Presented by Signature Partner
Nov 27, 2025
George I
British artist Julian Opie paints a bold portrait of celebrated designer George Yabu
Julian Opie. George 1, 2014. Hand painted acrylic on fibre glass wall mounted, Overall: 200 × 141.7 × 43 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, 2018. © Julian Opie / DACS, London / CARCC, Ottawa 2025. Photo: AGO. 2018/3723
For this month’s RBC Art Pick, we’re spotlighting George I (2014), a relief painting by British artist Julian Opie depicting internationally acclaimed Canadian interior designer George Yabu. The work is currently on view at the AGO on Level 1 in the Maxine Granovsky & Ira Gluskin Hall (gallery 103), greeting visitors as they enter the Gallery. It marks one of the first two works by Opie to join the AGO Collection.
This striking 3D portrait shows Yabu with a calm, introspective expression, his eyes meeting those of the viewer. Opie paints his face using three tones — light, mid and dark — casting a shadow along the right side. His signature approach to flatness and depth can be seen through his application of flat, minimal colours on a sculptural canvas that extends 40 cm from the wall. Hard-edged highlights and shadows contrast against simple black outlines, a hallmark of Opie’s characteristic style.
Since founding their firm Yabu Pushelberg in 1980, Yabu and his partner, Glenn Pushelberg, have become icons in global design. Operating out of Toronto and New York, their studio shaped the designs of some of the world’s most beautifully designed spaces, including the Four Seasons New York Downtown, multiple Louis Vuitton boutiques and the flagship Barneys New York on Madison Avenue. In recognition of their impact, Yabu and Pushelberg were inducted into the Order of Canada in 2014.
Opie first gained prominence in the early 1980s as part of the New British Sculpture movement, celebrated for his large-scale, boldly painted steel sculptures of everyday objects like books and chocolate bars. He often explores themes of consumer culture, identity and everyday human life in his artistic works – all of which continue to define his career and style today. He is best known for his abstractions in contemporary portraiture, where he commonly reduces his subject matter to simple lines and colour planes.
In 1997, Opie began creating portraits of his friends in a colourful, black-outlined style reminiscent of 1960s Pop Art, as seen in George I (2014). This approach lends his works an almost caricature-like quality. Today, he is also widely recognized for his countless public artworks situated in cities across the world, often featuring animated LED installations of black-and-white figures that walk in endless loops.
Find George I (2014) on view now in the Maxine Granovsky & Ira Gluskin Hall (gallery 103) on Level 1 of the AGO next to the Welcome Desk.
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