Billy Childish Paintings
English, b. 1959
Billy Childish (b. 1959, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom; lives and works in Whitstable, Kent) is known for his introspective, autobiographical, and deeply emotional paintings, writing, and music. After leaving secondary school at age 16, Childish worked at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham as an apprentice stonemason. Initially denied an interview to the local art school, he produced hundreds of drawings that gained him entry to London’s Saint Martin's School of Art. Childish's defiance of authority led to his eventual expulsion from art school in 1981. Since then, Childish has gained something of a cult status worldwide, writing and publishing several novels and more than 40 volumes of confessional poetry, recording more than 150 LPs, and painting several hundred works. Through all of these disciplines, Childish addresses social, political, and personal issues such as war, protest, his turbulent childhood, and his struggles with addiction.
While his confessional poetry and music explore these issues with startling honesty, Childish’s paintings are more subtle. His subjects are often drawn from his environment or are people he knows or admires: birch forests, self-portraits, a lone figure in a pastoral English landscape, and his wife as a reclining female nude. Childish works quickly and intuitively, making spare marks on raw canvas that leave much of it visible. He identifies with artists who worked outside a group or movement, intrigued by their outsider roles in society, such as Vincent van Gogh, Kurt Schwitters, and Edvard Munch. Labeling himself a “radical traditionalist,” Childish has a reverence for traditional oil painting yet has resolutely resisted any connection with a particular group or artistic movement.to
3
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
3
1
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
4
2
2
29
780
721
710
686
4
Artist: Billy Childish
Self Portrait (Red Hand) By Billy Childish
By Billy Childish
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Self Portrait (Red Hand)
By Billy Childish
Billy Childish is a British artist, poet, and musician whose raw, expressive paintings and prolific writings reflect themes of authentic...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Self Portrait (Blue Hand) By Billy Childish
By Billy Childish
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Self Portrait (Blue Hand)
By Billy Childish
Billy Childish is a British artist, poet, and musician whose raw, expressive paintings and prolific writings reflect themes of authenti...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Untitled (Sailing Away) By Billy Childish
By Billy Childish
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled (Sailing Away)
By Billy Childish
Billy Childish is a British artist, musician, and writer known for his prolific output across painting, poetry, and punk music. His raw, e...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cardboard
Untitled by Billy Childish
By Billy Childish
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Untitled
By Billy Childish
1994
Oil on board - painted on both sides
44 x 66 cm
Category
1990s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Board, Oil
Price Upon Request
Related Items
Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series IX
Located in London, GB
"Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series IX", oil on canvas, mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an inter...
Category
Late 20th Century Modern Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$1,106 Sale Price
20% Off
H 15.36 in W 14.18 in
Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series III
Located in London, GB
"Florentine Expressions: A Portrait Series III", oil on canvas, mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings through an inte...
Category
Late 20th Century Modern Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$884 Sale Price
20% Off
H 14.57 in W 12.21 in
Expressions in Bloom: Portraits from the 20th Century III - Florentine School
Located in London, GB
'Expressions in Bloom: Portraits from the 20th Century III', oil on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings thro...
Category
1980s Modern Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$1,327 Sale Price
20% Off
H 22.92 in W 18.31 in
Miniature Painting of Radio City New York with Night Traffic by British Artist
By Angela Wakefield
Located in Preston, GB
Miniature Painting of Radio City New York with Night Traffic - a unique original from leading Contemporary Artist, Angela Wakefield. Part of the New York Collection.
Art measures 6...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Gesso, Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Board
Angela WakefieldMiniature Painting of Radio City New York with Night Traffic by British Artist, 2025
$1,369 Sale Price
20% Off
H 10.5 in W 10.5 in D 1.75 in
Hadrian's Antinous - Original Oil Painting
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
The love affair between the Emperor Hadrian and his Greek companion Antinous is perhaps the most famous and tragic romance in Ancient Rome. So great that it inspired the final great...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Yellow Boy
Located in San Francisco, CA
Gabriel Mendoza
Niño amarillo (Yellow Boy), 2024
Acrylic and oil on canvas mounted on board
23.75 x 15.87 x 1 inches
This one-of-a-kind painting on canvas is mounted on board.
Year...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Board
"My Magical Mystery Tour Heart" Oil Painting on Wood with White Floater Frame
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
Motivated by bold color and fast brushwork, we are moved by the simplicity and thick textured oil paints in these works. Shaoul’s “My Heart Collection” is a vibrant and energetic dis...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board, Mixed Media
$675
H 11.5 in W 9.5 in D 2 in
"My Heart on Fire" Gold, Black Red & White Oil Painting with White Floater Frame
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
Motivated by bold color and fast brushwork, we are moved by the simplicity and thick textured oil paints in these works. Shaoul’s “My Heart Collection” is a vibrant and energetic dis...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board, Mixed Media
$675
H 11.5 in W 9.5 in D 2 in
Expressions in Bloom: Portraits from the 20th Century IV - Florentine School
Located in London, GB
'Expressions in Bloom: Portraits from the 20th Century IV', oil on canvas mounted on board, Florentine School (circa 1980s-90s). This gallery has acquired a number of paintings throu...
Category
1980s Modern Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$1,216 Sale Price
20% Off
H 22.05 in W 23.63 in
"The Matador" by Dave Seeley, Oil Painting of Female with Tattoos
Located in Denver, CO
"The Matador" is an oil painting on canvas on board, created in 2022 by Dave Seeley, a distinguished artist based in the United States. The artwork, with dimensions of 36 by 24 inche...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$5,040 Sale Price
20% Off
H 36 in W 24 in D 0.25 in
"My Oscar de la Renta Heart" Multicolor Pop Art Oil Painting White Floater Frame
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
Motivated by bold color and fast brushwork, we are moved by the simplicity and thick textured oil paints in these works. Shaoul’s “My Heart Collection” is a vibrant and energetic dis...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Oil, Board
$675
H 11.5 in W 9.5 in D 2 in
"Gabrellia #3 S~Curve" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dave Seeley's (US based) "Gabrellia #3 S~Curve" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude female model standing in a contrapposto stance.
About the artist:
My sub...
Category
2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Billy Childish paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Billy Childish paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David Harper, Colin Graeme Roe, and Simon Ledson.