own thoughts and emotions are most present in the portrait. She then becomes more of a vessel of the artist’s mind, and the portrait is no longer of her, but almost a portrait of Butler himself.

Richard Butler was born in Hampton Court, England and studied painting at the Epson School of Art and Design. Upon graduation, he formed The Psychedelic Furs, and after a successful career as the band’s singer/songwriter, he returned to painting. He currently lives and works in Beacon, New York.