22. Miriam Escofet - Artist Vanitas

2025
Mixed media drawing on panel
23.5 x 23.5 x 5.5
Signed on Front

Miriam Escofet is a contemporary painter whose work is rooted in portraiture, drawing and classical painting traditions. Working primarily in oils, her practice combines an exacting technique with remarkable levels of detail, creating psychologically charged portraits that balance realism with quiet introspection. Although her early work explored themes including surreal still life, portraiture has become the central focus of her practice over the last two decades.

Escofet’s paintings are distinguished by their technical precision, luminous surfaces and carefully observed compositions. Drawing remains fundamental to her process, underpinning work that often explores identity, perception and emotional presence through highly refined realism. Her paintings have been widely exhibited internationally and included in numerous prestigious figurative and portrait exhibitions.

She studied 3D Design at the Brighton School of Art between 1987 and 1990, following a Foundation Course at the Epsom School of Art between 1986 and 1987.

Recent exhibitions include the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries (2020–2026), the Contemporary British Portrait Painters exhibition at The Department Store, Brixton (2023–2026), REALISM NOW, MIMESIS and REALISM 26: Figure & Time at the MEAM – European Museum of Modern Art, and Pintura Figurativa Contemporánea China y Española in Madrid and Beijing.

Escofet was awarded First Prize in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018, having also been selected for the exhibition in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Other distinctions include the Smallwood Architects Prize for Contextual Portraiture at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (2024) and the Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award for Classically Inspired Portraiture (2015).

Her work is held in significant public and institutional collections including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, St Catharine’s College, Girton College, Corpus Christi College and Christ's College.