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About the artist
Baret Boisson is a painter whose work is rooted in a deep curiosity about people and the stories that shape their lives. Best known for her portraits, she paints everyone from historic icons and contemporary changemakers to friends, families, and people outside the public eye. Her work is colorful, expressive, and often playful, combining a vibrant palette, handwritten text, and the warmth and immediacy of folk art. At its heart is a simple but enduring belief: in our ability to understand one another and in the possibility of a better tomorrow.
Born in Florence, Italy, Baret spent much of her childhood on the move. Her family lived in Italy, Barcelona, Suriname, and later French Guiana, giving her an upbringing shaped by different languages, cultures, landscapes, and ways of life. She remembers absorbing each new place with all of her senses. That early exposure to so many different people and perspectives stayed with her and eventually became an important part of the way she sees—and paints—the world.
Before she ever imagined becoming an artist, Baret thought she might work in international politics. She studied political science at Barnard College in New York City, drawn to the idea of helping people communicate across cultures and understand one another a little better. It would take another ten years for her to realize that the same instinct could find a home somewhere entirely different: in painting.
Baret picked up a paintbrush for the first time at age 30, almost by accident. A friend in Los Angeles, hoping to cheer her up, invited her over for a glass of wine and had set out art boards, brushes, and paint on the floor. They put on music, and by the end of the evening, Baret had finished her first painting—a portrait of two boys.
She describes the feeling as being like a fish finding water.
From that night on, she painted.
Portraiture quickly became a way for Baret to do what she had always been interested in doing: getting to know people, telling their stories, and celebrating what makes them who they are. Rather than simply capturing a likeness, her portraits often incorporate words, memories, ideas, and pieces of a subject’s history.
That approach became central to Inspiring Greatness, Baret’s ongoing series honoring people whose courage and actions have helped move the world forward. The works pair portraits with handwritten excerpts from speeches, biographical details, and words associated with their subjects, celebrating figures whose lives have expanded our ideas about equality, justice, and what is possible.
In 2016, Inspiring Greatness became a solo exhibition at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. More than 100,000 people visited the exhibition, which brought together over 25 portraits of figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Billie Jean King, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Following the exhibition, Baret’s portrait of Dr. King was acquired by the museum for its permanent collection. Its home there is especially meaningful: the National Civil Rights Museum incorporates the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.
Inspiring Greatness has never been intended as a finished chapter. Baret continues to add to the series as history unfolds, painting people whose voices and actions speak to the moment. More recent subjects have included Emma González, Greta Thunberg, and the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Alongside her portraits, Baret also paints abstract work. If portraiture gives her a way to tell someone’s story, abstraction gives her the freedom to let go of the story altogether. Color, movement, texture, and instinct take over. The subjects may disappear, but the sense of optimism and exuberance that runs through her figurative work remains.
Across both sides of her practice, Baret returns again and again to the things that have interested her since childhood: people, connection, curiosity, courage, joy, and the many different ways we experience the world.
For Baret, art is ultimately another way of bringing people together.
She currently divides her time between Southampton, New York; Santa Barbara, California; and Paris, France.
"Baret Boisson is a brilliant artist whose talented work lives in my personal collection. We are all only temporary custodians of beauty, and it is a pleasure to care for Baret’s beautiful art."
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was a British and American actress who began her career in the 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s.
“It is a privilege to collect works of art by Baret Boisson. We have Baret Boisson originals throughout our home! These timeless masterpieces bring joy into every room. Baret’s work is brilliant and fun. Baret’s use of vibrant color, texture and mediums brings her work to life. In our family portraits, Baret’s extraordinary talent captures each family member’s personality, including our pets! Baret’s work is genius, modern American folk art.”
actress, model, designer, author, philanthropist
“Baret’s meticulously rendered portraits are stylistically reminiscent of the iternerant painters of early American Folk art. She captures her sitter’s spirit through their eyes and with a few carefully chosen props and a vivid and bold color palette. She is a contemporary American folk artist with a unique gift of communication and a beautiful sense of color and patterning. Like the great folk portrait painter Ammi Phillips, her work has the naive brilliance of a self-taught artist. With a client list that includes some of the worlds most famous celebrities, all get the same whimsical and incisive treatment from her beloved dog Lucky to Elizabeth Taylor!”
“Baret Boisson’s ability to capture personality comes not from her ability to render faces accurately, but to render expressions, presences, vividly. This is the work of a mature mind attuned to the uniqueness of personhood.”
Peter Solomon Frank is an American art critic, curator, and poet who lives and works in Los Angeles. Frank is known for curating shows at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Baret Boisson is a living legend. Baret’s work hits a chord that speaks of personal history; her images make you think and remind you to dream. In a messy world, Baret’s work reminds us that simpler says more, that innocence is charming, that purity is true beauty.”
Nancy Juvonen is an American film producer. She and Drew Barrymore own the production company Flower Films. She is also the wife of Jimmy Fallon
"Baret Boisson is a brilliant artist whose talented work lives in my personal collection. We are all only temporary custodians of beauty, and it is a pleasure to care for Baret’s beautiful art."
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was a British and American actress who began her career in the 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s.
“It is a privilege to collect works of art by Baret Boisson. We have Baret Boisson originals throughout our home! These timeless masterpieces bring joy into every room. Baret’s work is brilliant and fun. Baret’s use of vibrant color, texture and mediums brings her work to life. In our family portraits, Baret’s extraordinary talent captures each family member’s personality, including our pets! Baret’s work is genius, modern American folk art.”
actress, model, designer, author, philanthropist
“Baret’s meticulously rendered portraits are stylistically reminiscent of the iternerant painters of early American Folk art. She captures her sitter’s spirit through their eyes and with a few carefully chosen props and a vivid and bold color palette. She is a contemporary American folk artist with a unique gift of communication and a beautiful sense of color and patterning. Like the great folk portrait painter Ammi Phillips, her work has the naive brilliance of a self-taught artist. With a client list that includes some of the worlds most famous celebrities, all get the same whimsical and incisive treatment from her beloved dog Lucky to Elizabeth Taylor!”
“Baret Boisson’s ability to capture personality comes not from her ability to render faces accurately, but to render expressions, presences, vividly. This is the work of a mature mind attuned to the uniqueness of personhood.”
Peter Solomon Frank is an American art critic, curator, and poet who lives and works in Los Angeles. Frank is known for curating shows at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Baret Boisson is a living legend. Baret’s work hits a chord that speaks of personal history; her images make you think and remind you to dream. In a messy world, Baret’s work reminds us that simpler says more, that innocence is charming, that purity is true beauty.”
Nancy Juvonen is an American film producer. She and Drew Barrymore own the production company Flower Films. She is also the wife of Jimmy Fallon