John Currin's retrospective has traveled from The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, to The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and The Serpentine Gallery in London. John Currin burst onto the art world in the early 1990s when figurative painting was on the margins of the contemporary art scene.

One of the leading figurative painters of his generation, Currin's influences range from Italian and Northern Renaissance paintings to popular illustrations from the mid-20th century. Whether portraits of older women, buxom girls, nudes with elongated bodies, or group scenes of domestic life, his works are characterized by baroque gestures, loose brushstrokes, unorthodox palettes, and detailed backgrounds that startle the viewer into a reconsideration of the tradition of painting. His "old master" techniques and individual style have earned him accolades from critics and collectors worldwide.