Oliver Osborne

July 2026
Roberts Institute of Art

We have invited Oliver Osborne to join the Roberts Institute of Art Residency in Scotland this summer.

Roberts Institute of Art

Oliver Osborne (b. 1985, Edinburgh, Scotland) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Osborne works across figuration and abstraction in his paintings, returning repeatedly to specific subjects over time. Through subtle shifts in composition, light and shadow, he explores how images evolve and how painting can remain open and responsive.

His subjects range from figures drawn from art history to members of his own family. Working across silk-screen, monochromatic abstraction and photorealistic oil painting, Osborne’s practice is varied but cohesive. Each work stands as a distinct response, even when based on the same motif.

Oliver Osborne

Oliver Osborne (b. 1985, Edinburgh, UK) lives and works in Berlin. He completed a Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2011, following a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art in 2008. Recent solo exhibitions include The Sleeping Guard, Fondazione ICA Milano, Milan (2025); Comic Sans, Francis Irv, New York (2025); Ooh!, Union Pacific, London (2025); Botticelli, Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2024); and Manganese Blue, Galería Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca (2023). Selected group exhibitions include The Third Perspective, The Merode, Brussels (2025); Meet me by the lake, CLEARING, New York (2024); Nine Oils, Francis Irv, New York (2024); Day by Day, Good Day, Union Pacific, London (2023); and Plant Scenery of the World, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (2017).

Image Credits

Portrait courtesy Oliver Osborne

Oliver Osborne, The Head of Nicodemus (after Rogier van der Weyden), 2023 (detail). Courtesy the David and Indrė Roberts Collection and Union Pacific. © Oliver Osborne