This first monograph on the German-born, New York–based painter whose large-scale canvases portray young figures in charged states of intimacy and vulnerability against the backdrop of contemporary urban life.

Krewer’s raw, emotionally resonant figurative works captured international attention almost immediately after his emergence in the art world. The artist has had a dizzying ascent: his work has been the subject of surveys at museums such as Aspen Art Museum and he will have an exhibition at the Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2026, all while career-defining institutions have acquired his work, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Hammer, Los Angeles; MCA Chicago; and the Walker Art Center, among many others. This oversize volume bound in Italian cloth and housed in a clothbound slipcase honors this extraordinary artist’s practice: it features the full arc of his career with new critical essays offering fresh insights into Krewer’s influences, methods, and artistic evolution. 

A powerful painter with an extraordinary command of the medium for someone so early in his career (he was one of Peter Doig’s star students), his work is rendered in bold brushwork and shifts between moody and riotous palettes. Krewer’s large-scale paintings often depict youthful figures—frequently male—in ambiguous or confrontational poses. These figures appear alone, in pairs, or suspended in moments of tenderness or conflict. His incorporation of animals, dreamlike settings, and nocturnal cityscapes heightens these tensions and situates his practice both within and against the lineage of expressive figuration. The immediacy, and often urgency, of his imagery draws viewers into complex emotional terrain. 

Although rooted in personal experience, Krewer’s work resonates far beyond autobiography. It channels a countercultural vitality to explore broader themes of queerness, urban alienation, intimacy, and freedom.

About The Author

Hiji Nam is a New York–based critic and writer who focuses on contemporary art and the politics of identity. Evan Moffitt is an art writer specializing in modern and contemporary painting. Jonathan Anderson is the creative director for Dior.