Russel Young is a British-American contemporary artist whose work features in collections of Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, David Bowie and Kanye West. He is best known for his large-scale silk screen paintings, including portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Bridgette Bardot, and Kate Moss, which have made him one of the most recognisable names in contemporary Pop Art.
Russel Young was born in Yorkshire, England being placed in foster care, then a nunnery, before being adopted before the age of one. He spent a large proportion of his childhood moving between towns in Northern England, experiencing significant isolation.
He lied about his age to attend art college at fifteen. A few years later, he was living on the streets of London.
From the Streets to the Studios of Rock
What saved him was photography and a chance encounter with the Australian photographer Christos Raftopoulos, who noticed Young’s eye and took him on as an assistant. Raftopoulos built Young his own darkroom. He took him to the opera. He showed him, Young has said, that the limits of his life did not need to confine him or his work.
Still rough in nature, occasionally homeless, Young began photographing the early gigs of Bauhaus, R.E.M. and The Smiths. His instinct for movement, for the charged moment before everything breaks open, earned him magazine commissions and eventually his first record sleeve: the 1987 Faith album for George Michael.
What followed was more than a decade inside the entertainment industry at its most intense, hundreds of portraits of Morrissey, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Björk, Paul Newman; more than 100 music videos at the height of MTV. By the late 1990s, he had every reason to stay inside that world. Instead, he walked away from it entirely and moved to New York to become a painter.
The Work That Made His Name: Pig Portraits and Diamond Dust
His first fine art series, Pig Portraits, shown in Los Angeles in 2003, collected the mugshots of celebrities, real and staged, rendered in silk screen and monochrome. It was a sharp, unsentimental comment on the machinery of fame, made by someone who had watched that machinery up close for years.
His next series, Dirty Pretty Things, introduced what would become his signature: diamond dust. The glam shots of cultural icons, Marilyn, Elvis, Bardot, shimmering under pulverised diamonds, glamour literally pressed into the surface, so beautiful it almost hurts to look at. Young has described the effect as seduction at war with itself: the viewer drawn in by the glitter, then confronted by the image beneath.
The technique is more than aesthetic. Each work is hand-pulled on linen or canvas, the diamond dust individually applied, the enamel paint sometimes left to drip and smear. Even within limited editions, no two pieces are identical.
The Coma, the Colour Green, and What Came After
In 2010, Young contracted the H1N1 virus and was placed in a coma for over a week. When he regained consciousness, he had to relearn to read and write. He had forgotten the colour green. One of his children brought him a book of animals, and he could barely believe polar bears actually existed on the planet.
The art that followed was visibly different. In his first series after recovering, Young pressed canvases into pools of red shellac, letting the resin drip and splatter like wounds. His Helter Skelter series screen-printed footage from the Rolling Stones’ Altamont concert repeatedly until the images dissolved into abstraction, the moment the counterculture of his youth caved in on itself, the night someone died. His own bootprints appear in the work.
This is the thing about Russell Young that most collector introductions gloss over: his most commercially appealing work, the dazzling Marilyns, the diamond-dusted Bardots, sits alongside a body of practice that is genuinely raw. The glamour and the violence are not separate strands.
What Collectors Are Buying Now: Marilyn 100
Young’s current major project is Marilyn 100, a centenary tribute to Marilyn Monroe launched across 2026. The works are hand-pulled on linen and paper, richly coloured, finished with diamond dust, and authorised by the Marilyn Monroe Estate. The centrepiece, Marilyn, Crying, is being offered in multiple colourways across tightly controlled editions.
For collectors, this is significant timing. Young has returned to Marilyn throughout his career, and Marilyn Crying is already one of his most auction-active works, appearing at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Doyle. A major new release tied to the centenary year brings both cultural moment and market attention.
Where to Buy Russell Young Art
Art Angels works with leading contemporary artists and can advise collectors on sourcing Russell Young works, from their Gallery. Get in touch with our team for current availability.
faq's
What is Russell Young known for?
His large-scale diamond dust silk screen paintings of cultural icons, particularly Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Brigitte Bardot. His work explores the seduction and fragility of fame, with a biography and practice that goes considerably deeper than its glossy surface suggests.
How much does Russell Young art cost?
Limited edition prints start from a few thousand pounds. Signature linen works with diamond dust sit in the mid-to-high four figures, with unique and major-format pieces reaching well into five figures at auction.
Is Russell Young a good investment?
He has a strong, consistent auction record at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips and Bonhams with sustained secondary market demand. Small edition sizes and careful documentation support collector confidence. The Marilyn 100 centenary project in 2026 has added renewed market attention.