262. Holly Frean - Sighthound from Behind

2026
Oil on board
10.7 x 15 cm
Signed on Verso

Holly Frean is a London-based painter known for her playful and witty portraits. With a background in architecture and a degree in fine art, her highly collectible work blends humour, curiosity, and keen observation. Whether depicting dogs or imagining scenes from the lives of her artistic heroes, Frean often describes her paintings as a form of self-portraiture. Working primarily in oil on gesso panel, alongside gouache, monotype, and more recently ceramics, she balances spontaneity with precision to create works that are both whimsical and deeply personal.

Frean studied Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School (1999–2002), following Architecture at Oxford Brookes University (1998–1999) and a Foundation Diploma at Camberwell College of Art (1997–1998).

Recent exhibitions and projects include Full House at Air Contemporary, Soho, London (2025); ING Discerning Eye at Mall Galleries, London (2025, and previously 2024, 2022, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 1996); Relics at Green & Stone Gallery, London (2025); and a commission for The Elephant Family’s Big Egg Hunt at Battersea Power Station, London (2025). In 2024 she presented Face Paint at Farrow & Ball, Battersea, exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and released The Miniature Dogs Poker Deck of Playing Cards, featuring 54 dog portraits.

Earlier highlights include the solo exhibitions DOG at Goodwood (2022), Dog at Green & Stone Gallery (2021), Recent Work at Zimmer Stewart Gallery (2019), Objects of Desire at The New Craftsmen (2018), and Poker Face at Rebecca Hossack Gallery, New York (2015). She has also collaborated with British interior designers Andrew Martin on fabric and wallpaper collections, exhibited at Paul Smith’s Mayfair flagship store, and performed on Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square (2008).

Awards include the Lawrence Alkin Prize at the National Open Art Competition (2015), the National Open Art Competition Prize awarded by Grayson Perry (2012), and the William Pardoe Watercolour Prize (2002). Her work is held in numerous private collections, including those of Larry David, Paul Smith, Kit Kemp, Ricky Gervais, Russell Tovey, Johnny Boden, and the Duke of Richmond.