Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin (born 1941) is an Irish-born, British-based artist whose work has been pivotal in shaping the trajectory of contemporary British art. Born in Dublin and raised in the United States, he studied at Yale University under influential figures such as Josef Albers and Alex Katz. Moving to London in 1966, Craig-Martin became a key figure in the development of conceptual art in Britain during the late 1960s and 1970s. His early works often employed minimal means to explore the nature of art and perception, most famously in An Oak Tree (1973), a conceptual piece that has become a touchstone in debates about artistic meaning.

From the 1980s onwards, Craig-Martin shifted towards a highly distinctive visual language: flat, vividly coloured outlines of everyday objects, rendered with precision and often at monumental scale. These works, which span painting, drawing, sculpture and installation, elevate the mundane to the iconic while interrogating the relationship between object, image and viewer.

Alongside his practice, Craig-Martin has had a profound influence as an educator at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he taught a generation of artists including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume. His role in fostering the Young British Artists movement cemented his status as both practitioner and mentor. Knighted in 2016, his works are held in major international collections, and his bold graphic style continues to shape the visual identity of contemporary art.

In 2024, Craig-Martin presented a major retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, showcasing over six decades of work including paintings, drawings, sculptures and his first immersive digital installation, Cosmos, highlighting the full breadth and evolution of his artistic practice.

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (b. 1941)

With Red Shoes

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Commissioned Portrait Untitled (George)

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Las Meninas I

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Untitled (SEX)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Handcuffs

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Abstract painting

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Untitled

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Untitled

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Innocence & Experience

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Private Dancer

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Untitled (Shoes)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Untitled (GOD)

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Untitled (Yes)

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Untitled (US)

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Untitled (Lightbulb Blue)

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Untitled (Globe)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Untitled (yellow trainer)

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Untitled (Corkscrew Fragment)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

All/Ball

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Physics

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Telephone Receiver

Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Fan

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Small Metal Chair

Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Globe and Book

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Eye Test

Michael Craig-Martin (B. 1941)

Deconstructing Seurat

Michael Craig Martin (B. 1941)

Portrait (Pink)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Folio, The Alan Cristea Gallery, London, 2004

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Squeeze

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Intimate Relations II

SIR MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (B. 1941)

Untitled (Globe)

Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Two chairs and a table

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Deconstructing Seurat (green turquoise & turquoise)

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (b. 1941)

Untitled (Venetian Blind)

Sir Michael Craig-Martin, R.A. (b. 1941)

Order of Appearance

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Love/Glove

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Toxic (after Seurat's Bathers)

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Piano and Metronome

Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941)

Kids

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Bicycle

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (B. 1941)

Untitled (green saxophone)

SIR MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (B. 1941)

Apple Powerbook G4 17''

SIR MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (B. 1941)

Untitled

SIR MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN, R.A. (B. 1941)

Untitled (Globe)