Book excerpt: Cecily Brown is a British-born, New York-based artist who rose to prominence in the late 1990s. Originally influenced by Cubism and Abstract Expressionism, Brown has over the years developed her unique voice, which investigates the sensual qualities of oil paint and portraiture through a satirizing and celebratory process inspired both by abstraction and realism. Gentle and yet forceful, Brown's exuberant brushwork, rich palette, intense energy, and black humor have redefined some of painting's historical canons.