Jonathan Yeo (born 18 December 1970) is a British contemporary artist who specializes in both traditional and experimental forms of portraiture. His most celebrated paintings include King Charles III, Malala Yousafzai, Sir David Attenborough, Dennis Hopper, and Cara Delevingne, among others. GQ described him as "one of the world's most in-demand portraitists."
Yeo's work has been the subject of mid-career retrospectives at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 2013, The Lowry, Manchester in 2014, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 2015, the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark in 2016 and The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle in 2018.
In 2007, his unauthorised portrait of American president George W. Bush, created from cuttings of pornographic magazines and shown in London, New York and Los Angeles, brought him worldwide notoriety.
Yeo was the subject of a BBC Culture Show Special in September 2013, and a BBC Maestro course in 'Portrait Painting' in 2024 The monograph The Many Faces of Jonathan Yeo, featuring works from throughout his career, was published by London-based publisher Art/Books in the same month. His paintings are included within the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Collection.
In 2018 Yeo was appointed as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, London for four years and was reappointed in 2022 for a second term.
He was also awarded GQ Artist of the Year in 2018 which was presented to him by Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
