Items Similar to Contemplative Portrait Painting, Oil on Canvas, 16x12 in, Signed
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 14
Peter LupkinContemplative Portrait Painting, Oil on Canvas, 16x12 in, Signed2024
2024
$1,800
£1,345.55
€1,552.12
CA$2,520
A$2,662.80
CHF 1,432.07
MX$31,878.65
NOK 17,942.13
SEK 16,432.38
DKK 11,592.50
About the Item
This painting from Peter Lupkin's 2025 exhibition, "Breaking" at Gallery VICTOR, Chicago presents a contemplative portrait rendered in expressive, layered brushstrokes. Cool blues and turquoises dominate the face, offset by warm reds and ochres that surface along the hair, beard, and neck, creating a vivid emotional tension. The loose, tactile handling of paint softens the features while emphasizing mood over likeness, suggesting introspection and quiet resilience. The muted, abstract background allows the gaze to remain fixed on the subject’s distant look, as if caught in a private moment of thought.
Breaking
Introductory Essay for the Exhibition Catalog:
Drifting is a motorsport in which drivers intentionally make their cars slide sideways through a turn by breaking the rear wheels loose from the pavement. Instead of slowing down to regain traction, the driver controls the skid using throttle, steering, and balance. The goal is not speed, but style: the angle of the slide, the smoothness of the motion, the precision of the driving line, and—when two cars drift together—how closely they can maintain their sideways dance without touching. Rooted in Japanese car culture and now practiced worldwide, drifting is a community-driven, largely self-funded pursuit where most participants receive no money. They build, break, and rebuild their own cars for the love of the craft, the thrill of the challenge, and the bonds formed along the way.
It is within this world that Peter Lupkin created Breaking. The exhibition’s title refers not only to the technical moment when a car “breaks” traction and enters the drift, but also to Team Breaking, the Fort Wayne–based drifting group that welcomed Lupkin into their inner circle. Their garages, late-night gatherings, shared meals, and relentless tinkering became the foundation for this body of work. Lupkin did not observe from the sidelines—he immersed himself, riding along in passenger seats, sitting on concrete floors, and absorbing the rhythms and rituals that define this tight-knit community.
This embedded approach aligns with what Lupkin calls “Gonzo Portraiture,” inspired by the immersive journalism of Hunter S. Thompson. Rather than depict drifting from the perspective of an outsider, Lupkin paints from within the ecosystem of Team Breaking. This perspective allows him to capture the side of drifting that rarely appears in media: not the smoke-filled spectacle, but the human moments that shape the culture—the fatigue after a long day at the track, the camaraderie of shared food, the quiet concentration of a late-night repair, or the tenderness of a teammate cradling a stray cat.
Painterly texture plays a central role. Lupkin’s expressive brushwork—charged with electric blues, bruised reds, and luminous flesh tones—echoes the physicality of drifting itself. Helmets recur as symbols of identity, protection, and transformation. Materials from the racetrack—tire dust, chain-link impressions, automotive paint—embed the environment directly into the paintings, reinforcing the connection between subject and setting.
While the content is contemporary, echoes of art history appear throughout. Lupkin’s figures are arranged with the reverence of classical portraiture: hints of halos, triangular compositions, and devotional lighting elevate his subjects beyond stereotype. These are not caricatures of “car guys,” but individuals rendered with dignity, complexity, and empathy.
What emerges is a portrait of drifting not as adrenaline-driven spectacle but as community. Despite the appearance of being a solitary sport, drifting relies on collaboration: friends sourcing parts, hands helping with repairs, collective knowledge freely shared, meals and stories exchanged long into the night. Lupkin captures that interdependence with sincerity and affection.
In Breaking, losing traction becomes a metaphor for the delicate balance between chaos and control, individuality and belonging. Lupkin invites viewers to look past the noise and smoke and see the humanity behind the sport—the friendships, frustrations, humor, and unexpected tenderness that animate the world of Team Breaking.
Ultimately, Breaking is not about cars. It is about people, connection, devotion, and the stories that emerge when individuals gather around a shared passion and build a culture of their own.
Peter Lupkin
@tippmanon44s
oil on canvas
16h x 12w in
40.64h x 30.48w cm
PLU091
Peter Lupkin’s artwork is rooted in a sustained inquiry into perception, memory, and the emotional resonance of form. His compositions unfold slowly, favoring nuance over declaration, and reward close looking through subtle variations in surface, rhythm, and spatial balance. Rather than depicting fixed narratives, Lupkin creates open fields of experience where structure and intuition coexist, allowing meaning to remain fluid and personal.
