A 1996 portrait of Liam and Noel Gallagher is going under the hammer in London next week, just as the Oasis brothers prepare to reunite for a series of highly anticipated gigs.
The painting, titled Liam + Noel (Gallagher), was created by American artist Elizabeth Peyton and is based on a promotional photograph of the brothers taken a year earlier. The portrait shows a quiet moment between the siblings, with Liam resting his chin on Noel's shoulder.
Sotheby’s, which is handling the sale, described the painting as capturing the Gallaghers "in a moment of intimacy and repose". It was completed shortly after Oasis’s landmark 1996 concerts at Knebworth, which saw the band play to more than 250,000 people over two nights.
The work will feature in Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction in London on 24 June, with an estimated sale price of £1.5 million to £2 million (approx. €1.77 million to €2.36 million).
Antonia Gardner, head of the Contemporary Evening Sale at Sotheby’s, called the timing of the auction "a beautiful circular moment". Speaking to Reuters, she said: "This was made in 1996, on the eve of their then biggest ever concert at Knebworth. And now this is coming back into the market, coming back into the spotlight… on the eve of their incredible tour."
Oasis rose to international fame in the mid-1990s with their debut album Definitely Maybe and its follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which sold over 22 million copies worldwide. The band split in 2009 after a series of public rows between the two brothers. Noel, the band’s guitarist and chief songwriter, said at the time that he could no longer work with frontman Liam.
In August 2024, the Gallagher brothers announced that they would reunite for a string of live shows, beginning in Cardiff on 4 July. The news has sparked renewed interest in the band and its legacy. Oasis are due to play Dublin's Croke Park on 16 and 17 August.
Other high-profile works being sold in the same Sotheby’s auction include Tamara de Lempicka’s La Belle Rafaela and Pablo Picasso’s Nu assis dans un fauteuil, each expected to fetch between £6 million and £9 million (approx. €7.07 million to €10.6 million).
Source: Reuters