Across his body of work, restraint becomes a generative force. Quiet gestures, layered elements, and carefully calibrated tensions invite contemplation, suggesting states of transition rather than resolution. The work often feels suspended in time—hovering between presence and absence—encouraging viewers to project their own memories and associations into the visual space. In this way, Lupkin’s art functions less as an object to be read and more as an encounter to be felt, emphasizing attentiveness, stillness, and the power of subtle transformation.
- Creator:Peter Lupkin (1986, American)
- Creation Year:2024
- Dimensions:Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:Seller: PLU0911stDibs: LU554317522522
Peter Lupkin
The artwork I create is a visual response to my upbringing and influences. My work is a combination of historical symbolism and modern experience. Historical symbolism has been indoctrinated into my visual language through an apprenticeship into a multi generational stained glass studio at the age of 14 and continuing to the present day. With this as a background language I embrace modern concerns, methods and techniques and seek to connect my own experiences with contemporary society.
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Professional Seller
Every seller passes strict standards for authenticity and reliability
Established in 2017
1stDibs seller since 2017
384 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Chicago, IL
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View AllIntimate Portrait Oil Painting on Canvas, Bold Colors, 16x12 in
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
This oil painting captures a direct, intimate presence through bold, emotive color and textured brushwork. Warm reds, pinks, and ochres pulse across the face, interrupted by deep blu...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Intimate Portrait of Drifting Driver, Oil on Canvas, 2025, Signed
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
This oil painting presents a quiet, reflective profile shaped by thick, energetic brushstrokes. Cool blues saturate the background, setting off the warm, earthy tones of the face and...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Self Portrait - Original Oil Painting by Peter Lupkin
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Full of texture and color, Lupkin depicts an emotional portrait of himself. The intricate color choices of light pinks and blues throughout the skin and background bring a somber fee...
Category
2010s Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Self Portrait - Original Oil Painting by Peter Lupkin
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Peter Lupkin utilizes his expressive paint style to bring this small scale self portrait to life. With pockets of color and texture throughout the face, the subject pops against a ne...
Category
2010s Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of John - Original Oil Painting - Peter Lupkin
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Peter Lupkin utilizes his expressive paint style to bring this small scale self portrait to life. With pockets of color and texture throughout the face, the subject pops against a ne...
Category
2010s Paintings
Materials
Oil
Self Portrait - Original Oil Painting by Peter Lupkin
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
Peter Lupkin utilizes his expressive paint style to bring this small scale self portrait to life. With pockets of color and texture throughout the face, the subject pops against a ne...
Category
2010s Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
You May Also Like
Male Portrait - Oil on Canvas by Anastasia Kurakina - 2011
By Anastasia Kurakina
Located in Roma, IT
Male Portrait is a wonderful original oil painting on canvas, realized by the Russian emerging artist, Anastasia Kurakina in 2011.
Signed and dated i n blue ink on the back at the ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
UNTITLED m1131 - Original Oil painting portrait, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By David Padworny
Located in Yardley, PA
Original Oil Paint on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas of 16 by 12 by 3/4 in. ::::: Title : UNTITLED m1131 :: Painting :: Expressionism :: This piece comes with an official certifica...
Category
2010s Expressionist Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Self-Portrait" (2015) By Michael DeVore, Original Oil Portrait Painting
Located in Denver, CO
"Self-Portrait" (2015) by Michael DeVore is an original handmade oil portrait painting of the artist that measures at 12 x 10 inches framed and is ready...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"A Realist" (2023) by Lisa Fricker, Original Oil Portrait Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Lisa Fricker's "A Realist" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a portrait of a man deep in thought, it measures 8 x 8 inches. This painting is framed and ready to hang...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
UNTITLED m1117 - Original Oil painting portrait, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By David Padworny
Located in Yardley, PA
Original Oil Paint on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas of 12 by 16 by 3/4 in. ::::: Title : UNTITLED m1117 :: Painting :: Expressionism :: This piece comes with an official certific...
Category
2010s Expressionist Paintings
Materials
Oil
Portrait of Man, Impressionist Oil on Board by Lisa Martin
Located in Long Island City, NY
Lisa Martin - Portrait of Man, Year: circa 1995, Medium: Oil on Board, Size: 18 x 14 in. (45.72 x 35.56 cm)
Category
1990s Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil
